The setting of the book is Gordon High School in 1969. Even though this book has changed some names, etc., it still has the same meaning. The plot of the book revolves around a history teacher Mr. Ben Ross, his high school students, and an experiment he conducts in an attempt to teach them about how it may have been living in Nazi Germany. Unsatisfied with his own inability to answer his students'' earnest questions of how and why, Mr Ross initiates the experiment in hopes that it answers the question of why the Germans allowed Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party to rise to power, acting in a manner inconsistent with their own pre-existing moral values. At Gordon High School, history teacher Ben Ross is teaching his class about World War II and the Holocaust. His students are upset by the footage of concentration camps and question why the German people allowed this to happen, insisting they wouldn''t be so easily duped. Ben Ross considers this and plans an experiment: the next day, he starts to indoctrinate the class using the slogan STRENGTH THROUGH DISCIPLINE. The class reacts well to this, embracing the sense of empowerment it gives them, and they continue their newly disciplined behavior into a second day of class, surprising Ross. He decides to take the experiment further and create a group, The Wave, adding two more slogans --STRENGTH THROUGH COMMUNITY and STRENGTH THROUGH ACTION - which leads to further rules of conduct and an organizational structure. Laurie, a student in Mr. Ross'' class, starts to think that The Wave is having too much of an impact. Laurie receives a letter for the paper detailing how members try to recruit others with bullying. That weekend, the football team is unable to win against Clarkstown, as their newfound drive does not compensate for a lack of proper training and planning. David is confused by this turn of events, while Laurie and her staff on The Grapevine plan a special issue of the paper devoted exclusively to The Wave and the negative impact it has had on the school. While some thank her, especially the teachers and the principal, others do not. Laurie''s boyfriend David, who has been in The Wave since the beginning, tries to get her to stop bad-mouthing The Wave. He eventually shoves her to the ground and this makes him realize how dangerous The Wave really is. Now united in the belief that The Wave must be stopped, Laurie and David go to the home of the Rosses in order to convince Ben Ross to terminate the program. He tells them he will do exactly that, but that they must trust his moves the next day. He calls a Wave meeting in the auditorium and requests that only Wave members be present. They gather in a similar fashion to the Nazi rallies, even equipped with banners and armbands emblazoned with the Wave. Ben tells The Wave members that they are only one in many schools across the nation that is involved in the Wave, and that they are about to see the leader of the whole organization and that he is going to speak to all of them on television to create a National Wave Party for Youths. Everyone is shocked when Mr. Ross projects the image of Adolf Hitler. He explains that there is no leader, and that there is no National Wave Party. If there were a leader, it would be the man on the projection screen. He explains how their obedience led them to act like Nazis. The shocked students drop all their Wave-branded trinkets and items, and slowly leave the room. As Ben turns to leave, the one person who really flourished in the Wave, Robert, is standing alone, upset that The Wave ended. During The Wave, he was finally accepted as an equal, no one picked on him, he had friends, but his new-found social status is now worthless without The Wave. Mr. Ross tries to cheer him up by commenting on his tie and suit, and they walk out together to grab "a bite to eat".

