A few thousand years in the future, post-apocalypse rural Labrador has become a warmer and more hospitable place than it is at present. The inhabitants of Labrador have vague historical recollections of the "Old People", a technologically advanced civilization which existed long ago and which they believe was destroyed when God sent "Tribulation" to the world to punish their forebears'' sins. The society that has survived in Labrador is loosely reminiscent of the American frontier during the 18th century. The inhabitants practise a form of fundamentalist Christianity with post-apocalyptic prohibitions. They believe that in order to follow God''s word and prevent another Tribulation, they need to preserve absolute normality among the surviving humans, plants and animals. Genetic invariance has been elevated to the highest religious principle, and humans with even minor mutations are considered "Blasphemies" and the handiwork of the Devil. Individuals not conforming to a strict physical norm are either killed or sterilized and banished to the Fringes, a lawless and untamed area still rife with animal and plant mutations. Arguments occur over the keeping of a tailless cat or the possession of over sized horses. These are deemed by the government to be legitimate breeds either pre-existing or achieved through conventional breeding. The government''s position is considered both cynical and heretical by many of the orthodox frontier community. The inland rural settlement of Waknuk is a frontier farming community, populated with hardy and pious individuals intent on reclaiming land from the Fringes. Ten-year-old David Strorm, the son of Waknuk''s zealous religious patriarch, has inexplicably vivid dreams of brightly lit cities and horseless carts that are at odds with his pre-industrial experience. Despite David''s rigorous religious training, he befriends Sophie, a girl carefully concealing the fact that she has six toes on each foot. With the nonchalance of childhood David keeps her secret. The subsequent discovery of Sophie''s mutation and her family''s attempted flight causes David to wonder at the brutal persecution of human "Blasphemies" and the ritual culling of animal and plant "Deviations". David and a few others of his generation harbour their own invisible mutation: they have strong telepathic abilities. David begins to question why all who are different must be banished or killed. As they mature, David and his fellow telepaths realize that their unusual mutation would be considered a "blasphemy" and they carefully conceal their abilities. That their mutation cannot be directly detected allows their unusual abilities to remain undiscovered for a time. Eventually some of the group are exposed and David, his half-cousin Rosalind and younger sister Petra flee to the Fringes. They are quickly pursued not only by a group of villagers bent on doing them harm but also by Michael, a fellow telepath who covertly assists their escape. Through the extremely strong telepathic abilities of Petra they make contact with a more advanced society in distant "Sealand". David, Rosalind and Petra elude their would-be captors and are rescued by a Sealand expedition sent to discover the source of Petra''s telepathic transmissions. Due to limited space and fuel on the Sealand craft, Michael and his partner Rachel remain behind, their true nature undiscovered. Though the nature of "Tribulation" is not explicitly stated, it is implied that it was a nuclear holocaust, both by the mutations, and by the stories of sailors who report blackened, glassy wastes to the south-west where the remains of faintly glowing cities can be seen (presumably the east coast of the US). Sailors venturing too close to these ruins experience symptoms consistent with radiation sickness. A woman from Sealand, a character with evident knowledge of the Old People''s technology, mentions "the power of gods in the hands of children".

The Chrysalids

The book covers the career of the American Ambassador to Germany, William Dodd, particularly the years 1933 to 1937 when he and his family, including his daughter Martha, lived in Berlin. The Ambassador, who earned his Ph.D. in Leipzig 40 years earlier, was initially sympathetic to Germany''s new Nazi government and believed reports of brutality and anti-semitism to be exaggerated. Martha, separated from her husband and in the process of divorce, became caught up in the glamor and excitement of Hitler''s Germany and had a series of liaisons, possibly sexual, including among them Gestapo head Rudolf Diels and Soviet attache (and secret NKVD agent) Boris Vinogradov. She defended the regime to her sceptical friends. Within months of their arrival, the family became aware of the evils of the Nazi party. Dodd periodically protested against it. President Roosevelt was pleased with his performance while State Department officials found him undiplomatic and idiosyncratic. The title of the work is a loose translation of Tiergarten, a park in the center of Berlin.

