A Night in the Lonesome October is narrated from the present-tense point-of-view of Snuff, the dog who is Jack the Ripper''s companion. The bulk of the story takes place in London and its environs, though at one point the story detours through the dream-world described by Lovecraft in The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. Though never explicitly stated, various contextual clues within the story (the most obvious of which being the appearance of Sherlock Holmes (or "The Great Detective") imply that it takes place during the late Victorian period (in actuality, the year 1887 based upon Halloween full moon appearance dates for the London area as confirmed by the Royal Observatory). It is revealed as the story progresses that once every few decades, when the moon is full on the night of Halloween, the fabric of reality thins, and doors may be opened between this world and the realm of the Great Old Ones. When these conditions are right, men and women with occult knowledge may gather at a specific ritual site, to either hold the doors closed, or to help fling them open. Should the Closers win, then the world will remain as it is until the next turning... but should the Openers succeed, then the Great Old Ones will come to Earth, to remake the world in their own image (enslaving or slaughtering the human race in the process). The Openers have never yet won. These meetings are often referred to as "The Game" or "The Great Game" by the participants, who try to keep the goings-on secret from the mundane population. The various "Players" during the Game depicted in the book are archetypal characters from Victorian Era gothic fiction – Jack the Ripper (only ever referred to as "Jack"), Dracula ("The Count"), Victor Frankenstein ("The Good Doctor"), and the Wolf Man (known as "Larry Talbot", the film character''s name) all make appearances. In addition, there is a Witch ("Crazy Jill"), a Clergyman (Vicar Roberts), a Druid ("Owen"), a "Mad Monk" ("Rastov" – clearly modelled after Rasputin), and Hermetic occultists ("Morris and McCab" – often mentioned as a reference to real-life Hermetic of the time MacGregor Mathers). The most unusual aspect of the story is that each Player has a familiar – an animal companion with near-human intelligence which helps complete the numerous preparations required to be ready for the ritual on the final night. The vast majority of the story describes the interactions and discussions of these animals, all from Snuff''s point of view. Throughout the book, the Players slowly take sides (Opener or Closer), form alliances, make deals, oppose one another, and even kill off those who are part of the enemy camp. Events, slow-moving at first, accelerate until the night of October 31st, when the ritual takes place and the fate of the world is decided. A similar theme of the conflict around the opening of a Gate to an older world (also with references to Lovecraft''s work) can be seen in Zelazny''s novel Madwand.

A Night in the Lonesome October

The novel is set in 1963, eighteen years following the end of the alternate World War II shown in the Worldwar series. Earl Warren is President of the United States, Vyacheslav Molotov is the Premier of the Soviet Union, and Heinrich Himmler leads Nazi Germany. Smaller countries remain independent, such as the Republic of Ireland and Imperial Japan, which still controls portions of its World War II-era empire. A few isolated areas are still held by Charles de Gaulle''s Free France, and in German-occupied France the French Resistance remains active. At the start of the novel, the colonization fleet of the Race enters the Solar System, bringing with them eighty to one hundred million colonists for settling on Earth. As the fleet enters Earth orbit, a human satellite unleashes a nuclear attack that kills millions. As Germany, the USSR, and the United States each have large-scale space capability, any of the three nations may have been responsible for the attack. All three deny it when furious Race leaders demand answers, but in truth two of the three human nations are as much unaware of the attacker''s identity as the Race. In addition, while there is peace between the independent human nations and the Race- albeit an uneasy one- Mao Zedong and Ruhollah Khomeini continue to lead popular resistance to the invaders in China and the Middle East, respectively. Race efforts to wage a counter-insurgency war in those regions are frustrated by their lack of familiarity with such warfare and a near-total lack of support from the human population. The Race also becomes aware of subtle support of these resistance movements by Germany, the United States, and the USSR, but as the Race are unable to prove it nothing can be done to stop them. Meanwhile, the Race colonists, who expected to encounter an Earth that was already conquered with the natives still at medieval levels of advancement, have to deal with the consequences of the cold war with the humans. The fleet brings with it not only the first civilians, but also the first Race females, both of which cause tension among the male soldiers who formed the invasion force. To the Race males, ginger is a euphoric drug; to the females, it causes them to go into estrus, throwing Race forces on Earth into social chaos. Worse still for the commanding Fleetlord of the Race forces on Earth is a sharp upswing in armed revolts in the Middle East and in China; at the novel''s end Khomeini''s guerrillas have staged several successful ambushes against Race patrols, while resistance forces under Mao Zedong storm the Forbidden City.