The Wave

As a teenager, Mort had a personality and temperament that made him rather unsuited to the family farming business. Mort''s father, named Lezek, felt that Mort thought too much, which prevented him from achieving anything practical. Thus, Lezek took him to a local hiring fair, hoping that Mort would land an apprenticeship with some tradesman; not only would this provide a job for his son, but it would also make his son''s propensity towards thinking someone else''s problem. At the job fair, Mort at first has no luck attracting the interest of an employer. Then, just before the stroke of midnight, a man concealed in a black cloak arrives on a white horse. He says he is looking for a young man to assist him in his work and selects Mort for the job. The man turns out to be Death, and Mort is given an apprenticeship in ushering souls into the next world (though his father thinks he''s been apprenticed to an undertaker). When it is a princess'' time to die (according to a preconceived reality), Mort, instead of ushering her soul, saves her from death, dramatically altering a part of the Discworld''s reality. However, the princess, for whom Mort has a developing infatuation, does not have long to live, and he must try to save her, once again, from a seemingly unstoppable death. Both the princess and Mort end up consulting the local wizard, Igneous Cutwell, for various methods of assistance with the crisis. As Mort begins to do most of Death''s "Duty", he loses some of his former character traits, and essentially starts to become more like Death himself. Death, in turn, yearns to relish what being human is truly like and travels to Ankh-Morpork to indulge in new experiences and attempt to feel real human emotion. Conclusively, Mort must duel Death for Mort''s freedom. Though Death wins the duel, he spares Mort''s life and sends him back to the Disc. The princess is saved from a second death when the alternate reality Mort created is reduced to a pearl-like state. This pearl is given to Mort for safe-keeping. At the end of the novel, Mort marries Ysabell, Death''s adopted daughter.

Mort

The book begins with Tom binding a Ripper in Horshaw. Although he is successful, the Ripper''s victim, Father Gregory, the Spook''s brother, dies from shock. He''s sent to be buried in Priestown and the Spook goes there with Tom, to pay his respects and to finally deal with an ancient demon locked in the catacombs under the city. The demon, also known as the Bane, has already bested the Spook once and has since grown in power. The Spook makes preparations to enter the catacombs but is betrayed by his cousin, Father Cairns and is arrested by the Quisitor. Tom enters the catacombs to slip inside the prisons undetected, but only manages to free Alice. Andrew hides them into a haunted house in town and they fall asleep. The Bane comes to tempt them both in their dreams, yet although Tom refuses him, he wakes up to find Alice at the Silver Gate, where she confesses she made a deal with the Bane so that she could help him. She helps save the Spook and the other prisoners from the execution. Tom takes the Spook to his mother who heals him and they set out to find the cemetery of the segantii, the first people to have bound the Bane. Their leader, Naze, tells them that he too had made a pact with the Bane, so that if the Bane was to be freed and then enter his prison once again, he was to be bound there for the rest of the Bane''s existence. Following this information, the Spook takes Alice back to the catacombs. Tom follows without his knowledge after opening a letter from his mother where she wrote that if he does not go too, both the Spook and Alice will die pointlessly. After Alice summons the Bane, he whisks her away and turns into his material form to feed for the last time from her blood. The Spook being knocked out, Tom follows the Bane on his own and binds him with the silver chain that his mother gave him on his last visit. The Bane tries once again to sway him but fails and Tom kills him. He dies, as predicted by Naze, but Alice doesn''t let him go and uses the power of the mark she''d made on his arm during the events in The Spook''s Apprentice to bring him back to life. The Spook, Alice and Tom return to Chippenden where the Spook tries to put Alice into the pit he had Tom dig for her. Tom uses what he knows about Meg Skelton and the Spook to demand Alice''s freedom and the Spook is swayed. He allows Alice to stay at Chippenden in exchange for her knowledge about witches and her skills with latin.