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler''s Berlin

In the novel, Jeremy and Amanda Solter are two teenagers living in the late 21st century. Their parents work for Crosstime Traffic, a trading company using time travel to go back and forth from parallel versions of Earth to trade for resources to help sustain their version of Earth. One summer, the children work with their parents, going to Polisso - in our timeline a village in Romania with ancient ruins nearby, in the alternate timeline a major city of a Roman Empire that never collapsed. In the intervening centuries, the Romans advanced to the extent of inventing gunpowder - hence the title of the book - putting their armies on about 17th Century level. By 2100 they had not, however, gone through an industrial revolution and much of their social institutions, in particular slavery, remain as much as they were in earlier Roman times. North of the Roman Empire, a rival Lietuvan Empire has grown up, with occasional wars breaking out between the two. It is said that most of these wars would end in an exchange of border provinces. Romans consider the Lietuvans as "barbarians", though in fact the two have much the same level of technology and culture. When the youngsters'' mother becomes sick, their father takes her back to their home time for treatment, expecting to come back in a few days - but the cross-time travel equipment suffers a break in link, stranding Jeremy and Amanda in Polisso just as the Lietuvan Army crosses the border, placing Polisso under siege. At the same time, the Roman authorities begin to grow suspicious of their trade mission and the origin of such items as watches and Swiss army knives which they offer for sale and which no artisan in the Empire can match.

Gunpowder Empire

The story concerns two Great Horned Owls found by Billy, Bruce and Murray in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The owls become part of a larger pet collection. Wol is the larger bird and is a lighter colour (pure white with a little black).Wol was found under a bush after a storm. Weeps is a mottled brown. Weeps was found in a barrel filled with oil. When Billy witnesses children throwing stones at Weeps, who is unable to fly, he trades his scout knife for him. Wol, who is able to fly, was found after a storm. Both Wol and Weeps are given to Bruce before Billy and his family move away to Toronto, Ontario.In the end, they are through with tough times and live a happy life. Farley Mowat was born in 1921 in Belleville, Ontario. He was allowed to roam the countryside while growing up and keep animals at home. His father worked as a librarian during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Mowat''s family moved frequently, eventually settling in Saskatchewan. Mowat has written several books about animals, nature, and the Far North. His stories mix humor, personal experience, and his love of nature and wildlife. He is one of the most widely read Canadian authors worldwide.

Owls in the Family

Falco arrives home in Rome with Helena Justina and Julia Junilla Laeitana, his new baby daughter, and barely have time to settle in before being subjected to a welcome-home party. Falco and Petronius sneak out for a drink in a nearby street next to a fountain, which is not working. When a worker turns up to clean it, it is revealed that a severed hand had blocked the aqueduct. Falco and Petro start to investigate, but their case is stolen by Anacrites. Petro puts up a sign proclaiming that awards are to be given on the discovery of any body parts. Falco talks to his brother-in-law and is told that severed body parts have been discovered in the rivers and aqueducts for several years, usually after festivals. When he''s told that Petro put up the sign he runs back to his old apartment (where Petro now lives after being kicked out by his wife) as a slave hands over a new hand to Petro. Petro takes down the sign. Anacrites, who is rather annoyed at being muscled out of his stolen case, sends four men to beat up Falco and Petro. They defeat the bruisers easily and trail them back to Anacrites. Soon afterwards, Julius Frontinus finds and gives over a new hand. It looks the same as the other hands but this one has a wedding ring with two names inscribed (Asinia and Caius). They track down Caius Cicurrus, the widower of Asinia. He is innocent and is greatly grieving for his lost wife. Petro''s wife dumped him after he took up with Balbina Milvia from Time to Depart. Milvia''s husband Florius sends men to beat up Falco and Petro. Falco, with the help of his trainer Glaucus and Glaucus''s trainees, beats off his attackers but Petro has no such help and is heavily injured. Milvia comes to Falco asking him to help her, as she fears that her mother, who has vanished, has been taken by the killer. Falco finds Cornella Flaccida at a new apartment. He goes out to the country but finds no suspects. After continuous reconnaissance he has two problems: First, Claudia Rufina, the heiress from A Dying Light In Corduba and the new fiancee to Helena''s brother Aelianus, has vanished, and second, a slave called Thurius has been identified as the murderer. Falco goes out to rescue Claudia and apprehend Thurius. He captures Thurius and finds his lair and his victim. He finds that it''s not Claudia, it''s Milvia''s mother, who vanished again. Unlike Claudia, however, no one liked her enough to send out a search party. Claudia is later found to have eloped with Helena''s other brother Justinus, an act that has disastrous consequences. The book ends with Falco telling Petro his wife went out with another man, and later receiving a visit from Anacrites.