Colonization: Second Contact

The story begins in 1996 on the day that Kamila graduates with her teaching certificate, and the day the Taliban first arrive in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan and home to the Sidiqi family. Inspired by the sharia law of Islam, it would become the doctrine of the Taliban to completely isolate women from society. Women were not permitted to work, attend school, or even leave the house without a male relative, or mahram. Kamila’s father and brothers do not escape persecution either, and are soon forced to flee the city. Unable to teach and desperate to support her family, Kamila masters the art of dressmaking and passes on the skills to her younger sisters. In order to find work for the budding business, Kamila frequently makes the dangerous trek to the market and meets with the owners of local dress shops. Soon the business is growing, and Kamila sees an opportunity to help other women in her community. With the help of her sisters, she opens a tailoring school in their home to teach women how to sew and to give them work once they completed their training. At a time of almost insurmountable poverty, she is able to employ nearly one hundred of her friends and neighbors, all the while escaping the scrutiny of the Taliban.

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana

The main character and the narrator in Armageddon 2419 A.D. is Anthony Rogers, who later appears in the various comic strips, radio shows, and film serials that follow as "Buck Rogers". Rogers recounts the events of the “Second War of Independence” that precedes the first victory of Americans over Hans, in which he plays an important role. Born in 1898, He was a veteran of the Great War (World War I) and was by 1927 working for the American Radioactive Gas Corporation. He was investigating reports of unusual phenomena reported in abandoned coal mines near Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania. On December 15, while investigating one of the lower levels of a mine, there was a cave-in. Exposed to radioactive gas, Rogers fell into "a state of suspended animation, free from the ravages of catabolic processes, and without any apparent effect on physical or mental faculties." Rogers remained in “sleep” for 492 years. He awakes in 2419 and, thinking that he has been asleep for just several hours, wanders for a few days in unfamiliar forests (what had been Pennsylvania almost five centuries before). He finally notices a wounded boy-like-figure, clad in strange clothes and moving in giant leaps, who appears to be under attack by others. He defends the person, killing one of the attackers and scaring off the rest. It turns out that he is helping a girl, Wilma Deering, who, on “air patrol”, was attacked by an enemy gang, the "Bad Bloods", which is presumed to have allied themselves with the Hans. Wilma takes Rogers to her camp, where he is to meet the bosses of her gang. He is invited to stay with their gang or leave and visit other gangs. They hope that Rogers’ experience and knowledge he gained fighting in the First World War may be useful in their struggle with the Hans. Tony stays with the gang for several days, learns about the community life of Americans in the 25th century and makes friends with the people, especially with Wilma, with whom he spends a lot of time. He also experiences a Han air raid, during which he manages to destroy one of the enemy ships. Rogers and his friends hurry to the bosses to report the incident and explain the method he has used when shooting the aircraft. As the raid has caused much destruction, there is suspicion that the location of the gang’s industrial plants may have been revealed to the Hans by rival gangs. They await a fight with the Hans who will likely wish to take revenge for the destruction of their airship. The bosses direct Wilma and Rogers investigate the wreck. While there, a Han party arrives to investigate as well. Thanks to Tony’s quick and wise instructions, he and Wilma manage to escape and also manage to shoot down some more of the Han’s ships. The day after, Wilma and Anthony get married and Tony becomes a member of the gang. Meantime, knowing Rogers’ technique, the other gangs start the hunt for Han ships. The Hans better secure their ships and the Americans need to take up some further steps to have any chances in the fight and to find the traitors quickly. Anthony develops a plan to get the records of the traitorous transaction, which are kept somewhere in the Han city of Nu-Yok. With the help of other gangs, he creates a team that will go with him. They learn that the traitors are the Sinsings, the gang located not far from Nu-Yok. The Americans appreciate Rogers’ courage and brave deeds and, grateful to him, make him the new boss. He instantly reorganizes the governing structures of the gang by creating new offices and makes plans for the battle with the Sinsings, again using the knowledge he gained in the First World War. The raid on Sinsings turns out to be a great success and gives the Americans the confidence in their ability to overcome the Hans.

