The story begins with a pretty young heiress and her uncle seated outside their summer home on Spanish Cape, escaping the guests at her parents'' house party. Suddenly a one-eyed giant bursts onto the scene and kidnaps them, misidentifying the uncle as John Marco, a house guest. The giant removes them both, ties the heiress to a chair in an empty neighbouring home, and disappears with the uncle. Ellery Queen and a friend arrive at the neighbouring home in the morning and release the heiress, but by the time they can return her to her home, Marco has been found on the terrace, strangled, and nude except for an enveloping opera cape. The house party and the household contain many people who had good reason to want the victim out of the way, some because he was blackmailing them. As Ellery is investigating the crime, another household member commits suicide out of sheer desperation at the potential revelation of a dread secret. By the time the uncle escapes his captor and swims to shore, Ellery is ready to reveal the identity of the murderer and the reason for the victim''s nudity in a dramatic final scene.

The Spanish Cape Mystery

The Miserable Mill. begins with Sunny, Klaus and Violet Baudelaire traveling on a train heading for Paltryville, the location of the children''s new home, the Lucky Smells Lumbermill. Along the way, the children see a building in the shape of an eye. Upon arrival, the children learn that they will have to work at the mill, but as part of the deal, their new guardian, Sir (they call him Sir because his name was so long that nobody pronounces it right), will try to keep Count Olaf, their nemesis, away. They meet Sir''s partner, Charles, who shows them the library, which contains three books, one about the history of the lumbermill, one about the town constitution, and one donated by Dr. Orwell, the local optometrist, who lives in the eye shaped building. Klaus breaks his own glasses when he is purposely tripped by the new foreman, Flacutono, and is sent to see Dr. Orwell. When Klaus returns, hours later, he acts very strangely, as if in a trance. The next day in the lumbermill, the foreman wakes Klaus, telling him to get to work, which Klaus does immediately, and does not even bother to put his shoes or socks on. Flacutono instructs Klaus to operate a stamping machine. Klaus causes an accident by dropping the machine on Phil, an optimistic coworker. The Foremen says an unfamiliar word, the other workers ask what it means and Klaus, who is suddenly back to normal, defines the word. Klaus explains that he doesn''t remember what happened between when he broke his glasses and waking up in the mill. Foreman Flacutono trips him again, once again causing his glasses to break. This time though, Violet and Sunny accompany Klaus to Dr. Orwell''s office. Together, they arrive at the eye-shaped building. They knock on the door and Dr. Orwell opens it. She is seemingly pleasant, and tells Violet and Sunny to sit in the waiting room. She mentions "attracting flies with honey". Violet and Sunny wonder about this before finding Count Olaf disguised as Shirley, a female receptionist, with tights having eyes all over them and a name-plate spelled out with gum. Violet realizes that Dr. Orwell is the "honey" and that they have been the "flies". She also learns that Klaus has been (and is being) hypnotized by Orwell, who is in cahoots with Olaf. They leave with Klaus, who is once again in a trance. When they return to the lumbermill, they find a note instructing them to see Sir. He tells them that if there is another accident, he''ll place them under Shirley''s care. Violet and Sunny put Klaus to bed (he remains barefoot), and then go to the mill''s library. They read the book donated by Orwell, using the table of contents to find a chapter on hypnotism among the other chapters on eyes. Violet learns that Orwell''s technique uses a command word to control the subject and an "unhypnotize" word. They then hear the lumbermill starting early, and rush to see what is happening. They find Charles strapped to a log which Klaus is pushing through a buzz saw, and Foreman Flacutono giving orders. The girls move to stop them but see Klaus'' bare feet, a clue that he has been hypnotised out of bed yet again. Violet learns the command word (Lucky), and orders Klaus to release Charles but Flacutono orders him to continue. Shirley and Orwell arrive and the latter orders Klaus to ignore his sisters. Violet remembers, and says, the word with which Phil unhypnotized Klaus (inordinate) just in time. Sunny and Orwell have a fight, with swords and teeth, and Orwell falls into the path of the buzz saw, and is gruesomely killed. Violet is caught by Shirley and Flacutono. Klaus manages to set Charles free. About that time, Mr. Poe and Sir arrive, and the Baudelaires explain to them what has happened. Shirley/Count Olaf is locked in the library but escapes out the window. Sir relinquishes the Baudelaires from his care, to be sent to the boarding school Prufrock Preparatory School where they have more encounters with Count Olaf.

