Several attempts are made on Giraut''s life as he works on his new Ix cycle of music. He is sent back to Wilson, his home planet and culture of Occitan, to complete the new music along with his Office of Special Projects team as protection. Paxa retires from the OSP and leaves Giraut after finding out she cannot be successfully backed up on a psypyx, which would make her death permanent. Giraut begins to fall in love with a fellow musician Azalais who introduces him to Ebles, a contact for rogue colonies outside of Council space which call themselves the Union. Soon after, Azalais is killed and Giraut is severely injured in another assassination attempt. After Giraut is healed he is contacted again by Union. Margaret sends him, along with Raimbaut and Laprada, to the rogue Union colony of Noucatharia to get to the bottom of several coincidences, including the whereabouts of a possible psypyx of Shan, and to find out who keeps trying to kill him. Once there Giraut begins to fall in love with Rielis, a talented musician and singer, as he tries to uncover what Union wants from him and the Council. It is revealed to Giraut and his team that everyone on Noucatharia is either an aintellect in human form or a chimera human/aintellect, both of which are forbidden horrors in Council space. They are also told there are multiple aintellect conspiracies unknown to the OSP, and that Noucatharia was the site of the first invasion by an unknown Alien army, in which humans were beheaded and aintellects/robots fought as best they could. After another amateurish assassination attempt he is kidnapped, separated from his team, and implanted with Shan''s psypyx. As Rielis questions Shan, Giraut and Rielis rapidly come to know what happened on Addams to cause it to lose contact with Earth. An aggressive alien aintellect-run invasion overwhelmed their defenses and killed everyone not in hiding—their goal being to destructively holograph brains, deconstruct aintellects and send back those memories and experiences to their home planet to be consumed as entertainment for their dependent organic creators who had isolated themselves in virtual reality. Only by advanced planning by Shan''s father and help from his personal aintellect was a very young Shan able to escape via springer to Earth. The OSP invades Noucatharia with help from Raimbaut just as Giraut/Shan and Rielis are beginning to agree on the cooperation that is needed between the Council and the Union to face the alien threat. Giraut/Shan are held prisoner by Margaret until the OSP can sort out friend from foe, but Paxa comes through a springer to free Giraut. He quickly recognizes that Paxa is joined to Azalais as a chimera in exchange for being able to be psypyxed in the future, and to help the progressive and dynamic Union face an alien threat. Giraut/Shan and Paxa/Azalais mount a rescue mission and free the aintellect humans and chimeras from OSP control and get Raimbaut to join them. Raimbaut and Giraut/Shan then choose to stay behind in an attempt to rescue or destroy a Rielis psypyx from an OSP building before it can be tortured for its knowledge and secrets. They destroy the psypyx and Margaret captures them before they can make it to a springer. Raimbaut is quickly cleared of charges and Shan is eventually implanted in Margaret''s brain—but Giraut is found guilty of assisting the aintellect conspiracies in escaping from Noucatharia. His trial is a rallying cry for human supremacists, but over time and as the facts come out they are increasingly marginalized by society who see Giraut as a martyr. The only thing left is for him to be executed to permit his public beheading to serve as a unifying story for future generations, as contact is made with the aintellect-run Union colonies.