Armageddon 2419 A.D.

The somewhat autobiographical story describes the life of Barbadian immigrants in Brooklyn during the Great Depression and then in World War II. The primary characters include Selina and Ina Boyce and their parents, who suffer from racism and extreme poverty. The book focuses most directly on the growth and development of the character Selina. The book did not gain widespread recognition until it was reprinted in 1981. The action opens on a discussion of the brownstone neighborhood in which the Boyce family lives. Selina Boyce, age 10, fantasizes about the white family that used to live in her house. The rented house is occupied by the Boyce family, frivolous father Deighton, stern mother Silla and Selina''s older sister, Ina, as well as Suggie Skeete, a Barbadian woman who rents a room and frequently has male visitors. Additionally, a spinster woman and her mother, Maritze and Miss Mary, both white, live upstairs. In the early pages we learn that Ina, Selina''s older sister, has reached puberty and is home sick with what we can assume are menstrual cramps. Understandably, she doesn''t want to talk to Selina or entertain her. Selina finds her father, Deighton, working on some accounting books he''s studying in hopes of getting a job. Deighton tells Selina that he''s been left a plot of land back in Barbados, and he tells her not to tell anyone about it until her mother knows. Selina asks if she can tell her best friend, Beryl, and her dad acquiesces, and gives her some money for candy. On her way to the candy shop, Selina runs into the hyper-sexualized Suggie, as well as another neighborhood woman, Miss Thompson. She also sees Beryl in the park and asks her to stop by later. Seeing her mother coming home, Selina struggles to clean herself up, in fear of being chastised.