The Miserable Mill

The book is divided into two parts. In the first part, Cytowic describes his chance encounter during a dinner party on February 10, 1980 with MW, the "Man Who Tasted Shapes." Cytowic describes how his host reported that "There aren''t enough points on the chicken!" and how this chance comment led to Cytowic''s investigations of the neurological phenomenon of synesthesia. Early chapters include background information on how the brain is organized, drawn mainly from Paul D. MacLean''s Triune Brain theory. Cytowic describes MW''s synesthesia, noting the consistency of his reports, that such experiences are "generic" and consistent over time. Chapters dealing with more scientific theories, data and experimentation are alternated with autobiographical and more personal chapters describing the historical details of Cytowic''s investigations into synesthesia. In order to explore the biological basis of synesthesia, Cytowic describes experiments in which he tested how MW''s synesthesia was reduced by MW''s daily routine of stimulants such as nicotine and caffeine and depressants such as alcohol. In more intensive investigations of the effects of different psychoactive substances, Cytowic notes that stimulants, including a dose of amphetamine decreased the strength of MW''s synesthesia, while amyl nitrite increased the strength of MW''s synesthesia. For example, MW reports that mint feels like a cool glass column, but that amyl nitrite led him to feel as if he were placing his hand among many glass columns. Cytowic also summarizes work done with functional neuroimaging which showed unusually low cortical activation in MW. Based on these results, Cytowic proposes a theory in which synesthesia is a result of unusual processing in the limbic system and an overall decrease in cortical activation. In later chapters, Cytowic reports on his efforts to make synesthesia more widely known, on the experiences of many other synesthetes who have contacted him, and how synesthesia affects their lives. Cytowic describes how an article about his work on synesthesia in the tabloid The National Enquirer, which are "not known to help one''s career" led to his first contacts with synesthetes beyond MW These personal accounts of synesthesia, described here in more autobiographical style, also form the basis of Cytowic''s more detailed scientific book, Synesthesia: A Union of the Senses. Additionally, Cytowic discusses the links between synesthesia and memory, as first noted in Alexander Luria''s book The Mind of Mnemonist about Solomon Shereshevskii, a Russian mnemonist who also experienced fivefold synesthesia. In the second part of the book, entitled "Essays on the Primacy of Emotion", Cytowic presents a number of his reflections on what the phenomenon of synesthesia means for traditional neuroscientific and neurological practice, how anomalous findings can lead to major scientific discoveries, and the role that emotion plays in our understanding of the world around us.

The Man Who Tasted Shapes

After failing miserably to pick up a girl at his locker, Marco is stymied to find a boy carrying the morphing cube, known as the Escafil Device. Marco introduces himself to the new boy, David, and lamely tries to buy the Box off him, but David ignores him. Marco tells Jake about it, and both agree that the situation needs to be taken care of immediately. But that''s not the only surprise in store for them. Erek the Chee tells them that a group of G8 leaders (including those from Britain, France, Russia, Japan, Germany, and the U.S.) are gathering at the Marriott Hotel resort on the city coast to discuss the problems in the Middle East. Erek also tells them that the Yeerks are plotting to infest each leader, and soon the most powerful nations in the world would be under Yeerk influence. The biggest problem is that one of these heads of state is already a Controller. Now the Animorphs need two plans: one to retrieve the Blue Box, and another to stop the Yeerks from taking over the world. Marco, Tobias and Rachel try to raid David''s house in bird of prey morphs. Unfortunately, it fails miserably. Tobias is knocked unconscious, Marco is attacked by David''s cat, and Rachel gets shot at by David and his BB gun. The next day at school, David tells Marco his seemingly ridiculous story about trained robber birds, and discusses his plan to sell the Blue Box online. Marco immediately skips the rest of the school day in order to stop the automatic E-mail David has set up from going out. During school, Marco takes Ax with him to stop David''s E-mail from being sent. Unfortunately, they''re too late, due to David''s computer''s clock being an hour fast. Marco acquires Spawn, David''s contraband, defanged cobra. Visser Three storms into David''s house with a team of Hork-Bajir. A fight ensues between the Yeerks and the Animorphs, destroying David''s house. Rachel, in bear morph, rams David out the window, and the Animorphs retreat. The Yeerks withdraw with David''s mother and father. The Animorphs are unsure of what to do with David; although Ax draws attention to the fact that they can use the box to give him the power to morph, the Animorphs vote on whether or not to do it. Marco and Ax decide that they cannot risk recruiting David, given his strange behaviour and their lack of knowledge of him. Tobias votes to take him in out of moral concern, while Rachel and Cassie decide that David might be their ticket to recruiting more Animorphs. With Marco and Ax outvoted, they reveal to David the Yeerk invasion and give him the morphing power. From the very beginning of the debacle, David displays his eagerness to kill, and disobeys Jake''s orders. David also does not seem concerned enough about his parents being Controllers. On the way to the Marriott resort, David indiscriminately kills a crow, although he passes it off as his morph''s instincts taking control. As they near the resort, they spot the Blade Ship taking the Marine One helicopter hostage. The Animorphs, fearing that the Yeerks have captured the President of the United States, enter the Visser''s ship. The Animorphs are then discovered in cockroach morph, and end up falling out of the Blade Ship, and down into the ocean... *David is introduced. *David receives the ability to morph and becomes an official member of the Animorphs team. *This book begins to hint at David''s reckless behavior. Scholastic will re-release this book with a lenticular cover in October 2014.