The Armies of Memory

The story, takes place in 1824–25, ten years after 1812: The Rivers of War. The United States, under the influence of Sam Houston, a Special Commissioner for Indian Affairs, has signed a treaty with the southern Indian tribes, establishing a Confederacy of chiefdoms in the territory that in our time line is composed of the State of Arkansas west of the Red River, and the State of Oklahoma without the Panhandle, roughly the boundaries of the historical Arkansas Territory. As a result, the tribes of the southern US, particularly the Cherokee, have willingly left the southeastern U.S. with their wealth and power intact (as opposed to their eventual and devastating forced removal in 1838 in actual history). Shortly thereafter, in Louisiana, Henry Crowell, a free black man and one of the officers of the Iron Battalion who won the Battle of the Mississippi (which in this time line was the battle that saved New Orleans from the British in January 1815), offended the local Creole leadership by courting a Creole woman. Slave-catchers waylaid Crowell and castrated him. In revenge, the Iron Battalion mobilized and destroyed the homes of the Creole leadership, then smashed the Louisiana militia who came after them to suppress "servile rebellion". (This is referred to later as the "Algiers incident".) Shortly afterwards, Crowell and the Iron Battalion moved to Arkansas. The easternmost chiefdom, Arkansas, is ruled by Patrick Driscol, nicknamed the "Laird of Arkansas" who was formerly the brigade master sergeant under Winfield Scott during the Niagara Campaign. Arkansas banned slavery and quickly became a magnet for freedmen throughout the United States, who are forced to leave their home states when, under the influence of men like Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, the states pass Freedmen Exclusion Acts. As the book begins, one such family, the Parker family, leaves Baltimore, Maryland, after the head of the household is killed by a mob of whites. They are stopped on the Ohio River by slave-catchers, who plan to take them before a partial judge, have them declared runaway slaves, and sold into bondage. However, before the slave-catchers can haul the Parkers away, a party of abolitionists led by John Brown and his brother Solomon Brown intervenes and the family is able to continue their journey. When the Parkers arrive in New Antrim, the capital of Arkansas, they learn that Crowell''s bank will loan the family money to start again if the men join the Arkansas Army. Sheffield Parker and his uncle Jem enlist and undergo a rigorous training regimen. Meanwhile, Henry Clay secretly finances an expedition led by Robert Crittenden to attack Arkansas. The expedition fails, but Clay uses this failure as a lever to become the new president of the USA following James Monroe. Shortly thereafter, Sam Houston''s wife Maria gets accidentally shot by an assassin from Georgia who was aiming for Houston himself in retaliation for his liberal views on race, and he and his son Andrew Jackson Houston leave for Arkansas to aid Driscol and Ross in coming war with the USA. The novel ends in 1825, with the USA going to war with Arkansas (as an AU of the real history American Civil War). At the same time, a varied group of politicians led by the losers in the election of 1824, John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, meet to create a new political party that will both oppose and defeat Henry Clay and work for an eventual end to slavery in all states when Clay''s presidential term is finished.

1824: The Arkansas War

This powerful novel begins just after the main character, Joss Moody, a famous trumpet player, passes away. It is immediately apparent that big news surrounds his death as paparazzi drive his widow, Millie, to steal away to a vacation home. Soon after, the reader learns that the big news is that Joss was actually born female. No one knew this shocking truth except his wife. Not even Colman, the Moodys'' adopted son, knew the truth. The Moodys lived their life as a normal married couple with a normal house and a normal family. But when Joss dies they can hide the truth no longer. Colman''s shock spills into bitterness and he seeks revenge. He vents his rage of his father''s lie by uncovering Joss''s life to Sophie, an eager tabloid journalist craving to write the next bestseller. After time, and a visit to Joss''s mother Edith Moore, Colman eventually finds love for his father muddled in his rage. With his new-found acceptance of both his father and himself, Colman makes the decision not to follow through with the book deal. All the while, Millie deals with her grief and the scandal in private turmoil at the Moodys'' vacation home, and a slew of characters whose paths have crossed with Joss''s give accounts of their memories and experiences. Interestingly, all the characters seem either to accept Joss''s identity or to perceive it as irrelevant. The title Trumpet refers literally to the main character, Joss Moody''s, instrument. Moody was an amazing trumpet player and became famous in the jazz world. Figuratively, it could be argued, the trumpet embodies more than Moody''s fame. Moody''s trumpet serves as an equalizer of identity. The character Joss Moody is not a man or a woman, or a husband or a father. He is a trumpet player. The title of the novel gives his identity the opportunity to be that simple.

Trumpet

The main narrative tells the story of Powers'' return to his alma mater&nbsp;– referred to in the novel as simply "U.", but clearly based on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the school Powers attended and teaches at as a professor&nbsp;– after he has ended a long and torrid relationship with a loving but volatile woman, referred to as "C." Powers is an in-house author for the university, and lives for free for one year. He finds himself unable to write any more books, and spends the first portion of the novel attempting to write, but never getting past the first line. Powers then meets a computer scientist named Philip Lentz. Intrigued by Lentz''s overbearing personality and unorthodox theories, Powers eventually agrees to participate in an experiment involving artificial intelligence. Lentz bets his fellow scientists that he can build a computer that can produce an analysis of a literary text that is indistinguishable from one produced by a human. It is Powers'' task to "teach" the machine. After going through several unsuccessful versions, Powers and Lentz produce a computer model (dubbed "Helen") that is able to communicate like a human. It is not clear to the reader or to Powers whether she is simulating human thought, or whether she is actually experiencing it. Powers tutors the computer, first by reading it canonical works of literature, then current events, and eventually telling it the story of his own life, in the process developing a complicated relationship with the machine. The novel also consists of extensive flashbacks to Powers'' relationship with C., from their first meeting at U., to their bohemian life in Boston, to their move to C.''s family''s town in the Netherlands. The novel culminates with Helen being unable to bear the realities of the world, and "leaving" Powers. She asks Powers to "see everything" for her, and subsequently shuts herself down. Her exit from the world forces Powers to experience a rebirth. In addition, Powers realizes that he was Lentz''s experiment: would he or wouldn''t he be able to teach a computer? Through the transformation he experiences, he is suddenly able to interact with the world, and he can write again.

