The narrator inexplicably finds himself in a grim and joyless city, the "grey town", which is either hell or purgatory depending on how long one stays there. He eventually finds a bus for those who desire an excursion to some other place (and which eventually turns out to be the foothills of heaven). He enters the bus and converses with his fellow passengers as they travel. When the bus reaches its destination, the passengers on the bus &mdash; including the narrator &mdash; are gradually revealed to be ghosts. Although the country is the most beautiful they have ever seen, every feature of the landscape (including streams of water and blades of grass) is unyieldingly solid compared to themselves: it causes them immense pain to walk on the grass, and even a single leaf is far too heavy for any to lift. Shining figures, men and women whom they have known on earth, come to meet them, and to urge them to repent and enter heaven proper. They promise that as the ghosts travel onward and upward, they will become more solid and thus feel less and less discomfort. These figures, called "spirits" to distinguish them from the ghosts, offer to assist them in the journey toward the mountains and the sunrise. Almost all of the ghosts choose to return instead to the grey town, giving various reasons and excuses. Much of the interest of the book lies in the recognition it awakens of the plausibility and familiarity, along with the thinness and self-deception, of the excuses that the ghosts refuse to abandon, even though to do so would bring them to "reality" and "joy forevermore." The narrator is met by the writer George MacDonald, whom he hails as his mentor, just as Dante did when encountering Virgil in the Divine Comedy; and MacDonald becomes the narrator''s guide in his journey, just as Virgil became Dante''s. MacDonald explains that it is possible for a soul to choose to remain in heaven despite having been in the grey town; for such souls, the goodness of heaven will work backwards into their lives, turning even their worst sorrows into joy, and changing their experience on earth to an extension of heaven. Conversely, the evil of hell works so that if a soul remains in, or returns to, the grey town, even its happiness on earth will lose its meaning, and its experience on earth would have been hell. None of the ghosts realize that the grey town is, in fact, hell. Indeed it is not that much different from the life they led on earth: joyless, friendless, and uncomfortable. It just goes on forever, and gets worse and worse, with some characters whispering their fear of the "night" that is eventually to come. According to MacDonald, while it is possible to leave hell and enter heaven, doing so implies turning away (repentance); or as depicted by Lewis, embracing ultimate and unceasing joy itself. In answer to the narrator''s question MacDonald confirms that what is going on is a dream. The use of chess imagery as well as the correspondence of dream elements to elements in the narrator''s waking life is reminiscent of Alice''s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. The narrator discovers that the vast grey town and its ghostly inhabitants are minuscule to the point of being invisible compared with the immensity of heaven and reality. This is illustrated in the encounter of the blessed woman and her husband: she is surrounded by gleaming attendants while he shrinks down to invisibility as he uses a collared tragedian to speak for him. Toward the end, the narrator expresses the terror and agony of remaining a ghost in the advent of full daybreak in heaven, comparing the experience to having large blocks fall on one''s body (at this point falling books awaken him). This parallels that of the man with his dream of judgment day in the House of the Interpreter of The Pilgrim''s Progress. The book ends with the narrator awakening from his dream of heaven into the unpleasant reality of wartime Britain, in conscious imitation of The Pilgrim''s Progress, the last sentence of the "First Part" of which is: "So I awoke, and behold, it was a Dream."

The Great Divorce

This book is set in an alternate modern-day England (World Twelve C), identical to our world except for the presence of witchcraft. Despite witches being common, witchcraft is illegal and punishable by death, policed by a modern-day Inquisition. At Larwood House, an underfunded boarding school that many of the adolescent children of executed witches are sent to, a note claiming "Someone in this class is a witch" is found by one of the teachers. This launches an internal investigation of several of the more unpopular students at the school, some of whom are gradually coming to terms with the fact that they can do magic. In the traditional manner of children, magic and mischief, mayhem gradually ensues as magic is used to make birds appear in the classroom, to rain shoes, to curse a classmate into having his words always be true, and to do the traditional flying on a broomstick. When the magic gets totally out of control, one of the students runs away, blaming the witch for controlling him. This launches an investigation and the Inquisition is called to locate any witches and have them burned. Four of the students escape the school, two of them turning for help to an old part of an underground railroad system for witches to send them to another world where they''ll be safe. While the old woman who lives there tells them the system broke down long ago, she does give them a spell to say at the Oak Grove that will summon help in an emergency. The four students and Brian, the runaway, gather at the Grove and say "Chrestomanci" three times, which summons the nine-lives enchanter from The Lives of Christopher Chant to help them. With his help, and the help of their classmates, most of which are witches themselves, the kids outwit the Inquisitor and ultimately revise their world''s history by merging their world (Twelve A) with ours (Twelve B), which has no magic. When the note is found in this world, everyone exclaims they are the witch, and it is seen as normal.