The Spook''s Curse

Firestar is now the leader of ThunderClan and receives his nine lives where Bluestar tells him the prophecy "Four will become two, Lion and Tiger will meet in battle and blood will rule the forest." He chooses his deputy to be Whitestorm, an experienced warrior who is quite old. Then Tigerstar attempts to unify all four Clans claiming that it would help the Clans survive. While Leopardstar agrees, Tallstar and Firestar both refuse to join this alliance, which Tigerstar has called "TigerClan". Accompanied by Ravenpaw, who is on a visit to ThunderClan, Graystripe and Firestar go to RiverClan and find that Graystripe''s kits, Stormpaw and Featherpaw, and Bluestar''s kits, Mistyfoot and Stonefur, being held prisoner. Since they are all half-ThunderClan and half-RiverClan, Tigerstar accuses them of being half-Clan cats and therefore, in his opinion, traitors. Firestar, Graystripe, and Ravenpaw manage to rescue Mistyfoot, Stormpaw, and Featherpaw, but Stonefur is killed protecting Featherpaw and Stormpaw. In an attempt to convince Tallstar and Firestar to join his alliance, Tigerstar reveals to them BloodClan, a vicious group of rogues in the nearby town. When both leaders still refuse, Tigerstar then orders BloodClan to fight for him, but they do not do so. Scourge tells Tigerstar that he is the only cat in charge of BloodClan, and that after Firestar tells everyone Tigerstar''s bloodthirsty history and that he cannot be trusted to divide power, he has decided that there will be no battle. Tigerstar attacks Scourge, who kills Tigerstar easily, ending all nine of Tigerstar''s lives with one blow, by cutting him open, from throat to tail. Scourge then gives all of the forest Clans three days to leave; otherwise, they will have to fight BloodClan for the forest. To face this danger, the four Clans unite, forming an alliance which is known as "LionClan". The battle is won when Firestar kills Scourge, though he loses one of his own nine lives in the process. Without its leader, BloodClan scatters. With the forest returned to normal, the four Clans become independent once more.

The Darkest Hour

This story initiates with an unnamed grandmother complaining to her son, Bailey, that she does not want to go to Florida but to Tennessee instead, for the family vacation. The family goes to Florida anyway. She spites them by getting up early and waiting in the car, dressed in her Sunday best, so that if she should die in an accident she will be recognized as "a lady." The grandmother talks almost continuously during the trip, recalling her youth in the Old South and commenting on various things they come across. She says children used to be more respectful of their home states and their parents, and that people did right in those days. She then catches sight of a "cute little pickaninny" waving from the door of a shack, and remarks that he probably doesn''t own any britches. When the family stops at an old diner for lunch, she engages the owner, Red Sammy, in conversation about an escaped convict, a murderer known as "The Misfit." The grandmother agrees with Sammy''s assertion that a good man is very hard to find. After they return on the road again, the grandmother, trying to detour the family away from Florida, begins telling the children stories about a nearby home that she had visited as a child. Upon hearing that it has secret passages, the children become fascinated and want to visit the house, and they pester their father until he agrees to let them go and follow grandmother''s directions. When her directions lead them down a dirt road, she realizes that the house is, in fact, in Tennessee and not Georgia. Flustered, she upsets her cat, which panics, causing Bailey to flip the car and end up in a ditch below the road. The children are excited and view the accident as an adventure, and the grandmother fakes an internal injury to evoke sympathy. The family waits for help. A car pulls up and three men get out, the leader a shirtless, bespectacled man. All three have guns. The man in glasses instructs his cohorts to inspect the family''s car and engages Bailey in polite conversation until the grandmother identifies him as an escaped convict known as "The Misfit." The Misfit shot his own father, he says, though he says that''s only what he''s been told—he doesn''t believe it. As The Misfit instructs his accomplices to murder the family one by one, the grandmother begins pleading for her own life by flattering The Misfit. When The Misfit ignores her pleas, she becomes speechless. Panicked, she attempts to witness about Jesus. The Misfit becomes visibly angry: he is angry with Christ for having given no physical evidence for His existence, casting doubt about the legitimacy of Christianity. He does not want to waste his life serving a figure who may not exist, nor does he want to displease an almighty God who may exist; he has settled on the idea that "There''s no pleasure but meanness." The grandmother suddenly exclaims "Why you’re one of my babies. You’re one of my own children!", and reaches out and touches The Misfit. He recoils and shoots her three times. When the accomplice finishes murdering the family, The Misfit takes a moment to clean his glasses, concluding that "she [the grandmother] would have been a good woman, if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life." He echoes O''Connor''s traditional Christian view that this is properly the role of the conscience informed by the Holy Spirit. When his accomplice comments on the fun that they''ve had in killing, The Misfit tells him, "It''s no real pleasure in life." Again, in O''Connor''s view, a phony Christian—that is, the grandmother—through an act of violence finally comes to be genuinely converted. A good man/woman is indeed hard to find. At last the grandmother humbles herself, realizing that she''s no better than a murderer and misfit herself--for such are metaphorically her babies, part of the fallen human family. (He is wearing her son''s shirt by then--as if to increase symbolically the connection.) She can finally receive saving grace.