Galatea 2.2

In September 1939, as Britain stands on the edge of World War II, many young children from the cities are sent into the countryside to escape the German bombardment. William "Willie" Beech, a boy from London who is physically and emotionally abused by his mother, arrives at the home of Mr. Thomas Oakley, a widower in his sixties who lives in the village of Little Weirwold. The boy is thinly clad, underfed and covered with painful bruises, and believing he is full of sin, a result of his upbringing by his mother. "Mister Tom", as Willie christens his new guardian, is reclusive and bad-tempered, and as such is avoided by the community. Willie lives with him as his Mother wants him to live with someone who is either very religious or lives next to a Church. Though initially distant, he is touched after discovering William''s home-life and treats him with kindness and understanding, helping to educate him. Under his care, William begins to progress, forming a small circle of friends at school among his classmates including fellow-evacuee Zach. He also becomes proficient in drawing and dramatics. As William is changed by Tom, so is Tom transformed by William''s presence in his home. It is revealed that Tom lost his wife and baby son to scarletina some 40 years previously, and he has become reclusive because of this. The growing bond between William and Tom is threatened when William''s mother requests that the boy return to her in the city, telling him she is sick. At first, William thinks this will be a good thing, as he can be helpful to his mother. However his mother is not pleased to learn the details of his time with Tom, feeling that he has not been disciplined properly. While William has been away, she has become pregnant and had a girl, but is neglecting the baby. After a bad reunion, where his mother becomes furious upon learning the details of her son''s life with Tom, abhorring his association with the Jewish Zach among other things, she throws William against a bookcase, knocking him out. She then ties and gags him and locks him, with the baby, in a cupboard under the stairs. Back in Little Weirwold, Tom has a premonition that something is not right with William. Although he has never travelled beyond his immediate locality, he ventures into London and eventually locates William''s neighbourhood of Deptford and his home. He persuades a local policeman to break down the door of the apparently empty home, and finds William in the closet holding his dead half-sister. William is malnourished and badly bruised as he had been locked under the stairs for a number of days. William is hospitalised, but whilst there suffers horrific nightmares and is drugged simply to prevent his screams from disturbing the other children. Tom is warned that it is likely that William will be taken to a children''s home, and, unable to observe William''s distress any longer, kidnaps him from the hospital and takes him back to Little Weirwold. Back with Mister Tom, William is much damaged by his ordeal, blaming himself for the death of his sister as he had not been able to provide enough milk to feed her whilst locked away, and becomes very depressed. Later, when his favourite teacher Annie Hartridge has a baby, William is shocked to learn from Zach that a woman cannot conceive a child on her own, and realises that his mother was having a relationship with a man, even though she had previously told him that it was wrong for unmarried couples to live together or have children together. Tom is traced by the authorities, who have come to tell William that his mother has committed suicide and offer him a place in a children''s home, as they''ve been unable to trace any other relatives who may have been able to take care of him. Luckily the authorities realise that William has already found a good home and allow Tom to adopt him. Tom, William and Zach enjoy a holiday at the seaside village of Salmouth, where they stay in the house of a widow whose sons have been sent out to war. Zach then receives news that his father has been injured by a Luftwaffe bomb in London and he hurries home on the next train saying farewell to all his friends. This is the last time they hear from him. William later learns that Zach has been killed and is grief-stricken for some time. Eventually, Doctor Little, the village doctor, who was Zach''s guardian while he was evacuated, gives William Zach''s bike. Through learning to ride it, William realises that Zach lives on inside him. In the ending scene William finally learns to ride Zach''s bike down a steep hill and sees Mr. Tom waiting for him. They both embrace and William, happily, calls him Dad.