Three Hands in the Fountain

Imagine staging the end of the world and observing the effects of this apocalypse on an isolated, rural village… imagine a group of powerful Vatican clerics coldly orchestrating such an experiment in search of scientific and theological “truth”… 1284 Heurteloup is a village tucked away in the marshlands of South West France. It has been cut off from the rest of the world for forty years and - so it seems - ignored by everyone including the local diocese and the state. Neighbouring townsfolk do not dare venture anywhere near Heurteloup - it is a place that inspires terror, a name that conjures up evil spirits, darkness and savagery. Not so long ago, the remains of corpses were found floating in a river, dragged by the current straight from the banks of the cursed town. One man decides to set off to try to save the “soul” of Heurteloup: his name is Father Henno Gui. A newly ordained priest, Gui is driven purely by faith and his sense of vocation. He is accompanied by two loyal companions: a young boy, Floris, and a giant-like man, Mardi Gras, whose disproportionate size and disfigured face terrify onlookers. Having walked for days, fighting their way through thick forests, Gui and his companions arrive at Heurteloup. The village is deserted and there is not a soul in sight. The Church is in ruins and the dwellings appear uninhabited. But when Gui looks carefully, he notices traces of recent human activity, and he can sense that their every move is being watched. He has no idea where the villagers are hiding. Most importantly, he can tell from effigies and statuettes of women that these hidden villagers worship ‘Gods’ of a very unorthodox kind… So begins this violent story of power and corruption, where magic and superstition coexist alongside Catholicism and the stranglehold of the Vatican. Romain Sardou recreates the period as he weaves philosophical and religious questions through a chilling tale of murder and betrayal. * Pope Martin IV

Forgive us our Sins

Syanthe is about 18 years old. She is a shapeshifter and has lived with other shapeshifters in the Carlbine forest all her life. Because of an incident that happened years ago, the King had confined all shapeshifters to the Carlbine forest. He marked all of the shapeshifters with a magical tattoo on their faces that would kill them if they crossed the boundaries of the forest. All of the shapeshifters were marked, except Syanthe, who had been hidden at birth from the King''s men. When the Carlbine forest and the shapeshifters (who are closely bonded to the forest) slowly grew sick with an illness, Syanthe''s mother included, she set out into the King''s capital to obtain the cure for the illness. A few days or so later after Syanthe left the forest, she was caught by a caravan of traders. She decided to join these travelers on their way to the capital. She soon found out that the leader of the caravan, Jerel, had powerful magical powers, and realized that there was something amiss with the whole caravan.

Shapeshifter''s Quest

The story starts with a group of schoolboys aged between eight and Fourteen on board a schooner moored at Auckland, New Zealand, and preparing to set off on a six-week vacation. With the exception of the oldest boy Gordon, an American, and Briant and Jack, two French brothers, all the boys are British. While the schooner''s crew are ashore, the moorings are cast off under unknown circumstances and the ship drifts to sea, where it is caught by a storm. Twenty-two days later, the boys find themselves cast upon the shore of an uncharted island, which they name "Chairman Island." They go on many adventures and even catch wild animals while trying to survive. They remain there for the next two years until a passing ship sinks in the close vicinity of the island. The ship had been taken over by mutineers, intent on trafficking weapons, alcohol, and drugs. With the aid of two of the surviving members of the original crew, the boys are able to defeat the mutineers and make their escape from the island, which they find out is close to the Chilean coast (Hanover-Island located at 50°56’ S, 74°47’ W). The struggles for survival and dominance amongst the boys were to be echoed in William Golding''s Lord of the Flies, written some 66 years later.

