In 1953 the East coast of England was stuck by one of the worst storms of the century. In response to this, the Thames Flood Barrier was opened in 1984, to protect London from the danger. However global warming has resulted in raising sea levels, higher waves and more frequent extreme weather. Londoners have become complacent, thinking that the flood barrier will protect them. The events will prove them wrong. The Prime Minister is out of the country, leaving Deputy Prime Minister, and Home Secretary Venita Maitland in charge. As the danger signs mount up, officials at all levels of the government are reluctant to take the necessary precautions, relying on margins of error, earlier missed predictions and fearing the consequences of an unnecessary evacuation. A storm rages over the north of Britain, a troop carrier founders in the Irish Sea, flood indicators go off the scale, the seas are mountainous and a spring tide is about to strike the East Coast. Air sea rescue and military personnel struggle to save lives all down the coast. The worse is yet to come. When the storm reaches the south the two forces of wind and tide will combine and send a huge one-in-a-thousand tidal surge up the Thames. But surely London is safe: the Thames Barrier will save the capital from disaster as it was intended to do? The river is a titanic presence by now, higher than anyone has known it, and the surge thunders towards the Barrier. Scientists begin to talk of the possibility of overtopping. Can fifty feet high gates be overwhelmed by a wave? Then there is an explosion the size of a small Hiroshima: a supertanker is ablaze in the estuary and most of the Essex petrochemical works are going up with it. The Thames catches fire and the wall of fire and water thunders towards Britain''s capital. This is the story of what happens next, and the desperate attempts to save the capital from destruction. Firefighters and other first responders from all around the country, supplanted by German, French and American military bravely fight against the disaster, but they can only save a fraction of those threatened. Eventually the saviour of London proves to be the same thing that threatened it, with rain from the storm extinguishing the fire.

Flood

Set in the late 17th century, the story follows the life of Krabat, a 14-year-old Wendish (i.e. Sorbian) beggar boy living in the eastern part of Saxony. For three consecutive nights, he is called to a watermill near the village Schwarzkollm through a dream. Upon heeding the call and arriving at the mill, he begins his apprenticeship as a miller''s man. He soon joins the secret brotherhood, composed of journeymen and apprentices, and discovers that the skill he is meant to learn through this apprenticeship is Black Magic. The first magic powers Krabat acquires are rather harmless, such as the ability to turn himself into a raven. Other peculiarities of this watermill include the lack of any outside visitors, including farmers who would have brought grain. The only visitor to the mill is one Goodman, who may be the devil, although this is never made explicit. The senior apprentice Tonda, Krabat''s best friend and older brother figure, dies, ostensibly of an accident, on New Year''s Eve in Krabat''s first year at the mill. Tonda offers strangely little resistance to his own death. Krabat''s suspicions of foul play are further reinforced when another journeyman and friend, Michal, dies the following New Year''s Eve. He soon realizes that the master is bound in a pact to the Goodman: the master must sacrifice one journeyman every year on New Year''s Eve, or perish himself. Wishing to take revenge for his friends'' death, Krabat secretly trains to increase his magical strength so he can fight the master. His quest is aided by a girl from the nearby village, a church singer, “Kantorka”, whose name is never mentioned (“Kantorka” meaning just ‘little chorister’). Krabat learns that to end the spell, his lover must challenge the master for him; then whoever loses the challenge, the master or the two lovers, will die. The master offers Krabat another solution: He will retire and let Krabat inherit the mill, along with the pact to the Goodman; but Krabat refuses to perpetuate the evil pact. So the challenge goes ahead, and the girl''s task is to distinguish Krabat from the rest of the journeymen, all dressed identically and standing motionless in a lineup, while she is blindfolded. She manages to pick him out by the fact that he fears mainly for her life, while the others fear mainly for their own. Ultimately, she rescues Krabat from death, and they and the journeymen escape the mill. The master is left to die in the burning mill on New Year''s Eve, while the survivors lose all their magic powers and are now simple millers who have to provide for themselves through normal hard work.

