The story begins in 1940 during World War II, when four siblings—Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie—are evacuated from London to escape the Blitz. They are sent to live with Professor Digory Kirke, who lives in a country house in the English countryside. While the four children are exploring the house, Lucy looks into a wardrobe and discovers a doorway to a magical world named Narnia. There she meets a faun named Mr Tumnus. He invites her to have tea in his home. There he confesses he planned to report her to the usurper queen of Narnia, otherwise known as the White Witch, but has thought better of it. Upon returning to our world, Lucy''s siblings do not believe her story about Narnia. Her older brother Edmund enters the wardrobe and meets the White Witch, who introduces herself as the Queen of Narnia and befriends him and offers him magical Turkish delight, which enchants him. She encourages him to bring his siblings to her in Narnia, with the promise that he shall rule over them. Lucy discovers Edmund in Narnia at the lamppost, and they return to the Professor''s house. In conversation with Lucy, Edmund realises that the woman who befriended him is in fact the White Witch; however, he does not tell anyone that he has met her, and lies to Peter and Susan, denying Lucy''s claim that he too had entered Narnia through the wardrobe. Eventually, all four of the children enter Narnia together while hiding in the wardrobe. They meet Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, who invite them to dinner. The beavers recount a prophecy that the witch''s power will fall when two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve fill the four thrones at Cair Paravel. The beavers tell of the true king of Narnia, a great lion named Aslan, who has been absent for many years but is now "on the move again." Edmund sneaks away to the White Witch. Her castle is filled with stone statues – enemies she has turned to stone. The beavers realize where Edmund has gone and abandon their home, leading the children to Aslan. As they travel, they notice that the snow is melting, indicating that the White Witch''s spell is breaking. A visit by Father Christmas confirms this. Father Christmas gives the three children and the beavers presents. Peter receives a sword and shield, Susan a horn and a bow, Lucy a vial of magical healing liquid and a knife or dagger, Mrs. Beaver a sewing machine, and Mr. Beaver''s dam is finally finished. The children and the Beavers meet with Aslan and his army. Peter engages in his first battle, killing a wolf that threatens Susan. The Witch approaches to speak with Aslan, insisting that, according to "deep magic from the dawn of time", she has the right to execute Edmund as a traitor. Aslan speaks with her privately and persuades her to renounce her claim on Edmund''s life. That evening, Aslan secretly leaves the camp, but is followed by Lucy and Susan. Aslan has bargained to exchange his own life for Edmund''s. The Witch ties Aslan to the Stone Table and then kills him with a knife. The following morning the Stone Table is broken and Aslan is restored to life, explaining to Lucy and Susan that it is due to "deeper magic from before the dawn of time" (which the Witch did not know about), ruling that if an innocent was killed in the place of a traitor, the Stone Table would break and the innocent would be brought back to life. Aslan allows Lucy and Susan to ride on his back as he hurries to the Witch''s castle. There he breathes upon the statues, restoring them to life. Peter and Edmund lead the Narnian army in a battle against the White Witch''s army, but are losing. Aslan arrives with the former statues as reinforcements. The Narnians rout the evil army, and Aslan kills the Witch. The Pevensie children are named kings and queens of Narnia: King Peter the Magnificent, Queen Susan the Gentle, King Edmund the Just and Queen Lucy the Valiant. Several years later, now adults and mounted on horseback, the siblings go hunting for a white stag. They see the lamppost and go towards it. Just beyond the lamppost, branches become coats. The siblings are back in the wardrobe and are children again. They re-enter the Professor''s house.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

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.