Two Years'' Vacation

Djinn twins, John and Philippa Gaunt, are off on another trip around the world in book four of the bestselling Children of the Lamp series. It''s a race against time as the twins attempt to save their mother, Layla Gaunt from her destiny of being Blue Djinn of Babylon, save their father, Edward Gaunt, from an aging curse brought from a binding their mother Layla put on their father to make sure the twins were home with him, and museums worldwide from unexplained robberies and bizarre hauntings. As John and Philippa and their friends travel across the globe on their rescue mission, they notice that something very strange is happening: An evil force has woken the terracotta warriors created by an ancient Chinese emperor, and a spell has been cast possessing the soldiers with wicked spirits. Now, the very fate of the world hangs in the balance. It''s up to the twins to solve the mysterious robberies, stop the terracotta warriors, rescue their parents, and save the world before it''s too late.

The Day of the Djinn Warrior

There are four disabled children in a sort of asylum called Bin Linnie Lodge (The Bin to the nurses,or Bin Linnie to the locals of the village) with unique disabilities. They are all given the letter G (standing for Gemini) followed by a number 1-4. However they were given unique names by a nurse they loved, Mrs. Murdoe, Based on their disability. A boy with two layers of skin rather than the usual 7 is named X-Ray, a girl with miniature wings on her back is called Chicken Angel, a boy with weak pulmonaries is called Cough Cough and another girl with no eyes is called Lights Out, or Lolo. As they are kept away from society, they have different names for usual things. The book opens with one of the children''s most hated nurses, Tin Lid, taking away Lolo’s “Pippi” (From context, it is a doll but it seems to also mean child). When Lolo resists, Tin Lid calls in the “Leapords” (Security) to “Trank” (Sedate) her. It is revealed that Tin Lid works for a man called Doctor Dearly, who runs the Bin. The children hate him because Dearly made Mrs Murdoe “go takeaway” (In this instance, it means he sacked her, but it in others, it means dying). Mrs Murdoe then became a spirit guide for the children, along with a law-abiding moose’s head called Moose (As he doesn’t move for them, the children refer to being tired as “moosed” or “moosed out”) and a fast cat called Jack. It’s also revealed that there were other children once, but eventually, they all died and went to the “Sky Boat” (Heaven). Their death was forbade by warts appearing over their bodies (“lumpies”) At one point, a child with two heads is mentioned, but not exposited on. All of the children live their lives in near-identical ways, watching a TV movie called the Natural World, (A running plot point is a leopard attacking a group of monkeys), and looking out of a window, (which isn’t allowed, so they have to hide it) named The Weather Eye. Meanwhile, in the city outside the Bin, a young man named Nail meets a girl called Natalie while trying to steal from her shop. They strike up a relationship, because of each others hatred of society. They do jobs to and from the Bin. Cough Cough is getting weaker, and eventually, slowly goes blind. He has warning against Dearly, saying he is trying to kill them all. He reveals that he has given each of them a syringe and is keeping several pills. The others do not believe him until Dearly takes away books and TV, saying it is bad for their eyes. Dearly exposits to X-Ray that he plans to take one of his eyes and transplant it to CC. However, this is postponed due to X-Ray regurgitating on Dearly. When X-Ray tells CC about this, he explains that he has stashed away four syringes and enough pills to kill all of the nurses, he tells them to escape. Eventually, CC dies during an operation on his eye. X-Ray eventually finds out that CC poisoned himself with some pills and when he explains his theory to Chicken Angel, she tells him that they helped him. Angry, he forgets to hide the Weather Eye, and when Tin Lid sees, she also discovers a diary that CA has been writing in, a coloured pencil to write with, a book and a clock that Lolo calls “Maiden China” (She mishears CC saying what’s written on it earlier on, Made in China). As Tin Lid is about to “trank” Lolo, X-Ray, stabs Tin Lid with her syringe and runs away with CA and Lolo. Meanwhile, Nail and Natalie visit the Bin, Nat finds the children and stows them away in the back of their van. Nat later tells Nail, and listens to the children’s tales of horror inside the Bin. After convincing Nail to take the children to the ocean (where they think they will find the “Sky Boat”) they set out, with Nail still worried that they will be arrested for abduction, paedophilia and possibly murder if they do not cure Lolo’s case of the “lumpies”. On the way, they find Mrs Murdoe’s son, a chief ranger, and X-Ray and CA both get the lumpies. The book ends with them reaching the ocean, and holding hands, waiting for death.