A Good Man Is Hard to Find

After the Old Dog mission, one of the crew members - Dr. David Luger sacrificed himself to allow his comrades escape from the airbase at Anadyr. Although everyone thought he was dead, he is not. Years later, he is now a completely brainwashed Soviet aircraft designer working for an aircraft design bureau called Fisikous is Lithuania. His whereabouts are found about by the Americans while they are extracting a Lithuanian defector. Now, known to the Old Dog crew and the high-ranking officials in Whitehouse as Dr. Ozerov, Luger must be saved from the grips of the old KGB. Luger has been forced to work on a stealth bomber called Fisikous Fi-170 which rivals the EB-52 Megafortress he had developed in the States. Parallelly the former Soviet state of Belarus is planning to invade Lithuania. Its Military commander Gen. Voschanka plans a decisive attack and use their nuclear arsenal if necessary, to force Lithuania to surrender. The Americans learn of this move by intelligence gathering and mount a covert mission to stop Belarus from invading Lithuania. An air squadron with CH-53E Superstallions and AH-1 Cobra choppers is first sent to evacuate the citizens at the American Embassy in Lithuania, followed by an air assault to destroy Belarusian ground targets. Meanwhile, a special Marines team in V-22 Ospreys, along with Patrick McLanahan, Jon Ormack and Hal briggs arrive at the Fisikous institute which is now run over with Lithuanian soldiers, to save Dave Luger. After a V-22 crash, followed by fierce gun battles, Patrick, Luger, Ormack escape in the Fi-170. On their way, they destroy several Belarusian ground units and take out a MiG-29 fighter, after which they make their way to Scotland. The EB-52 Megafortresses are sent to aid the Lithuanian ground troops led by Maj. Dominikas Palcikas in defending their soil. They take out nuclear missiles bound for Lithuania, detonating one of them with an AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile, causing a small blast. Voschanka''s entire command centre is taken out by the Russian Commonwealth forces, during which he is shot dead. The Belarusian troops finally withdraw after suffering heavy casualties. Luger finally reunites with the Old Dog crew at HAWC, amidst potential military investigations into his recent past.