The Satanic Mill

Nicholas Gillis Freestone is sent to Burma after his mother''s apartment is destroyed in the Battle of Britain. He meets Nang the foreman, his daughter Mya, and his son Indaw, a mahout. At the time of Nick''s arrival, there is much talk about the recent Japanese bombing of Rangoon, predicting the British defenses in Burma will soon fall. The next day Nick is at the village and Hannibal, a koongyi (timber elephant) with a grudge against tigers, attacks Nick and his ribs are cracked. Out of embarrassment, Nick keeps the incident to himself until his father hears of the accident from Hilltop (Taung Baw in Burmese), a monk who was one of the two original mahouts to come with the Sergeant Major, who founded Hawk''s Nest. Hilltop is Mya & Indaw''s great-grandfather, who some people rumor is over 100 years old. Hilltop is said to know the secret language of the elephants. Rumor says he lives in the forest, and disappeared for sixty years before returning to the Freestone Plantation. On Christmas, Nick, his father, Nang, and his family are travelling to the nearby Freestone Island when the Japanese invade. Japanese soldiers soon overrun and capture the Freestones'' camp, taking into custody all its inhabitants while Nick and the elephants go into hiding. Not long after, though, Nick is captured by an amiable soldier, Sergeant Sonji, whom Nick initially takes to be crazy. Nick is returned to the elephant village by the sergeant, at which point the brutal extent to which the Japanese are taking in their conquest becomes clear. Under the newly erected Japanese flag lie the corpses of Nang, who has been beaten to death, and Captain Josephs, a British officer who has been decapitated. His father and Indaw have been taken as POWs (prisoners of war), and Nick is taken hostage at Hawk''s Nest. He remains there for ten months as a servant of sorts to Colonel Nagayoshi, the Japanese commander of Hawk''s Nest. While there, Nick is routinely beaten by a crippled elderly Japanese sympathizer named Bukong, but is otherwise left unscathed by the Japanese. Later, Nick gets a letter from his father saying he was transported from a camp for British and Australian prisoners in Singapore to one in Burma. One night Hilltop shows a secret passage that was in the house to Nick and Mya. Everyone later believes that they escaped when they were actually in the tunnel. From then on Hilltop shows the passages that link to Hawk''s Nest. On their escape day, Nick and Mya disguise themselves as novice monks and escape the Hawk''s nest with Hilltop and Hannibal. In a nearby village, they are trapped by Captain Moto who wants to find and catch the infamous thief Kya Lei (Tiger''s Breath), a Burmese Robin Hood. The next day Hilltop writes a letter saying that he was at the prison camp and would be back. Kya Lei helps Nick and Mya to get to the first camp. Each day, they progress closer to Jackson and Indaw. When Hilltop returns he tells Nick and Mya that he talked to Indaw while he was at the prison camp and planned an escape. The day of his escape was on festival day, a day where the Japanese soldiers buy goods for themselves. Because the guards were distracted by the festival, Indaw was able to escape. A couple days later, Jackson faked his death and was able to escape.

Elephant Run

After a battle, the Nightlord Steel Brightblade finds Palin Majere, nephew of the famed mage Raistlin. He allows him to return with the bodies of his two brothers, slain in the battle, to their parents, Caramon and Tika. The Knights of Takhisis visit an island where the hidden race of Irda make their home. The Irda hide themselves with an illusion, pretending to be primitive humans, and the knights leave. This fearful encounter causes the Irda to believe that another invasion will come, and convinces them to break open a magical item known as the Greygem of Gargath. The Irda did not know that the Graygem holds the entity known as Chaos inside it, long thought too dangerous to dabble with, which sets in motion the Chaos War. Among the Irda is Usha, an orphaned human girl they had raised among them. They believed while their kind would be immune to the effect of the Greygem, that she, being a human, might be affected by it. So they decided to send her away, giving her a message to deliver to Lord Dalamar, master of the Tower of High Sorcery in Palanthas. After she is gone, they crack open the Graygem and release the god Chaos.