The Ape Who Guards the Balance

Sam Vincent, an attorney in is hired by Davis Trugood, a Chicago lawyer to verify the death of the Trugood''s client''s manservant in Thebes, Mississippi, a desolate shantytown cut off from civilization and surrounded by swampland and seemingly impenetrable piney woods. While in Thebes, Sam is roughly arrested for challenging the legality and authority of Thebes'' law enforcement and is imprisoned by the local Sheriff. Earl Swagger travels to Thebes with the intent of rescuing Sam after he fails to hear from his friend for several weeks. He succeeds in securing Sam''s freedom but is himself captured and incarcerated as the only white man among the inmates of the nearby Thebes penitentiary, a former timber plantation and current forced labor camp for negro convicts and run by ruthless and inhumane white supremacists. The mysterious and unnamed warden instructs his jailers to torture Earl, suspecting him to be a federal investigator interested in the secret workings of the camp. The other inmates apply their acquired hatred of white men to Earl, who must defend himself not only from the guards, but also from his fellow prisoners. Earl escapes by faking his death with the help of an old prison trusty, promising to return and destroy the prison and the evil it represents. He assembles a group of six legendary gunmen (who are based on Elmer Keith, Jack O''Connor, Audie Murphy, Charles Askins, Bill Jordan, and Ed McGivern) with the promise of real action for a just cause and readies them for an assault on Thebes. (Counting Swagger, that brings the number of gunmen to seven, a probable allusion to both The Magnificent Seven - a classic Western film - and Aeschylus'' play Seven Against Thebes.) While Earl makes his plans, the inmates at Thebes start to pass along the mysterious phrase, "Pale Horse Coming." Seeking to quell the inmates'' stirrings and avoid a potential rebellion, the prison''s tyrannical captain of the guards systematically tortures the prisoners in an effort to learn the origins of the phrase. Sam Vincent, ever reluctant to resort to force to settle any matter, including the issue of Thebes, continues to investigate the mysteries surrounding the prison and makes some horrifying discoveries. After narrowly escaping a threat against his and his family''s lives, Sam contacts Earl and finally gives Earl his blessing to "fire for effect." It is said that Vincent is never seen without a tie. As the assault on Thebes begins, Davis Trugood, having arrived undetected in Thebes, enters the old plantation house and confronts the warden. The reader learns that Davis Trugood is the warden''s estranged half-brother and that warden hates Davis for being their father''s son by a black woman. Earl and his team succeed in destroying the prison, vowing to never again mention Thebes or their dealings there to each other or anyone else. They go their separate ways and Earl returns home to Arkansas and his wife and son. The fictional events of this novel allude to the infamous Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male. However the copyright page of the book bears the boilerplate disclaimer that all events are fictional.

Pale Horse Coming

Benjamin Reilly, a high school English-teacher in Staten Island, N.Y., witnesses a fight between two students. This brings him back to childhood years of bullying by Terrence O''Connell, a popular jock he had a crush on at the time. Reilly decides to quit his job, track down his bully and wreak revenge on him. He visits his parents in Indiana, where he also engages in unsafe sex with a Hispanic man. In Manhattan, he meets with Terrence and they become friends. While on holiday in Vail, Colorado, he takes an HIV test - by the end of the novel, he learns he doesn''t have AIDS. Terrence breaks up with his girlfriend and slowly admits to being gay, though he won''t let Benjamin kiss him. Out of anger, Benjamin pushes Terrence down a mountaintop, sending him off to hospital for several weeks. Terrence proves to be understanding, and they both decide they are now even. Benjamin learns about the circumstances surrounding his sister''s death and his brother''s runaway streak as a teenager. Finally, Benjamin is invited to Terrence''s same-sex marriage with an investment banker in Massachusetts.