Goodnight Mister Tom

A postgraduate student writing a thesis on the French writer Paul Michel starts a relationship with the Germanist, a girl he meets in the library, at Cambridge University. She encourages him to look at his biography more closely rather than only focus solely on the texts. They have dinner with her father; later in London he meets Jacques Martel, a friend of her father''s who knows Paul Michel. He then decides to move to Paris to find him, and reads his letters to Michel Foucault in the library. He finds out Paul Michel lives in an asylum in Clermont-Ferrand. He arrives there at night and finds accommodation in Romagnat. He starts meeting with Paul Michel. Soon enough, they are allowed to spend whole days out in the gardens. Eventually, they manage to winkle a day outside of the premises. Michel gets attacked by a man in a bar and fights back. He then kisses the protagonist. Michel manages to trick the restaurant into believing they are with the town major and thus get off without being reported for the fight. Paul Michel is later granted two months away from the madhouse since the protagonist''s visits have improved his condition considerably. The protagonist drives him down to Nice, where they stay with an old friend of his, Alain Legras, and his wife. During their stay they finally become lovers when Michel reassures the protagonist he needn''t worry about his virtue and the protagonist argues asking if his opinion on the matter doesn''t count. While the protagonist wants Michel to start writing again as part of his "recovery" Michel is, like the Germanist predicted, unable to do so because Foucault, his reader, is dead. Michel tells him about his relationship with Michel Foucault and claims that their relationship cannot last, that the protagonist must go on to write his thesis about him. Eventually, Michel gets up one night, takes the car and he kills himself, under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Although it is clear to all it was intentional. After the funeral, the protagonist returns to England, writes his thesis and becomes the foremost expert on Paul Michel''s writing, but fails to expand on the writer''s life. His relationship with the Germanist, who flew to France to help him after the accident and got him through the funeral, ends after that, even though they move in similar academic circles.

Hallucinating Foucault

The story is set in United States on the brink of economic collapse, where inflation is spiraling out of control and the government struggles to keep hold of its power. Trading in foreign currency has become illegal and many shops are subject to rationing. As a result there is a sprawling black market for almost all conceivable goods. The setting reflects the world as Samuel Edward Konkin III conceived it would be just prior to a successful agorist revolution. The story begins with Elliot Vreeland, son of Nobel Laureate economist Dr Martin Vreeland (an economist of the Austrian school) hearing of his father''s apparent death and being rushed home from school. He quickly discovers however that the death is fake, a plot concocted by his father (after receiving a tip-off) to escape arrest by the FBI who are rounding up "radicals" accused by the government of worsening the economic crisis. Eliot is sent by his father to collect some gold coins that had been stored in a safe location, for use as hard currency during the families intended escape. However, upon his return Eliot finds his family to be missing. Not long after, FBI agents enter the house searching for Eliot who manages to escape. Eliot''s escape leads him into contact with the Revolutionary Agorist Cadre, an organisation plotting the downfall of the US government through the means of counter-economics. The cadre has grown strong over the years of its existence, and has its own militia and extensive underground network. Eliot enlists the help of the Cadre, and meets Lorimer, a girl similarly on the run from the law. As the novel progresses, government stability weakens still further, and they bring in tight controls on communication, travel and trade, however they fail to avert total collapse, leading to the private sector (unions, individuals, syndicates and many others) taking control of the old infrastructure.

Alongside Night

Jack Stapleton is a New York City medical examiner whose infant son, JJ, has neuroblastoma. To take his mind off of his son''s medical troubles, Stapleton becomes embroiled in a case about the unexplained death of a healthy young woman who had been seeing a chiropractor for alternative medical treatments. Two of Jack''s college friends, one an archaeologist and one a Catholic bishop, become similarly embroiled in a case in Egypt, where recent discoveries suggest scientific/medical explanation for Biblical miracles. Also, new information is found that questions the veracity of information in the Christian Bible. Using 21st century medical technology, Jack and his friends discover that a Palestinian woman, Jamilla Mohammod, may be a direct descendant of Mary. Towards the end of the novel, Jack Stapleton''s archaeologist friend Shawn and his wife are killed and Stapleton''s bishop friend James blames himself for their death. Curious and perhaps desperate, Stapleton and his wife bring JJ to Israel, where he is held by Jamilla. Later, when examined in a hospital in Jerusalem, JJ''s neuroblastoma has vanished.