Dragons of Summer Flame

The prologue begins with the ancient SkyClan that were attacked by the rats. After another battle with the rats and the death of two of their warriors, Spiderstar, the leader, decides to have the Clan disband. Some cats decide to become house cats at the nearby town while others stay in the gorge. In present day SkyClan it has been six moons (months) since Firestar went to the gorge and reformed SkyClan. The new SkyClan has added new loners, rogues and former kittypets to the Clan. There are also kittypets that help the Clan in the day, but return to their Twolegs at night. They are called daylight warriors. Leafstar invited them into the Clan to help patrol and hunt for the Clan. However, it is clear that not everyone respects the daylight warriors. Many cats such as Sharpclaw call them "kitty warriors" feeling they are not loyal to the Clan by leaving at night. The daylight warriors are Billystorm, Ebonyclaw, Frecklepaw, Snookpaw, Harveymoon and Macgyver. Leafstar tries to keep the tensions low between the daylight warriors and regular warriors, but many regular warriors still make fun of the daylight warriors behind their backs. One day, Leafstar receives a dream from Spottedleaf, an old medicine cat of ThunderClan that helped SkyClan when Firestar first formed the Clan. She sees cats and they say, "This is the leaf-bare of my Clan. Greenleaf will come, but it will bring even greater storms than these. SkyClan will need deeper roots if it is to survive." The next day, Leafstar visits the Clan''s medicine cat Echosong and they realize they each had the same dream. Later, Stick, Cora, Coal and Shorty, the four cats Firestar met on his quest arrive at the gorge. They stay with the Clan and learn battle moves, hunting techniques. In exchange, Stick teaches the Clan how to destroy a rat family that lives in a dump in the Clan''s territory. After defeating the rats the four loners begin to lead patrols despite the fact that Sharpclaw still does not let the daylight warriors lead patrol and they have been around longer. One day, Leafstar follows a group of SkyClan''s cats visiting the nearby town. There she realizes that the loners came to recruit help to defeat a group of cats that steal prey in their town. In the end, Leafstar agrees to help though states that she will not kill anyone. The battle is fierce and ends in SkyClan''s victory, but Stick''s daughter Red is killed protecting her mate who Stick tried to kill since he thinks that Red''s mate threatened her to join them. Stick becomes even more infuriated when Leafstar calls off her warriors from killing anyone, a policy he disproves of. Returning to her Clan, Leafstar sets up rules for visiting cats in order to prevent any future conflicts. She makes it so that visiting cats must help hunt everyday, and the Clan shall not teach any fighting moves until they have spent a moon in the Clan and that SkyClan is "a proud, independent Clan with a code and honor of our own." Throughout the book it becomes apparent the Billystorm and Leafstar have feelings for each other especially when at the end she talks about how even if she does have kits she has an excellent deputy and medicine cat.

SkyClan''s Destiny

Obi-Wan Kenobi has left the Jedi Order because of a civil war on the planet of Melida/Daan. He''s now part of the Young and he is content with the decision. But soon everything goes wrong; once the Young unite the two factions, they start to fight amongst themselves. In the crossfire, Obi-Wan''s close friend, Cerasi, is killed, and Obi-Wan feels alone. Meanwhile, Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan''s former Jedi master, discovers a plot to destroy the Jedi Temple. While investigating, he receives notice that Obi-Wan wishes to rejoin the order. Qui-Gon knows that Obi-Wan would be an asset to the investigation at the temple, so he decides to return and bring his ex-apprentice back to the Jedi Order. The Young cease their internal struggle, and they succeed in uniting the Melida and the Daan under one government. With his task completed, Obi-Wan returns to the Jedi upon Qui-Gon''s return. However, he is not immediately welcomed with open arms, for the Temple plot thickens when an assassination attempt is made on Yoda.

The Uncertain Path

The novel follows the journeys of three young European boys represented in a circa 1913 or 1914 photograph by August Sander. Two parallel narratives, one in the voice suspected to be the author, whose surname, we learn starts with P, offer contemporary perspectives and illustrate the interconnectedness of events. These voices provide contemporary perspectives on technology -- the major theme of the novel. A series of rather academic essays on the nature of photography, including quotes from Walter Benjamin and Hannah Arendt- in the authorial narrative voice of Mr P - are interspersed with the story. The story begins with the authorial narrative voice of Mr P. first sighting the photograph taken in the months before the outbreak of World War I of three young boys in Germany - a photograph which is titled Three Farmers on their Way to a Dance and which is being exhibited at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The novel follows the fictional fates of these three young men in war time, as well as the stories of Peter Mays, a technical editor for a 1980s electronics magazine and Mr P - the first person narrator of sections of the novel - who is obsessed with the photograph and with concepts of photography and technology. Note that Powers''s later novel Galatea 2.2, published in 1995, uses the first person perspective of semifictional narrator Richard Powers to describe to a large extent the conditions under which Powers wrote Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance attempts to balance the technological advancements that caused the large scale deaths in World War I with those that created art for the masses in the form of photography.

Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance

The novel begins with Silas Lapham being interviewed for a newspaper profile, during which he explains his financial success in the mineral paint business. The Lapham family is somewhat self-conscious in their sudden rise on the social ladder and often fumble in their attempts at following etiquette norms. They decide to build a new home in the fashionable Beacon Hill neighborhood, and Lapham spares no expense ensuring it is at the height of fashion. Tom Corey, a young man from a well-respected high-class family, shows an interest in the Lapham girls; Mr. and Mrs. Lapham assume he is attracted to Irene, the beautiful younger daughter. Corey joins the Lapham''s paint business in an attempt to find his place in the world, rather than rely on the savings of his father Bromfield Corey. The younger Corey, however, eventually reveals his love for Penelope, the older and more plain-looking daughter with an unusual sense of humor. Though Irene has feelings for Tom Corey, she feels it would be inappropriate to act on her feelings because her sister had assumed their marriage was inevitable. Silas Lapham''s former business partner Milton K. Rogers reappears in his life, asking for money for a series of schemes. Mrs. Lapham urges her husband to support the man, whom he had pushed out of the paint company in what was deemed an inappropriate manner. Lapham''s dealings with Rogers, however, result in a substantial financial loss. His major asset, the new home on Beacon Street, burns down before its completion. The Laphams are humbly forced to move to their ancestral home in the countryside, where the mineral paint was first developed.

The Rise of Silas Lapham

Odysseus (Ulysses) returns to Ithaca and decides to undertake new adventures after he quickly becomes unsatisfied with his quiet family life. First he travels to Sparta to save Helen, the wife of the king of Sparta Menelaus, whose abduction by Paris had led to the Trojan War. He goes to Crete where a conspiracy dethrones the king. There he abandons Helen and continues to Egypt where again a workers'' uprising takes place. He leaves again on a journey up the Nile eventually stopping at the lake-source. Upon arrival his companions set up camp and he climbs the mountain in order to concentrate on his god. Upon his return to the lake he sets up his city based on the commandments of his religion. The city is soon destroyed by an earthquake. Odysseus laments his failure to understand the true meaning of god with the sacrifice of his companions. His life transforms into that of an ascetic. Odysseus meets Motherth (an incarnation of the Buddha), Kapetan Enas (English: Captain Sole), alias Don Quixote, and an African village fisherman, alias Jesus. He travels further south in Africa while constantly spreading his religion and fighting the advances of death. Eventually he travels to Antarctica and lives with villagers for a year until an iceberg kills him. His death is glorious as it marks his rebirth and unification with the world.

The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel

A somewhat recluse millionaire, Hugh Dixon, hires Spenser to find the members of a terrorist group that bombed a London restaurant where he and his family were dining, resulting in the deaths of his two daughters, his wife and leaving him a paraplegic. He is promised USD$2500 a head for the apprehension of each of the nine terrorists responsible, dead or alive. Spenser heads to England to start his investigation. Running an ad for information in a large London newspaper, results in at least two assassination attempts on Spenser. Spenser detects them before they are successful, resulting in the death of two gunmen and the capture of another. Spenser enlists the help of Hawk, a powerful henchman. This novel marks the first paid cooperative effort of Hawk, who goes on to become one of Spenser''s greatest allies and friends in the long-running series. Spenser tracks one of the members of the terrorist group, Liberty, and uses her as a Judas goat to lead him to other members. "Katherine," as Spenser calls her, knowing that it is probably just an alias, flees to Copenhagen, where Hawk and Spenser follow her. Spenser allows himself to be captured by Katherine''s allies, just to be rescued by Hawk before they plan to kill him (for the third time). The rescue leads to the deaths of three more members of the group, but the escape of Kathie and the leader of the group, Paul. The group turns out to be a white-supremacist group trying to keep control of African countries away from the native Africans and in the hands of white countries and leaders. The bombing of the restaurant Dixon and his wife were in was more or less a random act of violence against England because of the backing of an African country. Tired of running from Spenser and Hawk, Paul leaves the last two members responsible for the bombing shot dead in Spenser and Hawk''s hotel room. The last member, Kathie, is tied up on a bed. A note from Paul says these are the last members of the bombing, which was executed without his involvement. He couldn''t kill Kathie because he had been intimate with her for some time. He says to stop chasing them now. Hawk and Spenser untie Kathie and interrogate her, but she doesn''t know where Paul has fled. Upon further reflection, she recalls he may be at the Olympics in Montreal, Canada. That night Kathie, with her pulchritude, tries to seduce Spenser, but he resists. His obligations to Dixon completed, the three of them fly to Montreal and rent a duplex near the games. Spenser flies to Boston to tell Dixon what he is planning on doing, and to tell him he doesn''t expect him to pay for it. Dixon insists on paying for it anyhow, as he has great wealth but, since his family died, nothing worthwhile to spend it on. He also arranges to get Spenser tickets to the Stadium games. Spenser spends the night with his lover, Susan Silverman, and flies back to Canada the next day. With little to go on, Hawk, Spenser and Kathie attend the games at the Stadium looking for Paul and a henchman who Kathie warns may be with him, Zachary. Spenser spots him within a few days and observes him setting up a snipers nest. The next day he observes him, accompanied by Zach, assembling a sniper''s rifle. Hawk and Spenser decide to make their move. All four men are armed, but Hawk quickly knocks out Paul. Zachary, a huge bodybuilder standing six foot seven, attempts to shoot Spenser, but loses his gun in a scuffle. Trying to take down Zachary, the three remaining men all lose their weapons. Zachary flees the stadium, pursued by Hawk and Spenser. He is eventually beaten into unconsciousness by them after a difficult brawl a short distance from the stadium. The police arrive and take Spenser and Hawk to a hospital. Both have numerous scrapes and cuts, but Spenser also has a broken left arm and nose. They learn Kathie shot Paul "as he attempted to flee," but both suspect she shot him first chance she got for turning her over to them at the hotel. Dixon arrives in his wheelchair at the hospital and pays Spenser twice his promised fee, $50,000. Spenser offers half to Hawk, but he declines, just billing Spenser for his original fee. Spenser lies to Dixon, saying Kathie is not part of the original nine responsible for the bombing and gets Dixon to have her released from jail, where she is being held. The book concludes with Spenser and Susan vacationing together in London.