A Push and a Shove: A Novel

RAF Culverton, East Anglia, during the Second World War. Alec Whistler, a Spitfire pilot discovers a green crystal in the wreckage left by a bomb which destroyed the RAF base''s Mess, killing his fiance... As a reward for his actions in The Three Doctors the Third Doctor has had his knowledge of the TARDIS''s dematerialisation codes returned to him by the Time Lords. The Doctor has left Earth and is helping the rebels on the planet Xanthos. Meanwhile, back on Earth, the Brigadier has received a call from his old friend Wing Commander Alec Whistler. Culverton Aerodrome has closed and been purchased by the mysterious Legion International, led by the sinister Bliss. Black-shirted troops guard the base and have begun to terrorise the local residents, and people have begun to disappear. Investigating the base with the young Noah Bishop, Whistler is captured by Legion. Noah escapes, but is injured by a huge worm-like creature living in the marsh behind the aerodrome. Escaping from Xanthos, the Doctor returns to UNIT HQ, realising this is the closest thing he has to home at the moment, though clearly unwilling to acknowledge this either to himself, Jo or the Brigadier. The Brigadier sends the Doctor and Jo to Culverton to investigate. Arriving in Culverton, the Doctor and Jo are met by Whistler''s housekeeper, Mrs. Toovey. While the Doctor investigates the base, Jo stays at Whistler''s house, where she is attacked by a Legion trooper who is searching for the green crystal which Whistler has had since the War and which he regards as his lucky charm. Fortunately, Mrs. Toovey has concealed it in Whistler''s restored Spitfire in a lead box, masking its energy signature from Bliss''s sensors. The kidnapped villagers begin to reappear, but acting curiously, and all grinning inanely. They are all carrying the embryos of the alien race the Gaderene in their mouths and are being controlled by the embryos. The village fete is opened by Scotland Yard''s Inspector Le Maitre (the Master in disguise) During the fete the remaining villagers are given embryos leaving the village a ghost town. The Master has worked with the Gaderene to allow their invasion of Earth and despite Bliss''s betrayal, still aims to help the invasion as he wishes to see mankind wiped out. Threatening Noah''s life, the Master extorts the crystal from the Doctor. The crystal is the ninth and final key which will allow the Gaderene to cross over from their dying world to the Earth. Meanwhile, Whistler has escaped from his captors. As the Gaderene ready their invasion force, the UNIT troops storm the airbase with the Doctor assisting in the borrowed Spitfire. The UNIT troops pin down the giant worm (Bliss''s brother, whose genetic make-up was damaged in the crossing from the Gaderene homeworld) while the Doctor and the Master fight in the midst of the dimensional transference beam. The Master kills Bliss with his Tissue Compression Eliminator and is caught in the beam as it collapses, destroyed by Whistler''s crashing Spitfire. The Gaderene are all destroyed and the Master seemingly destroyed with them. Whistler survives, having ejected from the plane just in time and is reunited with his friend the Brigadier. The villagers with the implanted embryos are released and the embryos all die. The Doctor walks away, head bowed, expressing regret about the destruction.

Last of the Gaderene

The novel opens with psychiatrist Dr Alistair Crown''s wife Virginia giving birth to the couple''s first child. Crown, who is not present during birth, is informed immediately afterwards that their daughter Doris has Down''s syndrome, a fact he is unable to accept. For the next five years, he avoids Doris''s face: He never looks at her and he refuses to be shown photos of her. His idea of being close to his daughter consists in his nocturnal visits to her bedroom when she is fast asleep: Then he gropes around under the sheets &mdash; in a harmless way, imagining what it would be like to have a normal child and envisaging the day when he will actually come face to face with her. However, he keeps postponing that day, telling himself and his wife that he is not ready for it yet. He leaves for work early in the morning and comes home at night when his daughter is already asleep. He does not tell his parents, who live abroad, that their granddaughter is handicapped and, for years, can persuade them not to visit. Although Virginia is a devoted mother and an understanding wife, the ensuing marital crisis is unavoidable. When Doris is of preschool age, Crown actually has to lock himself in his room so as to make sure that he does not accidentally see his daughter''s face. After a brief fling with a former girlfriend he moves out of the house. His life takes a decisive turn when he meets a man who calls himself Esau. Esau, who has a very hairy body, is still suffering under his dominant father although the latter has been dead for some time. He has become a compulsive stripper, making appointments with doctors, dentists and masseurs only to perform his stripping routine in front of them and wait for their reaction. The two men strike up an asexual friendship, and Crown moves into Esau''s large house. Although he realizes that Esau is in urgent need of psychiatric treatment, Crown just sees a friend in him and refuses to have any therapeutic influence on Esau. He is devastated when Esau commits suicide by hanging himself in the attic. Now Crown''s life totally gets out of control. Early one morning a few days before Doris''s fifth birthday he kidnaps her from the playground of her nursery school &mdash; still without looking at her &mdash;, drives with her to Hyde Park, strangles her from behind and buries her face down under a tree in a shallow grave dug out with his bare hands. Back at his office, he is informed by his wife that Doris has gone missing. For a couple of days, the police search for the girl but then give up all hope of ever finding her alive and well. When soon afterwards her body is found, Crown has to accompany the police to the morgue to identify his daughter. This is when he comes face to face with her for the first &mdash; and last &mdash; time. The police never solve the crime. Some time later Crown hangs himself in the garage.