Brown Girl, Brownstones

Written as a travelogue, Coasting describes Jonathan Raban''s single-handed 4,000 mile voyage around Britain which he made in 1982 (at the age of 40) in an old restored 32-foot sea-going ketch, the Gosfield Maid. An important point is that Raban sailed with a chart and a hand-bearing compass; he sailed by the look of the coastline. His story takes various digressions, just as his journey does, as he mulls over his childhood as the son of a vicar in the Church of England, and the current state of Britain under Margaret Thatcher during the time of the Falklands War. Chapter Two is a description of the dogged insularity of the Manx, who he compares to the Falkland Islanders, whilst the Isle of Man becomes a metaphor for the insularity of the larger island on which he himself had been brought up and lived up till this point. Raban himself has commented on his own attitude to England and the influence of Margaret Thatcher on Britain at the time of writing his book. The British he sees as being famous for their insular arrogance and condescension. As he describes them: ''They love fine social distinctions and divisions and are snobbishly wedded to an antique system of caste and class ... They are aggressively practical and philistine, with a loud contempt for anything that smells abstract or theoretical. They are a nation of moneygrubbers and bargain-hunters, treasuring peenies for treasuring''s sake...When it comes to sex, they are furtive and hypocritical - and their erotic tastes are known to be extremely peculiar. Many Englishmen will pay a woman to take their trousers down and spank them...For the most part, though, the English, both men and women, are afflicted by such a morbid decay of thei libido that it has always puzzled the rest of the world how the English manage to reproduce themselves at all.'' The author is equally bitter about the dominant, hectoring Mrs Thatcher. Whilst comfortably moored up in the Gosfield Maid on a beautiful stretch of the River Yealm, he tunes in to the House of Commons debate on the Falkland''s invasion. The Prime Minister talks about sovereign territory being invaded by a foreign power, but to Raban ''...her cross, nanny''s voice made it sound as if there had been ructions in the nursery and the children were going to be sent to bed without any tea.'' Equally absurd are the majority of MPs who are baying for Argentian blood. Raban turns his radio off in disgust, ''...sick of the sound of growning men baying like a wolf pack. It wasn''t a debate, it was a verbal bloodletting, with words standing for the guns and bayonets that would come later when the fleet reached the islands.'' and adds, ''Listening to it, I felt that I''d been eavesdropping on the nastier workings of the national subconscious; I''d overheard Britain talking in a dream, and what is was saying scared me stiff.'' And it is his negative feelings towards an increasingly alien Britain under the dominance of Thatcher that finally persuade him to make the decision to leave his homeland, although the paradox is that they share a ike-minded attitude towards its rigid social hierarchy: The book is remarkable for its penetrating and highly perceptive insights into the character and state of the British nation at the time of writing. One also has to greatly admire him for taking on the challenge of a single-handed voyage around the British Isles, a feat that requires great personal courage on the part of the sailor. For most of the book, Raban, rather like Joyce, is able to form an objectively detached view of his country whilst out at sea on board his boat. However, rather than taking the battering ram approach of his eccentric predecessors (men like Middleton, McMullen, and Hilaire Belloc), he uses beautifully crafted language to describe the life of a single-handed sailor in great awe of the sea, with detailed almost lyrical descriptions of the characters he encounters along the way. Two passages that particularly stand out are of Raban''s rather hostile meeting with Paul Theroux at Brighton Marina, himself in the midst of researching a similar book about Britain, and a much friendlier one with Philip Larkin at Hull, a city Raban knows well from his student days while working as a part-time minicab driver.

Coasting

Frisk is narrated by Dennis, who had a troubled childhood. In 1969, aged 13, he was regularly allowed to read pornographic magazines and was particularly affected by snuff pornography, even though he later learns that the pictures were faked. He recognises that Henry, now aged 17, was the 13/14-year-old boy portrayed in the pictures. Dennis is gay and a drug-taker and is devastated when his boyfriend Julian leaves him to go off to France. Dennis takes up with Julian’s younger brother Kevin. The boy is psychologically troubled, yet 18-year-old Dennis involves him in drugs and starts a sexual relationship. In 1989, Julian receives a letter from Dennis describing how he embarked on a sadistic killing spree in Amsterdam. The descriptions in the letter are explicit and the torture and sadism are described in graphic terms. Dennis then meets up with two Germans, tells them what he has done, and they join forces to commit a series of random, motiveless murders. One of the serial killer’s most recent victims was an 11-year-old boy, whom they tortured before mutilating and murdering in Dennis’ home, a converted windmill, two weeks before the letter was written. Julian travels to Amsterdam with Kevin to find out if the murders in the letters are true or just a cruel fantasy.

Frisk

The novel centers on a high school in suburban New Jersey, where students are preparing to vote for their school president. The story takes place in 1992, amidst the U.S. Presidential Elections that year. Tracy Flick is an unpopular girl but very ambitious, intelligent and manipulative; however, she is not quite as perfect as her classmates assume. She had a heated sexual affair with her former teacher, and after Tracy told her mother of their relationship, his career and marriage were ruined. Mr. M, one of Tracy''s current teachers, learns that Tracy is taking part in the election, and feeling that Tracy needs to be taken down a notch, prompts Paul Warren (a student of whom he approves) to run against her. In turn, Paul''s outcast lesbian sister, Tammy, begins a reckless campaign to be school president in retaliation to her ex-girlfriend who is now dating Paul. The novel ends with Mr. M ultimately losing his job as a teacher when it is found that he has sabotaged the election by pocketing Tracy''s winning votes- making Paul the winner of the presidency. Mr. M then ends up working in a car dealership.