The Judas Goat

There''s a new ship of vampirates roaming the seas, leaving a trail of fear and devastation in its wake, led by Sidorio. When a high-profile pirate is slain, the Pirate Federation takes decisive action and dedicates Cheng Li''s ship to be the first of many ships to be vampirate assasians. Amongst the dynamic crew is young pirate prodigy Connor Tempest and two of his academy friends. Meanwhile, Connor''s twin sister Grace enjoys a bittersweet reunion with their mother, Sally, who has some important and shocking news for her daughter. As Grace uncovers the truth about her family''s past, she realizes that she and Connor face a daunting and uncertain future, because Grace and Connor are half vampires and half human. Alas, Sally dies, and Connor then "kills" Lady Lola Lockwood by beheading her with a special sword. Sidoro then tries to kill him but then Cheng Li tells him that Connor is his son. On hearing this shocking piece of news, he brings him on board his ship. He tracks down Grace and keeps her on his ship too and refuses to let the twins leave.

Vampirates:Black Heart

Sherlock Holmes is sent to live with his unknown aunt and uncle in Holmes Manor in Hampshire over his school holidays when his father is unexpectedly sent overseas with the British Army. He cannot go home as his mother is unwell, and cannot go to London as his older brother Mycroft is busy working for the government. Wandering around the estate and the surrounding countryside he soon befriends a boy his own age named Matty Arnatt (who has witnessed an unusual death involving a cloud of death). After a few days of holidays Sherlock discovers that his brother Mycroft has hired him an unusual American tutor named Amyus Crowe. During their first lesson together Sherlock finds a dead body on the Holmes'' estate and witnesses the same death cloud surrounding the body that Matty had previously seen. He detects a yellow powdery substance around the body and takes a sample of it. With Matty''s help he tracks down a warehouse which has links to one of the deceased, and almost dies in the warehouse when the villains set it alight. Holmes escapes the building, and determines that he must travel to Guildford and locate an expert in exotic diseases who might help identify the yellow substance. He, therefore, sets out with Matty on his barge to Guildford, and although they are attacked along the way by the villains, they nevertheless make it to his destination and discovers that the yellow substance is bee pollen. On returning home he visits his tutor''s home, where he meets Crowe''s daughter Virginia. A few days later Sherlock is lured to a fair, where he is forced to participate in a boxing match, from which he is kidnapped and interrogated by the unseen Baron Maupertuis until he is rescued by Matty, and the pair go to his tutor''s home. Knowing that the Baron has left his headquarters, Sherlock, Matty, Crowe and Virginia determine to follow and locate the Baron. They discover that the Baron is shipping a weapon from a London wharf, and after a series of chases, Sherlock and Virginia are kidnapped to France by the Baron, and further interrogated. The pair escape and meet up with Crowe and Matty and set out to stop the Baron from trying to destroy the British Army.

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Flood

No Author Listed

The Satanic Mill

No Author Listed

Elephant Run

By Roland Smith

Dragons of Summer Flame

By Margaret Weis

SkyClan's Destiny

By Erin Hunter

The Uncertain Path

By Judy Blundell

Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance

No Author Listed

The Rise of Silas Lapham

By William Dean Howells

The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel

No Author Listed

The Judas Goat

By Robert B. Parker

Vampirates:Black Heart

By Justin Somper

Death Cloud

By Andy Lane