Witch Week

Set in not-yet-quite Swinging London, The Millstone focuses on the life of Rosamund Stacey, an attractive Cambridge graduate who is writing her thesis on early English poetry while living alone in the spacious flat of her parents, who have gone to Africa for a year on a philanthropic mission. While Rosamund is convinced of both her qualities as a literary historian and her Socialist&mdash;and in particular Fabian&mdash;ideals, she is rather reluctant when it comes to sex. To avoid being considered old-fashioned or priggish, she has managed to make her small but intimate circle of friends believe that she is carrying on with two men at the same time whereas in fact she is still a virgin and only enjoys her two male friends'' company. Each of the men also thinks that she is sleeping with the other one so neither of them presses her to have sex with him. In a pub Rosamund meets George Matthews, a newsreader for BBC Radio, and at once feels attracted to him although she is quite sure right from the start that he is gay. They end up in her flat and eventually have sex. As George is also under the impression that she has two lovers, Rosamund has no need to hide the fact that this is in fact her first time. Too shy to tell him that she has fallen in love with him, and now believing that he is bisexual, she lets George vanish from her life as quickly as he entered it, in the ensuing months only occasionally listening to his voice on the radio. When she learns that she is pregnant, a whole new world opens up to her. While she decides against telling George or writing to her parents in order not to unnecessarily upset them, she hopes she will get moral support from her sister Beatrice and her husband, who have three small children themselves. However, in a letter to her sister Beatrice expresses her shock and disbelief and urges Rosamund either to have an abortion or to give birth to the baby and put it up for adoption immediately afterwards, and then carry on with her life and academic career as if nothing had happened. After a half-hearted attempt at inducing a miscarriage, she decides to have the baby and be one of the women Bernard Shaw refers to as "women who want children but no husband". Her friends take the news well and without asking too many questions about the identity of the father, who, they secretly assume, must be one of her two lovers. Rosamund, however, stops seeing the two men and focuses on her work and her pregnancy. She finds a true friend in Lydia Reynolds, a young novelist who happily takes her up on her offer to share her flat with her in return for the occasional babysitting job once her child has been born. For the first time in her life Rosamund has to deal with the National Health Service and all its inadequacies. When her daughter is born, she decides to name her Octavia after Octavia Hill. When she is only a few months old, Octavia is found to have a serious condition of the pulmonary artery, and surgery is unavoidable. However, the operation turns out to be successful, and Rosamund is allowed to take her daughter home after weeks of anxiety. Lydia, who is now having an affair with one of Rosamund''s former "lovers," still lives with her even after Octavia, just for a few minutes left to her own devices, has crawled into Lydia''s room and partly ripped, partly chewed up a major part of the typescript of her new novel. Rosamund''s parents are informed about the existence of their grandchild through a letter from Octavia''s surgeon, who happens to be an old acquaintance of theirs, but they tactfully decide not to disturb their daughter''s new life and stay abroad for another year rather than return for Christmas as planned. The final scene of the novel takes place late at night on Christmas Eve, when Rosamund has to go to an all-night chemist''s near her flat to get some medicine for Octavia. There, she has a chance meeting with George, and again invites him up to her flat. Rosamund lies about the age of Octavia, so that George will not suspect that she might be his. Reluctantly, George is persuaded to have a look at the sleeping Octavia, pronounces her a beautiful baby, and leaves again.