A Solitary Grief

Chapter one, "The Historian and his Facts", explores how the historian makes use of historical facts. Carr notes that in the 19th century, western historians held to an empirical, positivist worldview that revolved around a "cult of facts", viewing historical facts as information that simply had to be assembled to produce an objective picture of the past that was entirely accurate and independent of any human opinion. Carr argues that this view is inherently flawed, because historians selectively choose which "facts of the past" get to become "historical facts", or information that the historians have decided is important. As an example, he notes that millions of humans have crossed the Rubicon river in Northeastern Italy, but that historians have only chosen to treat the crossing of the Rubicon by Julius Caesar in 49 BCE as an important "historical fact". Carr contends that historians arbitrarily determine which of the "facts of the past" to turn into "historical facts" according to their own biases and agendas. Carr proceeds to document the rise of non-empirical historians in the 20th century, who like himself argued that it was impossible to write an objective history, because all historical facts were themselves subjective. Although sharing their general view, he criticises the approach adopted by one of these non-empiricists, R. G. Collingwood, for insinuating that any one interpretation of history was as good as any other. He compares the situation facing the historian to the situation of Odysseus facing Scylla and Charybdis, remarking that they can fall into the "untenable theory of history as an objective compilation of facts" or they can fall into "the equally untenable theory of history as the subjective product of the mind of the historian". Instead, Carr argues that history should follow a middle-path, constituting a relationship "of equality, of give-and-take" between the historian and their evidence. He remarks that the historian continuously moulds his facts to suit their interpretation and their interpretation to suit their facts, and takes part in a dialogue between past and present. Summing up his argument, Carr puts forward his own answer to the question of "what is history?", remarking that "it is a continuous process of interaction between the historian and his facts, an unending dialogue between the past and the present." In his second chapter, Carr focuses on the influence that society plays on forming the approach of the historian and the interpretation of historical facts. He begins by highlighting the manner in which each individual is molded by society from birth, meaning that everyone is a "social phenomenon". He proclaims that this "very obvious truth" has been obscured by the "cult of individualism" &ndash; the idea that the individual was entirely separate from society &ndash; that emerged in western thought with the rise of classical liberalism. He accepts that this "cult of individualism" is an inevitable by-product of "advancing civilisation" but nevertheless considers it illogical. Carr highlights that, as individuals, historians are heavily influenced by the society that surrounds them, meaning that they too are "social phenomenon". In turn, he notes, this societal influence subsequently influences their interpretation of the past. As an example, he highlights the work of George Grote (1794&ndash;1871), an English historian and Enlightenment-era thinker whose depiction of ancient Athenian democracy in his History of Greece reflected "the aspirations of the rising and politically progressive British middle class" of which he was a part. In the same way, Carr argued that no individual is truly free of the social environment in which they live, but contended that within those limitations, there was room, albeit very narrow room for people to make decisions that have an impact on history. Carr made a division between those who, like Vladimir Lenin and Oliver Cromwell, helped to shape the social forces which carried them to historical greatness and those who, like Otto von Bismarck and Napoleon, rode on the back of social forces over which they had little or no control. Though Carr was willing to grant individuals a role in history, he argued that those who focus exclusively on individuals in a Great man theory of history were doing a profound disservice to the past. As an example, Carr complained of those historians who explained the Russian Revolution solely as the result of the "stupidity" of Emperor Nicholas II (which Carr regarded as a factor, but only of lesser importance) rather than the work of great social forces. In the third chapter, "History, Science and Morality", Carr looks at the disputed claims that history constitutes a science. He then highlights that there are five objections to considering history a science, and proceeds to discuss each of these. First, he looks at the idea that while science looks at general theories, history

What Is History?