Night of the Hawk

* Chapter One: Close Reading Prose discusses the question of whether writing can be taught. She answers the question by suggesting that although writing workshops can be helpful, the best way to learn to write is to read. Closely reading books, Prose studied word choice and sentence construction. Close reading helped her solve difficult obstacles in her own writing. * Chapter Two: Words Prose encourages the reader to slow down and read every word. She reminds the reader that words are the "raw material out of which literature is crafted." Challenging the reader to stop at every word, she suggest the following question be asked: "What is the writer trying to convey with this word?" * Chapter Three: Sentences Prose discusses how "the well made sentence transcends time and genre." She believes the writer who is concerned about what constitutes a well-constructed sentence is on the right path. Prose mentions the importance of mastering grammar and how it can improve the quality of a writer''s sentence. In this chapter, she also discusses the use of long sentences, short sentences, and rhythm in prose. * Chapter Four: Paragraphs Prose discusses that, just as with sentence construction, the writer who is concerned about paragraph construction is stepping in the right direction. She states that the writer who reads widely will discover there are no general rules for building a well-constructed paragraph, but "only individual examples to help point [the writer] in a direction in which [the writer] might want to go." * Chapter Five: Narration When determining point-of-view, Prose says audience is an important factor. She gives examples from literature of point-of-view variations. First-person and third person are discussed, and even an example of writing fiction in second person is given. * Chapter Six: Character Using examples from the works of Heinrich von Kleist and Jane Austen, Prose discusses how writers can develop characterization. She mentions that Kleist, in his "The Marquise of O—" ignores physical description of the characters, but instead "tells us just as much as we need to know about his characters, then releases them into the narrative that doesn''t stop spinning until the last sentence . . ." Excerpts from other pieces of literature are used to show how action, dialogue and even physical description can help develop characterization. * Chapter Seven: Dialogue Prose begins this chapter by dispelling the advice that writers should improve and clean up dialogue so it sounds less caustic than actual speech. She believes this idea on dialogue can be taken too far and that dialogue can be used to reveal not only the words on the surface, but the many motivations and emotions of the characters underneath the words. * Chapter Eight: Details Using examples from literature, Prose explains how one or two important details can leave a more memorable impression on the reader than a barrage of description. * Chapter Nine: Gestures Prose argues that gestures performed by fictional characters should not be "physical clichés" but illuminations that move the narrative. * Chapter Ten: Learning from Chekhov Prose gives examples of what she has learned from reading Anton Chekhov. As a creative writing teacher, she would disseminate advice to her students after reading their stories. As a fan of Chekhov, she would read his short stories and find examples of how he would successfully break the "rules" of fiction writing, contradicting something she recently told her students to do in their writing projects. Prose also discusses how Chekhov teaches the writer to write without judgement; she tells how Chekhov practiced not being the "judge of one''s characters and their conversations but rather the unbiased observer." * Chapter Eleven: Reading for Courage Prose discusses the fears writers may have: revealing too much of themselves in their writing; resisting the pressures that writers must write a certain way; determining whether or not the act of writing is worth it when one considers the state of the world. She concludes her book by stating that the writer may fear creating "weeds" instead of "roses." Continuing the metaphor, she says reading is a way for the writer to see how other gardeners grow their roses. * Books to Be Read Immediately Prose includes a list of book recommendations, many of which have selections from those that are used as examples for the concepts she discusses.

Reading Like a Writer

The play is set in Bath in the 18th century, a town legendary for conspicuous consumption and fashion at the time. Wealthy, fashionable people went there to "take the waters", which were believed to have healing properties. Bath was much less exclusive than London, and provides an ideal setting for the characters. The plot centres on the two young lovers, Lydia and Jack. Lydia, who reads a lot of popular novels of the time, wants a purely romantic love affair. To court her, Jack pretends to be "Ensign Beverley", a poor officer. Lydia is enthralled with the idea of eloping with a poor soldier in spite of her guardian, Mrs. Malaprop, a moralistic widow. Mrs. Malaprop is the chief comic figure of the play, thanks to her continual misuse of words that sound like the words she intends but mean something completely different. (The term malapropism was coined in reference to the character.) Lydia has two other suitors: Bob Acres (a somewhat buffoonish country gentleman), and Sir Lucius O''Trigger, an impoverished and combative Irish gentleman. Sir Lucius pays Lucy to carry love notes between him and Lydia (who uses the name "Delia"), but Lucy is swindling him: "Delia" is actually Mrs. Malaprop. As the play opens, Sir Anthony arrives suddenly in Bath. He has arranged a marriage for Jack, but Jack demurs, saying he is in love already. They quarrel violently. But Jack soon learns through the gossip of Lucy and Fag that the marriage arranged by Sir Anthony is, in fact, with Lydia. He makes a great show of submission to his father, and is presented to Lydia with Mrs. Malaprop''s blessing. Jack confides to Lydia that he is only posing as Sir Anthony''s son. She annoys Mrs. Malaprop by loudly professing her eternal devotion to "Beverley" while rejecting "Jack Absolute". Jack''s friend Faulkland is in love with Julia, but he suffers from jealous suspicion. He is constantly fretting himself about her fidelity. Faulkland and Julia quarrel foolishly, making elaborate and high-flown speeches about true love—satirizing the romantic dramas of the period. Bob Acres tells Sir Lucius that another man ("Beverley") is courting the lady of Acres'' choice (Lydia, though Sir Lucius does not know this). Sir Lucius immediately declares that Acres must challenge "Beverley" to a duel and kill him. Acres goes along, and writes out a challenge note - despite his own rather more pacifist feelings, and the profound misgivings of his servant David. Sir Lucius leaves, Jack arrives, and Acres tells him of his intent. Jack agrees to deliver the note to "Beverley", but declines to be Acres'' second. Mrs. Malaprop again presents Jack to Lydia, but this time with Sir Anthony present, exposing Jack''s pose as "Beverley". Lydia is enraged by the puncturing of her romantic dreams, and spurns Jack contemptuously. Sir Lucius has also learned of the proposed marriage of Jack and Lydia, and determines to challenge Jack. He meets Jack, who, smarting from Lydia''s rejection, agrees to fight him without even knowing the reason. They will meet at the same time as Acres is scheduled to fight "Beverley". At the dueling ground, Acres is very reluctant to fight, but Sir Lucius will have no shirking. Jack and Faulkland arrive. Acres learns that "Beverley" is his friend Jack, and begs off from their duel. However, Jack is quite willing to fight Sir Lucius, and they cross swords. David informs Mrs. Malaprop, Lydia, Julia, and Sir Anthony of the dueling, and they all rush off to stop it. Sir Lucius explains the cause of his challenge, but Lydia denies any connection to him, and admits her love for Jack. Mrs. Malaprop announces that she is Delia, but Sir Lucius recoils in horror, realizing that he has been hoaxed. Sir Anthony consoles Mrs. Malaprop, Julia is reconciled to Faulkland, and Acres invites everyone to a party.