The Millstone

In the early 21st century, Zane is living a pathetic life without money or employment. When a magic gem merchant cheats Zane out of an opportunity for romance, Zane decides to take his own life. As he starts to pull the trigger, he sees the specter of Death (Thanatos) advancing on him. Startled, he pulls the gun from his own head and shoots Death right between the eyes. He is then visited by a woman who introduces herself as Fate, who insists that Zane must now assume the position of the man he has killed, since whoever kills Death must become the new Death. As Zane makes his way downstairs, he gets his first view of a pale limousine with the license plate reading "Mortis"...his Death Steed (Death rides a pale horse) who can assume the form of a pale boat, a plane, or a pale limousine, as well as the form of a pale horse. Fate then departs and leaves Zane in the care of Chronos, the Incarnation of Time, who then instructs Zane how to use his deathwatch, how Mortis changes form, how to use other instruments of the office, and exactly what his new duties are. This entails residing in Purgatory and visiting Earth to collect the souls of humans who are in a close balance of good and evil and cannot determine their eternal destination (Heaven or Hell) without help. In the course of learning the job, he discovers that his coming into the office of Death was not accidental, but was manipulated by a powerful magician (Cedric Kaftan Jr.). Despite being a mortal, this magician has strong ties to the other Incarnations from Purgatory and reveals to Zane that the Incarnation of Fate arranged Zane''s destiny for the magician''s purpose. There is a prophecy which states that Luna Kaftan, the magician''s daughter, is destined to go into politics and thwart the schemes of Satan, the Incarnation of Evil. Luna Kaftan is thus a target for the forces of Hell and is in need of supernatural protection. The magician, who has done a great deal of research, feels that Zane is the best candidate for the Incarnation of Death to fall in love with Luna and thus want to protect her. The only way for the magician Kaftan to meet with Death without Satan''s knowledge is to die with his soul in balance. The magician chooses to sacrifice his own life in order to introduce Zane to Luna and explain to Zane the circumstances which brought him into the office of Death. The dead magician''s plans however seem to go awry. Due to manipulation by Satan, Luna is also destined to die before she can fulfill the prophecy. The magician had used too much black magic for his soul to be in balance. In order to bring it into balance before committing suicide, he has transferred the excess evil on his soul to Luna''s soul, whom he has assumed to be innocent of evil. However, Luna has a burden of evil on her soul already, and her father''s scheme has put her on the course to Hell. To correct this, she volunteers to switch places with one of Death''s other clients. By sacrificing her own life to save another, she manages to balance the evil on her soul. Her actions play right into Satan''s trap, who doesn''t care whether she goes to Heaven or Hell, only that she dies and is no longer a threat to his plots. However, Zane has already fallen in love with Luna by this time, just like the magician had planned, and he refuses to take the soul of the woman he loves. Now the motives behind the magician''s choice of Zane are made clear to him when the other four Incarnations (Time, Fate, War, and Nature) from Purgatory approach him and explain that they were all in on the plan. The previous Death could not be manipulated into betraying the duties of his office for love, so the Incarnations_of_Immortality decided to replace him with a young, stubborn man like Zane, who could. Because Luna''s soul is next in the queue, Zane cannot take the souls of other mortals until he deals with hers. He refuses to do so, thereby going on strike and leaving dying mortals in agony, unable to be released by death. As this is not to Satan''s advantage, he first tries to bribe Zane, then intimidate him into going back to work. Zane, however, has had a conversation with Gaea, the Incarnation of Nature, who has demonstrated to him the absolute power each Incarnation wields in its own sphere of influence. Zane eventually realizes that the office of Death is unassailable by Satan and that he cannot be harmed within the sphere of that office. As an Incarnation, Satan himself has a soul and is subject to Zane''s dominion. The conflict ends in a draw and Satan has no choice but to admit defeat. With Satan''s plot exposed, Purgatory changes Luna''s destiny and she is free to return to life. Zane lifts his strike, and with Luna under his protection, Satan can no longer interfere with her fate through the means of death.