Election

The novel begins shortly after the end of Enemy of God. Arthur has taken full control of Dumnonia, Guinevere is imprisoned, Mordred who, while still king, has had his power taken away from him. Lancelot has joined with the Saxons and Derfel is trying to deal with both his daughter''s death and his service to Arthur. Merlin is preparing for Mai Dun, a pagan ceremony that is said will bring the old gods back to Britain. Before the ceremony though Derfel must go and try to make his father Aelle turn against his ally Cerdic. Upon arrival Cerdic demands Derfel''s death but Aelle says his son must fight a Saxon in single combat and if he wins he will be allowed to live. Derfel wins and stays the night but is unable to get his father to stop his attack on Britain. It is finally the time of Mai Dun the ceremony is not completed though due to Arthur realising that Nimue intends to sacrifice his son to bring the gods forth. Finally the Saxons invade, Derfel, who along with Ceinwyn and Guinevere, leads a group of survivors who are trapped at Mount Baddon. Derfel is impressed by Guinevere''s efforts in the battle. Eventually, Arthur arrives along with Saragmor and Cuneglas and manage to win a victory over the Saxons. Derfel eventually finds Aelle and kill him. Lancelot is caught and hanged. Cuneglas is killed in battle and thus Arthur loses one of his greatest allies, also the price Arthur has to pay for Gwent''s help is giving up his power. After gives up his power he leaves Derfel and Saragmor in charge of Dumnonia''s army while Mordred is given back his power. At the same time Mordred goes on war raids later a messenger says he is dying while also being besieged. Derfel trying to avoid a succession issue goes to Arthur. He learns that Arthur does not want to be king but Arthurs son does. Pleased returns to Dumnonia to find Mordred still alive and learns that he faked his injuries and plans to take revenge on both Derfel and Arthur. Derfel manages to escape with the help of Taliesin. Derfel returns to find Ceinwyn is deathly sick, he tries everything to save her, but nothing works. He is taken to meet Nimue who says that she caused Ceinwyn''s sickness and will only remove it if Derfel gives her Arthur''s sword and Arthur''s son. Derfel, having no were else to turn, goes to Morgan who offers to remove the fever if Derfel will agree to convert to Christianity and serve her husband, Sansum. To complete the spell, Derfel''s hand is cut off. Mordred comes for Arthur and faces him at Camlan where Mordred is killed and Arthur is wounded. Derfel stops Nimue by throwing Arthur''s sword into the sea (The English Channel) and watches as his friend and his lord sails away with Guinevere back to Armorica.

Excalibur: A Novel of Arthur

As Christmas approaches Detective Inspector Jack Frost is on the trail of a sensitive case with limited time to solve it. Tracy Uphill, an eight year old child, goes missing after attending Sunday school. It turns out her mother is a prostitute who couldn’t meet her because she was with a client. There are many suspects and characters to trouble DI Frost’s mind including; the mother’s client with a false alibi, the vicar with a penchant for pornography and a local psychic who claims she knows where to find the body of the young girl. At the same time other cases also need to be solved as Frost has to investigate attempted break-ins at a local bank and a 30-year-old skeleton with a severed arm. Detective Constable Clive Barnard, the nephew of the Chief Constable, is another problem Frost faces. While many believe that DC Barnard has only got into CID through his family connections and his all-knowing attitude does not help to improve his image, Frost seems to be the only person understanding the young cop and becomes his mentor.