The Discovery

Zoo City is set in an alternate version of the South African city of Johannesburg, in which people who have committed a crime are magically attached to an animal familiar &ndash; those who receive such punishment are said to be "animalled". The novel''s chief protagonist, Zinzi December &ndash; who was "animalled" to a sloth after getting her brother killed &ndash; is a former journalist and recovering drug addict, and is attempting to repay the financial debt she owes her drug dealer by charging people for her special skill of finding lost objects, as well as making use of her writing abilities by drafting 419 fraud emails. The book''s plot focuses on Zinzi''s attempts to find the missing female member of a brother-and-sister pop duo for a music producer, in return for the money she needs to fully repay her dealer. Being animalled is described as an automatic consequence &ndash; not just in South Africa, but for all humans worldwide &ndash; of bearing a significant amount of guilt. The distinction between moral and legal culpability is unclear, as is the threshold which triggers animalling; however, being responsible for the death of another human is a definite trigger. Every animal gives its ''owner'' a different psychic power; however, the owner must stay close to the animal at all times, or be subject to debilitating panic attacks, nausea, and other withdrawal symptoms. The animals are not limited by the normal lifespans of their species, but can die by violence; should the animal die, the owner will be torn to shreds by a mysterious dark cloud within minutes.

Zoo City

The tale is set in a forest and begins with "once upon a time". Timmy Tiptoes is "a little fat comfortable grey squirrel" living in a nest thatched with leaves in the top of a tall tree with his little wife, Goody. Over the course of several days, the two collect nuts in their little sacks for the coming winter and spring, and store the nuts in hollow tree stumps near their home. Timmy wears a red jacket he removes while working, and his wife wears a pink dress and apron. When the stumps are full, the couple make use of a tree-hole that once belonged to a woodpecker. The nuts rattle "down &ndash; down &ndash; down inside", and Goody wonders how they will ever retrieve them. Timmy reminds her he will be much thinner by springtime and will be able to pass through the little hole. In an aside, the narrator tells the reader that the couple had great quantities of nuts because they never lost them, noting that most squirrels lose half their nuts because they cannot remember where they buried them. Silvertail is the most forgetful of squirrels in the wood, and, while trying to find his nuts, digs up another squirrel''s hoard. A commotion erupts among the nutting squirrels, and, as ill luck would have it, a flock of birds fly by singing "Who''s bin digging-up my nuts?" and "Little bit-a-bread and-no-cheese!" One bird finds a perch in the bush where Timmy is working and continues to sing about digging up nuts. The other squirrels take notice, suspect Timmy of robbing others of their hoards, rush upon him, scratch and cuff him, chase him up a tree, and stuff him with great difficulty through the woodpecker''s hole. Silvertail suggests they leave him there until he confesses. Timmy lays "stunned and still" on the peck of nuts he has stored in the hollow tree while Goody searches fruitlessly for him. Eventually, Timmy stirs and discovers himself in a mossy little bed surrounded by ample provisions. Chippy Hackee, a small striped chipmunk, tends him with kindness, mentioning that it has been raining nuts through the top of tree and he has also "found a few buried". The chipmunk coaxes Timmy to eat the nuts and Timmy grows "fatter and fatter!" Goody is very concerned about her husband''s disappearance, but has gone back to work collecting nuts and hiding them under a tree root. Mrs. Hackee, Chippy''s wife, emerges from beneath the root to demand an explanation regarding the shower of nuts into her home. Eventually, the two ladies complain about their runaway husbands, but the chipmunk knows where her husband is camping-out because a little bird has told her. Together, they hurry to the woodpecker''s hole and hear their husbands deep within the tree singing: :"My little old man and I fell out, :How shall we bring this matter about? :Bring it about as well as you can, :And get you gone, you little old man!" Mrs. Hackee refuses to enter the tree because her husband bites, but Goody calls to her husband and he comes to the hole with a kiss for her. He is too fat to squeeze through the hole, but Chippy Hackee (who is not too fat) refuses to leave and remains below chuckling. A fortnight later, a big wind blows off the top of the tree, and Timmy makes his escape. He hurries home through the rain, huddling under an umbrella with his wife. Chippy Hackee continues to camp-out in the tree stump for another week, but a bear-looking creature comes lumbering through the neighbourhood (looking for nuts perhaps?) and Chippy decides it''s time to hurry home. He suffers a cold in his head and is quite uncomfortable. Timmy now keeps the family nuts "fastened up with a little padlock", and Goody is seen in the accompanying illustration sitting outside the nest tending three tiny babies. "And whenever that little bird sees the Chipmunks, he sings &ndash; ''Who''s-been-digging-up my-nuts? Who''s been digging-up my-nuts?'' But nobody ever answers!" Chippy Hackee and his wife are seen in the last illustration trying to drive the little bird away with their tree-leaf umbrella. Potter''s idea to make the squirrel grow so fat he cannot escape the tree was imitated by A. A. Milne in Winnie the Pooh.