Lullaby is the story of Carl Streator, a newspaper reporter who has been assigned to write articles on a series of cases of sudden infant death syndrome, from which his own child had died. Streator discovers that his wife and child had died immediately after he read them a "culling song", or African chant, from a book entitled Poems and Rhymes Around the World. As Streator learns, the culling song has the power to kill anyone it is spoken to. Because of the stress of his life, it became unusually powerful, allowing him to kill by only thinking the poem. During his investigations into other SIDS cases for his article, he finds that a copy of the book was at the scene of each death. In every case, the book was open to a page that contained the "culling song". Streator unintentionally memorizes the deadly poem and he semi-voluntarily becomes a serial killer (killing, for example, annoying radio hosts and people who elbow into an elevator when he is late for work). He then turns to Helen Hoover Boyle, a real estate agent who has also found the culling song in the same book and knows of its destructive power. While she is unable to help him stop using the culling song, she is willing to help him stop anyone else from being able to use it again. The two of them decide to go on a road trip across the country to find all remaining copies of the book and remove and destroy the page containing the song. They are joined by Helen''s assistant, Mona Sabbat, and Mona''s boyfriend, an eco-terrorist named Oyster. Streator now must not only deal with the dangers of the culling song, but with the risk of it falling into the hands of Oyster, who may want to use it for sinister purposes. In addition to tracking down and destroying any copy of Poems and Rhymes Around the World, the foursome hope to find a "grimoire", a hypothesized spellbook that is the source of the culling spell. Streator wants to destroy it while the others in his group want to learn what other spells it contains—partly in the hope that there is a spell to resurrect the dead. Mona eventually figures out that the datebook Helen had been carrying throughout the trip is the grimoire they had been looking for, written in invisible ink. Helen had acquired it years earlier in the estate of the publisher of Poems and Rhymes Around the World whom she had killed with the culling spell. In the end, the grimoire is used and misused until Helen''s body ends up dead with her mind in a police sergeant''s body. This connection is made in the final chapters and concludes with the present; Streator and Helen (in the police sergeant''s body) are together, searching for Mona and Oyster who have the entirety of the grimoire with the exception of the "culling song".

Lullaby

The story begins with a prologue entitled "Eleven Years Ago", in which Wendy recounts her sixth birthday party. She expresses contempt at the gifts of fragile porcelain dolls she does not want. She throws a tantrum at seeing her mother has bought her a chocolate birthday cake, to which her mother asks what sort of child she is. Wendy''s mother claims she is not her daughter, and attempts to take her life with the knife she had been using to cut the cake. In the modern day, we see Wendy as a troubled young woman who struggles in school and has forced her brother, Matt, and aunt, Maggie, to uproot their lives and move away when she is expelled from school yet again. She soliloquises that she has a power of persuasion and thus demonstrates on a threatening teacher. She approaches the mysterious and fellow new-student Finn Holmes after class and asks why he always stares blankly at her. Finn conforms her host mothers threats and says she has to come back to forening she refuses until 2 enemy tribe called vittra attack her, finn comes in and saves her taking her back to forening . There, Wendy meets her real mother, Elora, who informs her that she is actually the princess of the tribe, and is the highest rung of society. She meets Rhys and Rhiannon, both something the Trylle call "mänsklig". Whilst wandering the halls of the Palace, Wendy breaks into a locked room stocked with many undisplayed photos. She recognizes in one of them a sad Elora with a male baby, then realizes one contains herself, wearing a white gown and an injured leg, an horrified expression on her face. Finn discovers her and tells her that Elora''s Trylle power consists of precognition that she can only utilise through painting. Finn tells her of the societal rules of the Trylle; whilst the Princess, Queens and Marksinna (nobles) are the highest, the Trackers and mänsklig are considered even lower than the peasantry. Finn reveals that Elora and his father had once had an affair, to which Wendy expresses disbelief that Elora could show an emotion other than anger. Finn begins to tutor her in the history and etiquette of the Trylle so that Wendy can properly handle her future role as Queen and not embarrass Elora. He warns Wendy that she cannot become involved with Rhys past a platonic level as it would "corrupt" the bloodline of the royalty, and the strong powers held by the royals would cease to exist. Finn reveals that the mänsklig are the children taken in place of the changelings, that live with the family who swap the children, and Rhys is the mänsklig left in Wendy''s place. An introductory ball is scheduled to be held in Wendy''s honour which Finn prepares her for. Elora tells Wendy that she will be choosing a more appropriate name for her Trylle life. Wendy says that she does not want to and will not, much to Elora''s annoyance. Elora speaks with Finn and he resigns. Wendy finds him before he goes and the two share a kiss. Finn says that he cannot allow her to proceed. The next night at Wendy''s ball, the Vittra attack, forcing the Trylle that possess helpful powers to retaliate. Jen, the member who had previously injured Wendy when trying to kidnap her, rounds on her. Rhys attempts to help her escape but is knocked unconscious. Finn returns, almost losing his life to aid the princess. Tove, a young Markis, uses psychokinesis to save Finn''s life and successfully get rid of Jen. Elora and the Trylle inside the ballroom manage to quell the Vittra threat and the three return inside. Finn and Wendy reunite, until Elora informs Wendy that Finn has left, having been transferred once more. Wendy reacts angrily and uses her persuasive powers on Rhys to get him to drive her home to Matt and Maggie, his biological family.