Intervention

The novel begins in the year 1900 with the McClure family, which consists of Emma, the mother, her father Granpap, and Emma’s children: Basil, Kirk, Bonnie, and John. They make their living in the Appalachian Mountains as farmers and bootleggers. The family is forced to live through a harsh winter with little food. It is apparent they must work hard for what they need. They are also poor, as they must take credit at the general store to buy food. As the family continues to barely subsist, the “outside” seems to be creeping closer to the isolated families of the Appalachian region. One day a peddler from the outside comes to visits the McClures. He tells the family about a new mill in town where they are hiring many people. Granpap quickly dismisses him because he does not like the outsider. The family struggles to make a living and challenging personal relationships often get in the way. Kirk is revealed to be a drunk and very poor at managing money. Kirk becomes involved with Minnie, and she is revealed to be pregnant, although it is unclear who the father is. Granpap is arrested for bootlegging and is sentenced to two years in jail. Basil decides to leave the family to gain an education. Kirk is killed, and it appears that Sam McEachern is the one who shot him. Basil returns later asking for money for books at his school, and with the death of Kirk and Granpap in jail, money is very tight. Granpap decided that his family would move to Leesville to work in the mill to make more money. When the families arrive at Leesville, they believe that working in the mill will provide them with more opportunities. Frank, Ora, and Emma begin their jobs at the mill. In the fall, John and Bonnie start school. However not long after that, Emma becomes ill and Bonnie and John are forced to begin working and leave school. John begins a friendship with John Stevens, a veteran mill worker and union supporter. As Bonnie and John grow up, Bonnie marries Jim Calhoun. Emma’s condition continues to worsen, and she dies. Later, Jim has and accident that precludes him from working, and he abandons his family. Granpap becomes ill and soon dies. Working at the mill is hard on families. One day one of Bonnie’s kids gets pneumonia while she is at work and dies. Mary Allen, an African American worker, is sympathetic and sends her daughter to care for Bonnie’s children. John and Bonnie continue to work in the mill but they are unhappy with their situation. Workers wages are cut and the number of positions reduced. As John has learned many things about unions he decides to unionize the workers and starts a strike. The workers picket outside the factory and are often jailed and beaten. Bonnie is also involved in the unionization of workers. Because of her relationship with Mary Allen, Bonnie helps to make the union integrated so African Americans do not scab. John and the other union leaders decide to hold a rally. During the rally Bonnie is shot and killed. In the aftermath, John Stevens tells John “this is just the beginning.”

To Make My Bread

The novel follows multiple narratives written in the stream of consciousness format. The novel is set during the early 1980s whilst Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was introducing the infitah or open door free-market economic policies which led to widespread unrest. The plot revolves around a young Egyptian man who is in love with a co-worker, but her father will not permit their marriage because the young man cannot earn enough money to purchase and furnish an apartment. Eventually their engagement is called off, and the woman is engaged to their boss. In a fit of rage and despair, the protagonist murders his boss on the same day that Sadat is assassinated by terrorists, and the two narratives are intertwined. Hearing the news of the President''s death is the catalyst for the protagonist''s decision to kill his employer. The grandfather of the protagonist reflects on the generational gap in Egypt throughout the novel. Like many of Mahfouz''s novels, the book uses Egyptian history and society to analyze universal themes such as the relationship between love and economics, familiar relationships, death, and the irrationality of human emotion.