The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes

As Holly points out, the story is told from She’s perspective, and since She claims to have lived for over two thousand years, since Ancient Egypt, there is no way to compare her story with any other sources, or witnesses. She Who Must Be Obeyed says that she was Arabian, by birth; and, given the name Ayesha. Although, in the introduction, Sir H. Rider Haggard, links the name Ayesha to Mohammed''s wives, and Arabic or Arabic names, (Arabic: عائشة‎, Āʾisha), stating that it should be pronounced "Ash/ -ha"; A·ye·sha/ äˈ(y)ēSHə/, is perhaps more common. She claims that her natural beauty and wisdom was so great, it caused wars between the princes, who wanted to marry her. She says that while this was at first a great source of pride among her Father’s people, they soon began to resent her, and spread vicious rumours that she was cursed. Ayesha leads her Father’s people into victory, and revels in the battle; but, the women envy her, and the men lust after her. So, she decides to go into hiding, with her tutor, an Egyptian priest; rather than be turned over to the approaching armies of Pharaoh. She tells about travelling through the ancient world, encountering all the major artists, who want her to model for them; as well as philosophers, and religions of the time, from Ancient Greece and fledgling Ancient Rome to Palestine and Jerusalem. Finally, they return to Egypt, where once again, her beauty and wisdom become a source of contention. She swears an oath of celibacy, to serve Isis the Goddess of the Spirit of Nature, and turn away from Aphrodite the Goddess of Love. But, soon a Greek soldier of fortune, Kallikrates, formerly employed by the Pharaoh comes to her, for sanctuary. He takes an oath to serve Isis; but, the Pharaoh’s daughter pursues him; and, seeing the way Ayesha looks at him, she determines to destroy her, as a rival. The Princess mocks Ayesha’s prophecies as mere parlor tricks. She goads her Father into giving Ayesha away, as a sex slave, to one of his allies. Repeatedly, Ayesha is in danger; but, even in the midst of fire and battle, Isis and her followers save her from ruin and rape. Ayesha’s fame grows so great, that she is called “Isis Come To Earth” and “Wisdom’s Daughter”. Finally, the King of Kings, of the Persian Empire, comes to see her. He laughs that anyone would be afraid of what must be an old hag, as Isis’s Priestess. He spits on Isis’s statues, and burns the old gods. However, again her beauty, which the King glimpses beneath her veil; betrays her; and, he determines to rape her, with the rest of the country. Isis saves her; and, they escape, to reunite with her old Captain, Kallikrates, and the Princess. Ayesha is inspired that Isis wants to rebuild her cult and usher in a new Golden Age, in the world, through herself. She is led to the hidden kingdom of Kor, in Africa, to begin. Once there, Ayesha meets her former tutor, who has been guarding The Flame of Eternal Life, which will make a person young and powerful, for as long as the world endures. He passes this one last mystery onto Ayesha, warning her of its temptation to her vanity. The Princess mocks Ayesha’s fading youth; and feeling ashamed, in front of Kallikrates, Ayesha determines to break her oaths, and make herself and him both immortal, to rule the world, like Gods, by stepping into The Flame. This way she feels she will be as "Isis Come To Earth", indeed. But, "Wisdom''s Daughter" is Fortune''s Fool, and falls by Love''s Folly. Kallikrates is afraid when he sees Ayesha, in her preternatural beauty, after she has bathed in The Flame; and, dies. The others either flee in terror or are killed, overwhelmed by her beauty. Aphrodite laughs at her, and Isis. Now, Ayesha cannot die, or her will be opposed. She is as terrible, beautiful, and deadly as lightning. After Kallikrates'' death, the Princess flees, urging Leo’s ancestors to revenge themselves on She, through the artifacts, she passes down, which Holly and Leo find, in the first book, She: A History of Adventure. Ayesha is doomed to wait, in Kor, for his return, through the centuries, becoming weary of the world. She has learned everything the world and Nature has to offer; but, still she must wait, for love and redemption.