Angel Blood

Adam Reith is stranded on Tschai, a distant planet shared by four alien, mutually hostile, advanced species (the Chasch, Wankh, Dirdir and native Pnume). On his quest to get home, he acquires two human companions, Traz Onmale, a teenage barbarian chieftain, and Ankhe at afram Anacho, an outcast Dirdirman. Reith has failed twice to acquire a spaceship (as recounted in City of the Chasch and Servants of the Wankh). His exploits bring him to the unwanted attention of the Dirdir. As Anacho explains, his former masters are rarely subtle: they want to question and then kill him. Reith manages to wipe out the first "Initiative" sent after him, but sooner or later, there will be a second. He decides to build a ship from scratch, a task requiring vast amounts of sequins, the universal currency of Tschai. The only way to raise that much quickly is to brave the Carabas, the Dirdir hunting preserve, where sequins grow as crystalline nodes. Men prospect for the nodes, while the Dirdir hunt the men. Those they catch, they eat. Reith turns the tables on the Dirdir. He ambushes their hunting parties and takes the sequins they acquired from their victims. When the Dirdir finally take notice, Reith and his friends barely manage to escape, but they have amassed a fortune; in fact, they have so many sequins, they are forced to leave behind a substantial hidden cache. They journey to the cosmopolitan city of Sivishe, where there are shipyards. They find that they must deal with Aila Woudiver, an enormously obese man with monstrous appetites. The construction of the spaceship progresses satisfactorily, but Woudiver demands ever more money, threatening to turn them over to the Dirdir if he is not paid. Finally, Reith has no choice but to go back to the Carabas to retrieve the hidden sequins, leaving Traz and Anacho to keep watch. When he returns however, he finds that Woudiver, who desires above all else to be a Dirdirman, has betrayed Anacho to the Dirdir. Reith risks his life rescuing Anacho. Then he goes to confront Woudiver, but the arch-criminal is too clever for him and all three are handed over to the Dirdir. However, Reith demands arbitration, invoking a tradition too strong for the Dirdir to ignore, even from a "subman". When the judgment goes against him, he challenges the Dirdirman arbitrator. By Dirdir custom, the victor of hand-to-hand combat wins the case. Reith dispatches his foe, only to face a second set of charges. This time, he has to fight a Dirdir. When he forces the creature to concede, Reith and his friends are absolved of all crimes and freed. Needing Woudiver to complete the ship, they do not kill him, but take him captive.

The Dirdir

After the death of his wife and child, Prince Ronan falls into a depression so deep that even a fated encounter with the witch Brume leaves him unmoved. He gives Brume his heart, certain that he no longer needs whatever is left of it, and then wanders through the forests of his country, escaping from an arranged marriage that his parents hope to force him into. In the woods he becomes enchanted by a firebird and relentlessly pursues it, leaving behind his memories in his madness. As her betrothed runs wildly through the wilderness, Princess Sidonie reluctantly leaves her home of Dacia to travel Serre. Her father and his wizard Unciel realize that an alliance between Dacia and Serre will protect their country from war. To aid Sidonie and guard her from Serre''s magic, Unciel arranges another wizard, Gyre, to escort her while Unciel, who is still weak from an earlier battle, and his scribe Euan Ash watch over the events from Dacia. Gyre agrees, but has his own motivation for undertaking the journey. Sidonie encounters the nearly delirious Ronan, though neither know who the other is; Gyre, aware of the prince''s quest, takes advantage of the confused situation to steal Ronan''s identity. With the help of Unciel, who gathers his strength to settle the unfinished business he has with Gyre, Sidonie brings Ronan back from his wanderings and brings peace to both Serre and Dacia.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

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The Chrysalids

By John Wyndham

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin

By Erik Larson

Gunpowder Empire

By Harry Turtledove

Owls in the Family

By Farley Mowat

Three Hands in the Fountain

By Lindsey Davis

Forgive us our Sins

No Author Listed

Shapeshifter's Quest

By Dena Landon

Two Years' Vacation

By Jules Verne

The Day of the Djinn Warrior

By Philip Kerr

Angel Blood

No Author Listed

The Dirdir

By Jack Vance

In the Forests of Serre

By Patricia A. McKillip