Switched

Part I: Search By the Mule is about The Mule''s search for the elusive Second Foundation, with the intent of destroying it. The executive council of the Second Foundation is aware of the Mule''s intent and, in the words of the First Speaker, allows him to find it -- "in a sense". In the end the agents of the Second Foundation are able to catch the Mule off guard and telepathically alter his psyche, causing him to return to Kalgan to live out the remainder of his short life as essentially a benevolent despot. Search by the Mule was originally published in the January 1948 issue of Astounding Science Fiction under the title "Now You See It—". Part II: Search By the Foundation takes place sixty years after the first part, fifty-five years after the Mule''s death (by natural causes). The members of the (First) Foundation are now fully aware that the Second Foundation is out there (they had known of its existence all along, but had not known its purpose or nature until the Mule''s arrival). Also concurrent with this plot thread is the Foundation''s ongoing conflict with the Mule''s former imperial capital at Kalgan. The ensuing war is won by the Foundation, and is listed in the Encyclopedia Galactica as the last major conflict before the rise of the Second Empire. After inventing a device that can jam telepathic abilities and can even be used to cause telepaths great pain, the Foundation finds and locates telepaths on Terminus, "at the other end of the galaxy" (from the First Foundation, also at Terminus). Since, as Arkady Darell puts it, "a circle has no end", then by tracing the disc of the galaxy around its edge, one would come back to Terminus. Thus, they declare the Second Foundation destroyed after finding the roughly 50 mentalist agents on Terminus, and are content to forget the matter. Finally, in response to the question "Where is the Second Foundation?", the First Foundation had found an answer that fit. However, although this was "the answer that satisfied", this was not "the answer that was true". The Second Foundation was actually located on Trantor, at the centre of the galaxy. It was called "Star''s End" due to the ancient saying that "All roads lead to Trantor, and that is where all stars end". The location was also said to fit the "other end of the galaxy" location since the galaxy is not in fact a disc, but a spiral &mdash; and from the edge, the other end of a spiral lies at the centre. The book also noted that Hari Seldon was a social scientist, not a physical one. When the two Foundations were founded, they could be described as being at opposite social ends of the Galaxy &mdash; with Trantor at the very center of galactic power and prestige, and Terminus at the other extreme, something the First Foundation failed to realize because its members were inclined to analyze Seldon''s statement in physical terms. The Second Foundation would again be revisited in Foundation''s Edge. Search by the Foundation was originally published in the November and December 1949 and January 1950 issues of Astounding Science Fiction under the title "—And Now You Don''t".