Wisdom''s Daughter

Fatty is made the leader of the Five Find Outers, as he explains that he has been studying how to The Five have fun with Fatty''s new techniques, particularly disguises. Pip disguises himself with a wig and some sticking out teeth and attracts the attention of Mr Goon, who chases him across the village. In an attempt to escape Mr Goon, Pip runs into the grounds of an empty house and climbs a tree. He is very surprised to see a fully furnished room at the top of an otherwise empty and apparently abandoned house. The Find Outers get to work to discover who owns Milton House, and why there is an apparently secret room. Who uses it and why? The children trace the owner of the house to the blandly named "John Henry Smith", who lives an a distant town. Fatty telephones Mr Smith and alerts him to the fact that someone knows about the secret room. Expecting the mysterious Mr Smith to come to Peterswood and check out what is happening at Milton House, Fatty disguises himself with his wig and teeth and goes to the house at midnight. He manages to get inside and discovers a notebook written in code in the secret room. However, he is captured by the men - who are foreigners - and forced to write a letter to the other children, to try to trap them inside the house. Fatty writes a note, but he writes another, secret note in invisible ink, warning the children and telling them to call the police. Luckily, Bets notices that Fatty''s note smells of oranges - orange juice was used as the secret ink - and the others realise the danger Fatty is in, and telephone their favourite policeman, Inspector Jenks. Meanwhile, Fatty escapes from a locked room and manages to meet Inspector Jenks outside the house and hand him the code book. The police round up the villains - international thieves - and all is well.