The Rivals

Dark Wraith of Shannara began with Jair Ohmsford having a recurring dream in which he relives a section of Indomitable where he managed to become the slain "Weapons Master" Garet Jax. He talked to his sister, Brin, about how he used the Wishsong to do something real (as all he had been able to do before was illusion). She asked Jair to promise not to use the Wishsong again as she feared that he would lose himself in the magic, and not be able to return to who he is if he became Garet Jax again. Jair promised to refrain from using the Wishsong again. Jair left, but that night, he was visited by the shade of Allanon, who told him that Kimber Boh and Cogline were captured by Mwellrets and their master, the Croton Witch. Allanon tells him that they seek to gain information about how to return Paranor to the world from Cogline, who had previously been a Druid. Upon restoring Paranor, they aimed to learn the secrets of the power of the Druids. Jair reluctantly decided that he had to rescue Kimber and Cogline. After meeting Slanter, they both left for Darklin Reach. Upon arriving, Jair and Slanter discovered the tracks made by the Mwellrets and their prisoners. They were also found by Whisper, who tracked Kimber to the cave in which she was trapped. They found her with a broken leg and unable to travel, so they took her back to Hearthstone, where her and Cogline had lived, to recover. Jair learns from Kimber that the Croton Witch tortured Cogline until he told her how to restore Paranor, and she has forced him to accompany her to Paranor to work the magic. Soon after they left, Slanter and Jair were confronted by a Koden. Slanter was thrown against a rock and knocked half-blind and dazed, so Jair is forced to break his promise to Brin. He used the Wishsong to become Garet Jax once more, and he quickly slayed the Koden. Eventually, Jair and Slanter found the Mwellrets and the Croton Witch, who are forcing Cogline to use magic to bring back Paranor. Although Jair and Slanter attempted to stop them, it was too late: Paranor was restored. Jair was once more forced to become Garet Jax. Jair, as Garet, destroyed the Mwellrets, and attempted to engage the Croton Witch in combat to the death—but the protective mist of Paranor that slays any who come into contact with it quickly destroyed the Croton Witch. (The mist was the final defense of Paranor; if the castle fell, then it would kill every living thing inside of it.) The mist attempted to destroy Jair and Slanter as well, and so they were forced to take Cogline and run. Jair, with the speed and power of Garet Jax, was able to lead them to safety, and managed to transform back to Jair Ohmsford. After Kimber and Cogline''s reunion, Kimber asked Jair to stay with her. He decided to forego the request and leave with Slanter, saying that he had to find out about himself first.