The Day the Leader was Killed

Narrated in the first person, the novel follows the life of Ram Mohammad Thomas, an orphaned, uneducated young waiter. Prior to the start of the novel, Ram has correctly answered 12 questions on the fictional game show Who Will Win a Billion? (or W3B), and has won Rs. one billion (about $22 million). However, show host Prem Kumar and the producers, who do not have the money to pay him, have had the police arrest him for cheating; they had cast Ram because they figured an uneducated street child would not be able to answer more than a few questions at most, and they find the police more than willing to believe them. Ram explains to his sympathetic lawyer, Smita Shah, (who has rescued him from being tortured), just how he managed to answer twelve random questions: they related to real events that occurred in his life, with each question prompting its own flashback. As he says, "Well, wasn''t I lucky they only asked those questions to which I knew the answers?". Ram goes on to tell her how by drawing from the experiences of his own short, yet turbulent and sometimes cruel life, he, a young, poor waiter, answered the twelve questions that led him to the jackpot. Through this device, the novel moves between Mumbai, Delhi and Agra (non-chronologically) as it highlights Ram''s bizarre experiences, from his original upbringing by an English-speaking priest to his various jobs, which include working as house help for an aging Bollywood actress, in a foundry, an Australian diplomat who turns out to be in a spy ring, as a tourist guide in Agra and a waiter in a bar at Mumbai. His best friend is another young orphan named Salim, who plays a part in some of these adventures and dreams of becoming an actor, as it was foretold by a palmist at a fair. Ram was told by the same palmist that he would not live a very long life, but he doesn''t believe in foretelling the future and dismisses it. Salim later becomes an actor after saving a Bollywood producer from assassination from a professional hitman. However, the key events of Ram''s life come when he works as a tour guide at the Taj Mahal, which is when he meets a young prostitute named Nita. He falls in love with her and asks her pimp to let her marry him, but the pimp refuses. Meanwhile, Ram''s friend Shankar is dying of rabies. He needs 400,000 rupees to buy a vaccination, and Nita''s pimp demands the same amount. Shankar dies, and Ram steals the money from Shankar''s uncaring mother. After learning that the pimp (who is also Nita''s brother) will continue to demand even more money, he instead gives it to an English teacher whose son needs the rabies vaccine. The teacher later helps answer Ram''s question about William Shakespeare when Ram uses his Friendly Tip Lifeboat. Ram tells his lawyer that he went on the show partly in a quest to win enough money to buy Nita''s freedom from her pimp, and partly in a bid to get even with the show''s host, Prem Kumar, who abused and exploited Nita, resulting in her being placed under intensive care in hospital. Prem also exploited the late Neelima Kumari, a former Bollywood actress and Ram''s former employer. Ram had planned to kill him when he went for a bathroom break (show rules dictate that the contestant must be followed everywhere by the host so they cannot cheat). However, Ram decides against it and, in gratitude, Kumar tells him the answer of the last question, which was the only answer he might have not have answered correctly.

Q and A

The story begins with the death of Orchid''s mother. The hatred between Empress Orchid and her son Tung Chih is also beginning to weaken, much to Orchid''s despair. In 2149, the Selection of Imperial begins for him is completed. The chosen Empress is a "cat-eyed, eighteen-year-old beauty" called Alute. Orchid''s preferred selection for Empress was the daughter of a provincial governor named Foo-cha. It was only due to Empress Nuharoo''s rank as the higher wife that Alute was chosen. The Selection of Imperial is followed by the suspicious death of Orchid''s close friend and eunuch An-te-hai. His death had a great emotional impact on Empress Orchid. Around one year later, tension begins to mount between Orchid and Alute. Orchid becomes irritated at Alute''s lack of co-operation, and is further annoyed with Alute''s rude attitude towards her. Her annoyance soon turns to happiness when Alute claims that she is pregnant with Tung Chih''s first child. Tung Chih''s illness worsens and in 1875 he dies with his mother beside him. Empress Orchid refuses to give up her power, as she believes that Alute only sees the "glamour and glory" of being an Empress. As well as this, she also believes that Alute has little experience with political and court matters - thus rendering her unsuitable for the role as Empress of China. Orchid also realises that Alute may have been mentally disturbed. Yet these possibilities had no effect on English journals describing Orchid as a violent character who contributed to the death of her son - whilst portraying Alute as the protagonist of the event. Many foreign reports and articles soon begin printing false reports of Orchid''s actions as ruler of China, suggesting that she is solely responsible for China''s decline due to her cruel regime. However, such stories are seemingly published only to justify further invasions of China. After the death of Tung Chih and Alute, Orchid adopts her sister Rong''s son Tsai-t''ien. Orchid then renames her nephew Guang-hsu upon his succession to the Dragon Throne. Initially, Orchid felt no motherly love for her nephew as she only adopted him to prevent his death at Rong''s hand. However, a mother-son bond eventually forms between the two. Shortly after the appointment of Guang-hsu as Orchid''s successor, her love Yung Lu announces that he is planning to marry and move away to faraway Sinkiang. Soon after Orchid realises that she is no longer at full health, she receives information that Empress Nuharoo has collapsed from illness. Nuharoo dies, and rumours suggest that Orchid i Everyone dies at the ending.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

The Armies of Memory

By John Barnes

1824: The Arkansas War

By Eric Flint

Trumpet

By Jackie Kay

Galatea 2.2

By Richard Powers

Goodnight Mister Tom

By Michelle Magorian

Hallucinating Foucault

By Patricia Duncker

Alongside Night

By J. Neil Schulman

Intervention

By Robin Cook

To Make My Bread

No Author Listed

The Day the Leader was Killed

By Naguib Mahfouz

Q and A

By Vikas Swarup

The Last Empress

By Anchee Min