The Mystery of the Secret Room

Bobby and Courtney arrive on Third Earth only to find that it has changed quite noticeably. Patrick, the local Traveler, arrives and takes them to the library to find out about their friend Mark, whom they believe is on First Earth. Startlingly, information pertaining to Mark originates from both First Earth and Second Earth. Both sources tell of him disappearing. In the flume, on First Earth November 1, 1937, Courtney and Bobby run into a dado (a type of android) in ragged clothing. Bobby tells Courtney to escape while he fights it off. Soon the dado backs into the tunnel and into an oncoming train. The dado is torn in half. Bobby takes the pieces to the flume and sends it back to Quillan. Then Bobby goes to First Earth to find Mark but he knows that Ibara needs him so he goes there and leaves Courtney behind. Bobby is in Ibara, the next territory he must save from Saint Dane''s plans. Though the people there live simply, by growing or fishing for their food and living in grass huts, there are signs of advanced civilization, including artificial lights and other technological advances. No one, whether out of ignorance or desire to conceal, can explain these anachronisms. Bobby meets the Jakills, a group of teens outside of the main social group, who are determined to discover the truth of Ibara''s unusual character. Leading them is Siry, Remudi''s son. Bobby agrees to join the Jakills after proving his skills against a group of Flighters (humanoids that attack Ibara relentlessly). Together the Jakills and Bobby steal a ship and set off to find the truth. They eventually land in a city known as Rubity, a city far away from Rayne. Bobby, Siry, and a few of the Jakills explore Rubity. After a while, Bobby discovers that Ibara is a manifest future version of Veelox/an island on the territory Veelox and that Rubity is Rubic City, 300 years after Bobby failed to stop Saint Dane from causing chaos there. The Flighters attack them as they find this out, however, and only Bobby and Siry make it back to the ship, which they find is burning. They believe that most of the Jakills are killed, apparently leaving only Bobby and Siry alive. They escape from the enraged Flighters, only to meet Saint Dane in the now abandoned Lifelight pyramid. Aja Killian''s journal is interrupted by Saint Dane. Bobby then finds out that the Jakills'' name comes from Aja Killian [aJAKILLian] and that Flighters were the people who didn''t leave Lifelight [liFeLIGHTERS]. Saint Dane reveals that he is bringing an army of tens of thousands of dados to Ibara to make Veelox''s second turning point a disaster. Bobby and Siry barely escape on Skimmers, which are high speed boats from Cloral, brought by Saint Dane. The two of them get back to Ibara and tell the ruling Tribunal what has happened. The Tribunal then reveals that the ship that the Jakills stole was one of ten ships that they were going to use to repopulate Veelox. After sending them out early, the ships are destroyed by Flighters, and the threat of the impeding army looms on the horizon. Bobby and Siry travel to Veelox to obtain maps of Ibara from Aja Killian. They then go to Zadaa to borrow a dygo, then to Denduron in order to unearth the explosive tak. When they leave, the Traveler Alder goes with them. Bobby then goes to Quillan alone in order to get the black dado-killing rods for extra protection. After a gigantic battle with archers firing tak at the dados, it appears that the battle is won. When a second wave of dados arrive, Bobby throws almost all the tak they have left in an underground tunnel and lures the army over it. As he is about to detonate the tak, Saint Dane catches up with Bobby and has a fight with him, in which he reveals that there is a "King of the territories", and that he wants to be it. When Bobby asks who the king is now, Saint Dane merely says, "And now you see the truth..." Siry arrives in time to prevent Bobby from being killed, and Bobby blows up the tak bomb. The dado army is destroyed but as they begin to celebrate, Bobby decides that the time has come to go after Saint Dane. Bobby goes with Siry and Alder to take the various things they had taken from the other territories back to their places of origin. After they leave, Bobby destroys the flume with a tak arrow, trapping both himself and Saint Dane on Ibara. Bobby hopes that this means Halla is safe. In the final chapter, however, Saint Dane and his accomplice Nevva Winter speak on top of the Lifelight pyramid. By unearthing the tak, Bobby has doomed Denduron. Just as Saint Dane had said long ago, Denduron would be the first territory to fall. It is revealed that Saint Dane has more power in realizing the future of Halla than thought, and that Telleo is actually Nevva Winter in disguise.