Dark Wraith of Shannara

Whit is walking in a New Order city when he sees that Wisty is to be executed in the Courtyard of Justice. He races to save her, only to find that she has already been killed, once again being fooled by The One when he sees she''s still alive after she sets herself on fire (which, for Wisteria Allgood, is a good thing). Wisty reveals that The One killed Margo, an important Freelander. Whit and Wisty escape the New Order and head through a portal. They come out in a different part of the City of Progress. Whit sees Celia on a billboard, who tells him to turn himself in to the New Order, that everything he''s done is wrong. As Celia fades away, we see that Whit feels strongly that Celia was really up on the board, and that she would never tell him to turn himself in. The One executes a soldier for failure to kill Wisty. Wisty and Whit return to Garfunkel''s, to big surprise, and dismay when the Freelanders learn that Margo is dead. After several tears are shed, Wisty convinces the kids that they shouldn''t be beating themselves up about Margo''s death, that she wouldn''t want them to. The Freelanders accept this and continue on. Whit and Wisty are assigned to a quest at a New Order jail as Stephen and Sydney Harmon, a very powerful witch and wizard. They manage to make it in and out of the place, but don''t rescue the kids. After Whit and Wisty return, Whit shares with Janine, the Shaman of the group, a poem that he wrote about Celia, and Wisty destroys the romantic moment, telling Janine that Whit got the poem from their eighth grade English class. That night, they visit a Resistance concert, where Wisty learns of her gift in music. She describes being up on stage as a type of euphoria, a high. Whit sees a fake New Order "rock group" who call themselves "the Nopes". He then sympathizes his feelings about writing a six-page poem about Wisty''s death. Wisty meets the Bionics, a popular New Order group, and their drummer, Eric, whom she finds very attractive. After almost getting caught by the New Order and using magic to get away, Eric and Wisty spend the night kissing and being together. Wisty wakes up in the morning to find her drumstick gone, much to her dismay, and she learns that Eric took it. Wisty, very angry, texts Eric, and eventually arranges a meeting at the City of Progress diner. But first she visits Mrs. Highsmith, the witch from the last book that almost got her arrested. After the visit, Wisty goes up to the diner, only to learn from Eric that he took the drumstick because he was working for the New Order. Wisty and Whit are taken in to a New Order school. The One continually tries to steal Wisty''s Gift (which we learn is actually dominion over the element fire). After some help from Byron Swain, the kids get trapped in a frigid room for what looks like their final hours, but Whit and Wisty turn themselves into fish and escape the school. They return to Garfunkel''s, and, taking some kids with them, go down to the abandoned war shelter. Garfunkel''s, and the kids who were too scared to go with them, is then destroyed as the kids look on in horror and heartbreak. Whit decides they should go to Mrs. Highsmith''s home again. He kisses Janine with very confused thoughts, obviously torn between Janine and Celia, and then returns to Mrs. Highsmith''s home with Wisty. The witch gives them a message from their parents that also says that they should turn themselves in, that they should just give up in their quest. The One then appears, infuriating Wisty, who screams at Mrs. Highsmith that "she told him they were there". With horror, Mrs. Highsmith tells the kids that The One has "mastered air, earth, and water", the other three elements, and we learn that the reason why he needed Wisty''s Gift is because he wanted to control all four of the elements. Wisty and Whit learn that that they can conjure things up with their imagination, and that is the center of their magic. Wisty says that The One''s power is almost godlike. Wisty and Whit eventually surrender to The One. In the epilogue, Wisty and Whit''s parents are executed, to Wisty and Whit''s horror. Celia appears and freezes time so that Wisty can escape. The book ends with "to be continued", as did the last, with us unknowing of Whit''s whereabouts, where Whit''s going, or what Wisty has to do.