Second Foundation

Gene Forrester, the protagonist, returns to his old prep school, Devon (a thinly-veiled portrayal of Knowles'' own alma mater, Phillips Exeter Academy), fifteen years after he graduated to visit two places he regards as "fearful sites": a flight of marble stairs and a tree by the river. First, he examines the stairs and notices that they are made of very hard marble. He then trudges through the mud to the tree. The tree brings back memories of Gene''s time as a student at Devon. From this point, the plot follows Gene''s description of the time span from the summer of 1942 to the summer of 1943. In 1942, he was 16 years old and living at Devon with his best friend and roommate, Phineas (nicknamed Finny). At the time, World War II is taking place, and has a prominent effect on the story. Gene and Finny, despite being polar opposites in personality, become fast friends at Devon: Gene''s quiet, introverted intellectual personality complements Finny''s more extroverted, carefree, athletic demeanor. During the time at Devon, Gene goes through a period of intense friendship with Finny. One of Finny''s ideas during Gene''s "Sarcastic Summer of 1942" is to create a "Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session," with Gene and himself as charter members. Finny creates a rite of initiation by having members jump into the Devon River from a large, high tree. He also creates a game called "blitzball" (from the German blitzkrieg) in which there is no winner and Finny would make rules up as they played. Following their period of intense friendship was a period of intense one-sided rivalry during which Gene strives to out-do Finny academically, since he believes Finny is trying to out-do him. This rivalry begins with Gene''s jealousy towards Finny because Finny gets away with everything and can talk his way out of getting in trouble. This rivalry culminates (and is ended) when, as Finny and Gene are about to jump off the tree, Gene (possibly) purposely jounces the branch they were both standing on, causing Finny to fall and shatter his leg. Because of his "accident", Finny learns from the doctor that he will never again be able to compete in sports that are most dear to him. The remainder of the story revolves around Gene''s attempts to come to grips with who he is, why he shook the branch, and how he will continue to go forward. Gene feels so guilty that he goes to Finny''s house and tells Finny that he caused Finny''s fall. At first Finny does not believe him and afterward feels extremely hurt. During a meeting of the Golden Fleece Debating Society, a debate/trial organization that Brinker Hadley (another student) set up, Gene is confronted about the "accident" by Brinker, who accuses Gene of trying to kill Finny. Faced with the evidence, Finny leaves shamefully before Gene''s deed is confirmed. On the way out, Finny falls down a flight of stairs (the ones Gene visits at the beginning of the novel), and again breaks the leg he had shattered before. Finny dismisses any of Gene''s attempts to apologize at first, but he soon realizes that the "accident" was impulsive and not anger-based. The two forgive each other. The next day, Finny dies during the operation to set the bone. The doctor summarizes that Finny died when bone marrow entered the blood stream, and stopped his heart during the surgery. Gene does not cry over Finny, but learns much from how he lived his life, stating that when Finny died, he took his (Gene''s) anger with him. In Finny''s death, Gene could finally come to terms with himself.

A Separate Peace

Mio, My Son starts by introducing Bo Vilhelm Olsson ("Bosse"), a young boy who has been adopted by an elderly couple who dislike boys. They harass him, and tell him to stay out of their way. One day he receives an apple from the kindly shopkeeper, Mrs. Lundin, who asks him to mail a postcard for her. He mails the postcard, but not before he has thrown a glance at it. It is addressed to a king, and it says that his son will soon be coming home, recognized by his possession of a golden apple. Bosse looks at his apple and suddenly it turns into gold. Soon after, Bosse finds a bottle with a genie trapped inside. Upon freeing it, the genie recognises the apple and takes Bosse to another world, far, far away. Upon arriving, Bosse is told that his real name is Mio, and that he is son of the king and thus prince of the land. He finds a new best friend, Jum-Jum, and receives the horse Miramis from his father. However, he soon learns that not everything in this world is as wonderful as it first seemed. In the lands beyond that of the king lives an evil knight named Kato, whose hatred is so strong that the land around his castle is barren and singed. He has kidnapped several children from the nearby villages, and he poses a constant threat to the people living there. Mio is told that his destiny is to fight Kato, even though he is only a child. Together with Jum-Jum and Miramis, Mio sets out on a perilous journey into the land of Kato, as the stories have foreseen for thousands and thousands of years. In the American version, Mio is first called Karl Anders Nilsson, nicknamed Andy, and Jum-Jum''s name is Pompoo.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

By C. S. Lewis

The Ape Who Guards the Balance

By Barbara Mertz

Pale Horse Coming

By Stephen Hunter

A Push and a Shove: A Novel

By Christopher Kelly

Last of the Gaderene

By Mark Gatiss

A Solitary Grief

By Bernice Rubens

What Is History?

By Edward Hallett Carr

Lullaby

By Chuck Palahniuk

Switched

By Amanda Hocking

Second Foundation

By Isaac Asimov

A Separate Peace

By John Knowles

Mio, my Mio

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