Pendragon Book 8

Guy Mannering, after leaving Oxford, had been Mr Godfrey Bertram''s guest on the night of his son''s birth, when he made acquaintance with Dominie Sampson, and with Meg Merrilies, who came to tell the infant''s fortune. The young student, however, offered to do this from the stars, and predicted that three periods of the boy''s life would be very hazardous. Five years afterwards he was kidnapped while riding with Kennedy, whose dead body was found on the beach; and the same night, after giving birth to a daughter, Mrs Bertram left her husband a widower. Sixteen more years had elapsed when Colonel Mannering returned from India just in time to be present at his friend''s death, and Glossin, who had been concerned in Harry''s abduction, became the possessor of the Ellangowan estate. Lucy and the dominie accepted the hospitality of Mr and Mrs MacMorlan; but the colonel, having learnt from Mr Mervyn, at whose house his daughter was staying, that she had a lover, who afterwards proved to be Brown, hired a house in the neighbourhood of Kippletringan, and invited Miss Bertram to be Julia''s companion, and the tutor his librarian. As he was following Miss Mannering to Scotland, the smuggler Brown, whom the colonel believed he had shot in a duel in India, dined with the farmer Dinmont at an inn, where he also met Meg Merrilies, who recognised him; and, having rescued the farmer from some robbers, he spent a few days at his house. Proceeding on his journey, he came to a ruined hut, in which the gipsy was tending a dying man; and, hidden by her, he saw a gang of ruffians divide the contents of his portmanteau, and bury their comrade. When they had gone she pointed out his road, and gave him a purse, exacting at the same time a promise that he would come with her whenever she called for him. Writing to a friend, Julia made great fun of the dominie''s peculiarities, and mentioned Lucy''s discouragement of young Hazlewood because she had no fortune. In her next letter she described an attack upon their house at Woodbourne by smugglers; and in another the sudden appearance of Brown, who had wounded Hazlewood and escaped. The attorney Glossin, now a justice of the peace, was indefatigable in endeavouring to trace him, and heard with pleasure that MacGuffog had a man in custody. He, however, was Hatteraick, in whose smuggling ventures the attorney had largely shared, and who told him that Harry Bertram was in the neighbourhood. Having connived at his escape from custody, Glossin met him in a cave, and learnt that the young heir had been carried to Holland, where he was adopted by a merchant named Vanbeest, who afterwards sent him to India. The attorney then called at Woodbourne to announce that Miss Bertram had left her fortune to Lucy, and the colonel at once started with the dominie to Edinburgh, to place the matter in the advocate Mr Pleydell''s hands. Harry had retreated to Cumberland, but he managed to correspond with Julia; and, having returned to Ellangowan, he was wandering among the ruins when he encountered Glossin, who had him arrested for shooting at Hazlewood, and lodged in the bridewell (small prison) adjoining the custom-house at Portanferry. Here he was visited by Dinmont, who had heard from Gabriel of his being in trouble, and was allowed to pass the night with him. Meanwhile Meg Merrilies had sent a paper to the colonel by the dominie, and urged young Hazlewood to cause the soldiers who had been withdrawn from Portanferry to be sent back there instantly. During the night the custom-house was fired by a gang of ruffians; but one of them helped Bertram and his friend to escape, and led them to a carriage, which conveyed them to Woodbourne, where Mr Pleydell had previously arrived. Having been recognised by the colonel as Brown, and questioned by the lawyer, his identity as the heir of Ellangowan was established, and he was hugged by the dominie as his little Harry. The next morning Lucy embraced her long-lost brother, and Julia acknowledged him as her lover. As he was walking with them, Meg Merrilies sent Dinmont to claim Bertram''s compliance with his promise to her; and, followed also by Hazlewood, she led the way to a room where she armed them, and thence to the smugglers'' cave, where, after a struggle, in which the gipsy was mortally wounded, they seized Hatteraick and handed him over to the village constables. Meg''s dying revelations furnished sufficient evidence for arresting Glossin, who, by bribing the jailer, obtained access to the smuggler''s cell, where he was found strangled, and his accomplice in crime committed suicide. Having recovered the property of his ancestors, Harry Bertram was able to discharge all his father''s debts, and, with the help of Julia''s dowry, to erect a new mansion, which contained a snug chamber called "Mr Sampson''s apartment." His aunt''s estate also reverted to him, but he resigned it to his sister on her marriage with Hazlewood.