Witch and Wizard: The Gift

La Peau de chagrin consists of three sections: "Le Talisman" ("The Talisman"), "La Femme sans cœur" ("The Woman without a Heart"), and "L''Agonie" ("The Agony"). The first edition contained a Preface and a "Moralité", which were excised from subsequent versions. A two-page Epilogue appears at the end of the final section. "Le Talisman" begins with the plot of "Le Dernier Napoléon": A young man named Raphaël de Valentin wagers his last coin and loses, then proceeds to the river Seine to drown himself. On the way, however, he decides to enter an unusual shop and finds it filled with curiosities from around the world. The elderly shopkeeper leads him to a piece of shagreen hanging on the wall. It is inscribed with "Oriental" writing; the old man calls it "Sanskrit", but it is imprecise Arabic. The skin promises to fulfill any wish of its owner, shrinking slightly upon the fulfillment of each desire. The shopkeeper is willing to let Valentin take it without charge, but urges him not to accept the offer. Valentin waves away the shopkeeper''s warnings and takes the skin, wishing for a royal banquet, filled with wine, women, and friends. He is immediately met by acquaintances who invite him to such an event; they spend hours eating, drinking, and talking. Part two, "La Femme sans cœur", is narrated as a flashback from Valentin''s point of view. He complains to his friend Émile about his early days as a scholar, living in poverty with an elderly landlord and her daughter Pauline, while trying fruitlessly to win the heart of a beautiful but aloof woman named Foedora. Along the way he is tutored by an older man named Eugène de Rastignac, who encourages him to immerse himself in the world of high society. Benefiting from the kindness of his landladies, Valentin maneuvers his way into Foedora''s circle of friends. Unable to win her affection, however, he becomes the miserable and destitute man found at the start of "Le Talisman". "L''Agonie" begins several years after the feast of parts one and two. Valentin, having used the talisman to secure a large income, finds both the skin and his health dwindling. The situation causes him to panic, horrified that further desires will hasten the end of his life. He organizes his home to avoid the possibility of wishing for anything: his servant, Jonathan, arranges food, clothing, and visitors with precise regularity. Events beyond his control cause him to wish for various things, however, and the skin continues to recede. Desperate, the sickly Valentin tries to find some way of stretching the skin, and takes a trip to the spa town of Aix-les-Bains in the hope of recovering his vitality. With the skin no larger than a periwinkle leaf, he is visited by Pauline in his room; she expresses her love for him. When she learns the truth about the shagreen and her role in Raphaël''s demise, she is horrified. Raphaël cannot control his desire for her and she rushes into an adjoining room to escape him and so save his life. He pounds on the door and declares both his love and his desire to die in her arms. She, meanwhile, is trying to kill herself to free him from his desire. He breaks down the door, they consummate their love in a fiery moment of passion, and he dies.

La Peau de chagrin

The backdrop for this story is an informational arms races between a future United States of America and China. Both countries are attempting to build a quantum computer, which they believe will be the ultimate information weapon, creating and breaking encryption schemes. One of the American investigators, Dr. Jaron L. Kwok, is mysteriously killed while in Hong Kong, and his mathematical understudy Ben Cho is ordered to pick up Kwok''s investigation in an attempt to find out why and how he died. Running parallel to this storyline are the lives of Don Markham (known as Don Strum in Cybernesia)and Lu Mei-lin (also known as Marilyn Lu). Don is computer programmer whose work specializes in the virtual reality world Cybernesia. Lu is a forensic detective who works in Hong Kong. After Kwok''s death in she is the leading detective on the case, called to Sha Tin by the Guoanbo, China''s version of the CIA and its leader in the race for the quantum computer. At the time of Kwok''s death a holocaust is disseminated throughout the world, showing the circumstances of the virtual reality world that he had died in. However, his death prompts not only the US and China, but multiple other organizations (from terrorists to secret societies) to go to any lengths for the chance to get binotech, the newest technology that reduplicates itself and stores a huge amount of information in tiny quantities.

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