Frost at Christmas

Brian, who is now sixteen years old, is canoeing through the Canadian wilderness. He realizes that the woods are now his home and he will never be happy in modern society, with its noise, pollution, and fake people. He now spends his time in the wild, hunting, fishing, and home schooling himself. While Brian does not miss human contact, he finds his thoughts frequently turning to Kay-gwa-daush (also known as Susan), the teenage daughter of the Cree family who rescued him at the end of Brian''s Winter. Though he has only seen her photograph, her family has described her as an adventurous, self-reliant young woman, and Brian wonders if she might be a kindred spirit. While canoeing, Brian finds a seriously wounded Malamute dog, which he nurses back to health. The dog is clearly domesticated, and Brian begins to worry that whatever maimed the dog may have done the same to her owners. He remembers his Cree friends and decides to go check on them. When Brian reaches their cabin, he finds that it was a bear that had killed the parents and apparently chased Susan into hiding. Brian returns her to her home, radios for help, and buries the family. The authorities arrive to take Susan to relatives in Winnipeg. Brian, along with the dog, stays behind in order to hunt down and kill the bear, knowing very well that the hunt could cost him his life. Brian, using skills he had learned in past books like Hatchet and Brian''s Winter, searches for the bear that killed his friends. But soon, the hunter becomes the hunted. Brian finds bear tracks on an island and begins to follow them. He later realizes that he was walking in a circle. The bear is actually hunting Brian. The next day, instead of moving on, he waits for the bear, and after a hard fought battle with the bear, Brian is triumphant.

Brian''s Hunt

Sarah Zoltanne is an extra ordinary girl. Her widowed mother, Rosemary, decides to move to Pinecrest because of Ted Thompson. When Sarah starts school as the new pupil, she makes no friends. Eric Garrett convinces Sarah to play a fortune teller at the fortune telling booth. He says it is to benefit the prom and she would be perfect because she is new and almost no one knows her. Sarah accidentally agrees while having a strange vision at home. At the carnival, Kyra feeds her information on the customers coming in. Sarah uses an old paperweight that belonged to her departed parternal grandmother as her crystal ball. The night is going well until Sarah does a reading for an abundantly contoured but likeable boy named Charlie Gorman. When reading for him, she sees a vision in the paperweight of Charlie falling down a flight of stairs. Sarah quickly closes down the booth and leaves. She becomes friends with Charlie, and discovers that he believes in reincarnation and past lives. Sarah starts writing a history paper about the Salem Witch Trials, and begins having dreams and visions in which she is participating in the trials. Charlie tells her he thinks that everyone in the town participated in the trials, and they are back together to finish something. Meanwhile, Eric convinces her to start doing readings as a business, but things start going down hill when Sarah makes the popular cheerleaders angry and keeps seeing visions about people. The cheerleaders become convinced that Sarah is a witch. Sarah receives threats, such as a sketch of a gallows and a dead crow in her locker. In desperation, she goes to the principal, and then Ted and her mother. Neither party does anything to help her. Later, Ted forces Sarah to go to a party with Kyra. Eric comes by to pick up Sarah for the party, but she has changed her mind about it. Eric persuades her to come out and apologize to Kyra, but she is forced into the car and brought to the party. Eric and the others take Sarah to Garrote Hill, in the middle of Pine Crest, where many drunk students are waiting. The students begin acting strangely and calling the place Gallows Hill, the place in Salem, Massachusetts where the witches of the trials were hanged. They try to hang Sarah, but Charlie intervenes, and the students suddenly relive their past lives in Salem before attacking Charlie. Sarah almost ends up getting hanged until Ted saves her. Sarah and Rosemary decide to move back to California, and Sarah realizes that in a past life, she was Betty Parris, the young girl who brought about the Salem Witch Trials. She leaves Charlie with a night of passion, and gives him the paperweight. It was once cloudy, but now it is ''clear and transparent as window glass''.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

A Night in the Lonesome October

By Roger Zelazny

Colonization: Second Contact

By Harry Turtledove

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana

By Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

Armageddon 2419 A.D.

By Philip Francis Nowlan

Brown Girl, Brownstones

By Paule Marshall

Coasting

By Jonathan Raban

Frisk

By Dennis Cooper

Election

By Tom Perrotta

Excalibur: A Novel of Arthur

By Bernard Cornwell

Frost at Christmas

By R. D. Wingfield

Brian's Hunt

By Gary Paulsen

Gallows Hill

By Lois Duncan