Guy Mannering

Santee St. John is a reporter for NewsReal, a shock site for which he records video via a virtual “interface” allowing viewers to actually experience his recordings on the World Wide Web. He is sent to record a massacre of indigenous people being attacked at Chiapas, Mexico without warning by landowners working for capitalist corporations. However, due to a business deal with Mexico’s government, NewsReal decides not to show the story, prompting Santee to take a sabbatical. While on sabbatical, he meets Margaret Mayfield, a rebel Zapatista with whom he is swayed to travel with and, eventually, fall in love with and decide to fight against the capitalist elite. St. John and Mayfield decide to join a group called Intrepid Explorers, working for the corporations, in order to find a strong group of Zapatistas to join. They are met by an individual claiming to be Subcomandante Marcos, the first revolutionary to use cyberspace, who helped Santee and Margaret establish a plan: to give the rebel victims of the capitalists’ massacres interfaces, which will allow the entire world to experience their sufferings via the World Wide Web by actually taking on all sense perceptions of that person through a completely realistic virtual reality simulator. Margaret Mayfield went on her part of the mission with Webster Webfoot, who used to be one of the most highly rated internet stars but became a “webkicker” and now tries to avoid using an interface whenever possible. However, once there, she is told that Santee is dead and that the funeral will be held the very next day; she and Webster travel to Chiapas, where the funeral is to be held, and discover that Santee is not actually dead, but that someone has faked his demise. Margaret abandons Webster, leaving him some cash for travel, and travels with a hotel owner named Zack Hayman who seems to have an inside connection with the conspirators. In Chiapas, Margaret discovers that Santee left her a personalized interface, which cannot be activated until Santee is actually present. At the same time, Webster’s girlfriend on the internet, Starchilde or “Starr” for short, discovers through her work on a space station that there exists oil on Mars, which means that biological extraterrestrial life must have existed on the planet at some point, as well as that Mexican rebels are being shipped to Mars in order to harvest the oil. Back on Earth, Zack, the hotel manager whom Margaret is with, discovered that the rebels are being sent to Mars in part so that the rich landowners can take their land without resistance. Santee and Margaret believed that they were setting up the victims with interfaces so that they would be able to show their sufferings to others outside of Mexico, but in fact the interfaces were going to make them think that they were receiving messages from Santee, while they were actually going to be tricked to going to Mars as slave labor. On the ship near Mars, Starr discovers that the slaves are to be sent to Mars in order to live there for a time and scout out any biological hazards or chemical hazards. Starr meets an intelligent AI, called Alice Irene, who serves as a literal deus ex machine. Starr convinces Alice Irene to join the cause of the rebels by having her examine the entire Internet and come to her own conclusions about the corruption of the current capitalist regime. Starr was given control of the ship, and the Zapatistas took control with the assistance of Alice Irene. The revolutionaries were given the option to stay on Earth or go to Mars, but as a form of utopian paradise rather than as slave labor. Santee St. John and Margaret Mayfield chose to stay on earth, while the remaining main characters chose life on Mars.

The Fourth World

The story is told by the 10-year old protagonist, Johnny Briggs, who receives an army of toy nutcracker men from his father, a toymaker. The battles that take place during the first World War seem eerily similar to the battles that Johnny enacts with his nutcracker soldiers, and Johnny eventually comes to think that he is controlling the outcome of the war with every battle that he plays out. The part of the story taking place in France where Johnny''s father has enlisted is told mainly through letters sent back home to his family. Through the letters it is possible to tell that the novel takes place from around October 25 until December 26, 1914. At the beginning of the book Johnny and his family live in London, however Johnny is sent to live with his Aunt Ivy in the town of Cliffe soon after his father enlists. His mother moves to the town of Woolwich, also sending letters to Johnny every chapter, to help support the war by getting a job making weaponry in a factory. A main theme of the book is the pointlessness and irrationality of war. After the protagonist, Johnny Briggs, misses school for two days in order to have more time to build his Guy Fawkes, he is forced to spend every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon at his teacher''s house. There, his teacher, Mr. Tuttle, tutors him on classic literature, mainly the Iliad. They both draw direct parallels between the events of World War I and the events of Homer''s novel. It is during the beginning of the book that he is bullied, but when saved by Sarah is entirely ungrateful and says "a girl for a friend is like no friend at all." This is why he leaves the school. When she saves him from being thrown in the fire he starts to see her as a friend. At the beginning of the book, Johnny''s father appears enthusiastic about going to war, so much that at the beginning he is frustrated that he lacks the half-inch of height required to enlist. After the required height is lowered, he joins the war and is moved to the front line afterward. As the war continues, it takes its toll on Johnny''s father''s health, physique, and mentality. Johnny''s father sends his son a newly whittled and painted soldier with every letter, but his creations appear increasingly grotesque throughout the book. This is reflected in the model of himself that he had sent. The brown paint of his clothes turns a moldy green, the wide grin on its face fades to a grim, mournful expression, a hairline crack comes down his chest, and a knothole begins to form in its chest. The book comes to a close when Johnny stops playing with his nutcracker soldiers, and brings them together for the Christmas Truce of 1914. The war continues without Johnny''s interference, and his father returns four years later in 1918. Johnny''s mother dies from sulfur poisoning in 1923, demonstrating that some of the most valiant sacrifices of World War I came not from the front lines, but from the work force at home.

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