On a Pale Horse

The sprawling novel follows a number of different characters'' viewpoints around the date of August 15, 2047, the centenary of India''s partition and independence from the colonial British Raj. This future India has become balkanized into a number of smaller competing states, such as Awadh, Bharat, and Bangla. The global information network is now inhabited by artificial intelligences, called aeais in the novel, of varying levels of intelligence. Aeais higher than level 2.5 (able to pass the Turing test and imitate humans) are banned, and their destruction ("excommunication") is the responsibility of "Krishna Cops", like Mr. Nandha. While some pockets of the subcontinent are still steeped in ancient tradition and values, mainstream culture is replete with aeais in TV entertainment and robotic swarms in defense. During such a time, Ranjit Ray steps down from his control of Ray Power, a key energy company, and the responsibility falls on his son Vishram Ray. The playboy Vishram is struggling to make it on his own as a stand-up comedian in Scotland when he is flown back to Varanasi to assume this role, for which he finds himself terribly ill-equipped but eventually surprisingly effective. He learns that his company is working on harvesting zero-point energy from other universes, and sees the particle collider built by his father with the help of Odeco, a clandestine investment firm. After a prolonged drought, a severe water shortage threatens to jeopardize the peace between the subcontinental states. To avert this crisis, governments are melting glaciers and modifying natural systems. To take advantage of the unrest, a Hindu fundamentalist leader named N.K Jeevanji organises a "rath yatra" on a spectacular juggernaut. He starts releasing key information to the press via Najia Askarzadah, an ambitious Swedish-Afghan reporter with a desire to be part of history as it is being made. Lisa Durnau notices an apocalyptic crisis brewing in Alterre, a simulated evolution of earth created by AI scientist Thomas Lull, who is currently hiding in a South Indian coastal village. While Lisa is sent into space to investigate an asteroid, Thomas Lull runs into Aj, a girl with mysterious powers that allow her to see into people''s lives, pasts and futures. He decides to follow her and protect her during her quest to find her own true identity, but it is soon revealed that Aj''s powers extend beyond mere mortals, when she brings a robot army to a halt with the raise of a hand. Tal is a beautiful nute (of neutral gender) involved in the designing team of India''s greatest ''soapi'', Town & Country, some of the main stars of which are not human actors, but aeais. Tal falls prey to a conspiracy that compromises the career of Shaheen Badoor Khan, Private Secretary to the Prime Minister Sajida Rana, leading to her assassination and the fall of the government. All this leads to riots and popular fury against Muslims and transsexuals across Varanasi. Lisa Durnau discovers that at the center of the mysterious asteroid is an 8 billion year old grey sphere, possibly a black hole remnant, or an alien artifact from another civilization. This "Tabernacle" communicates a message to the scientists, and this leads Lisa to India to find Thomas Lull, who alone can explain this phenomenon.

River of Gods

In the year 1400 14-year-old Simon the illegitimate son of Geoffrey of Malvallet fends for himself after his mother’s death. He forces himself into the service of Fulk of Montlice – his natural father’s most hated foe. Simon works his way up from Fulk’s Page until he is on equal footing with Montlice’s son & heir, his friend Alan. He meets Geoffrey of Malvallet, the legitimate son of Simon''s father. Alan, Geoffrey and Simon become great friends both to each other and to the Prince of Wales (later Henry V). When Simon is sent to Belremy, it seems he is faced with an impossible task. First besieging the city, then by attacking the actual city, Simon is able to take the town, but not the castle, where the regal Lady Margaret resides. On finding out that Alan has been taken prisoner, Simon goes up to the castle himself, and after threatening the lady''s life, her cousin Raoul is forced to make a submission. On hearing this, Margaret declares that she will never submit to the English and tries to fling herself on Simon''s dagger. Simon is too quick for her though and takes her prisoner. Later Margaret obtains a dagger, but finds herself unable to kill Simon. When Simon is forced to go away for a few days, Margaret takes the opportunity to flee to her friend, only to find that he has too submitted to the English. Margaret is then kidnapped by Raoul. Simon goes to search for her and finds Margaret in the arms of Raoul, struggling wildly. Simon''s temper gets the best of him for the first time in his life, and he kills Raoul. Geoffrey, Simon, Margaret and her companion are forced to flee. The men bring them back to Belremy, and out of gratitude, Margaret hands in her submission. Simon tells her that he wants to marry her and she is indignant. However later, when someone is lurking in the bushes, she runs to him as she afraid that he will be killed. Simon, is recalled to the Prince, but Margaret shows him that she wants him to come back. Eventually Simon comes back and Lady Margaret finally agrees to marry him. Beauvallet (1929) follows the adventures of Simon’s Great Great Great Grandson Sir Nicholas Beauvallet. My Lord John (1975) covers much the same period (1393–1413). King’s Henry IV & Henry V (Simon’s friend) also appear in it.

Simon the Coldheart

Fleurette is a beautiful, innocent country girl who has been protected by her indulgent, wealthy father from the worst horrors of the revolution. Her father Citizen Armand, whom she calls Bibi, is frequently away from home because of his exalted position in the government, but he dotes on her and showers her with gifts and affection during his infrequent visits to their house at Lou Mas, in Dauphiné near Larangne. As Fleurette''s mother is dead, she is looked after by Old Louise the housekeeper when Bibi is away. She also spends much time at the Frontenac family farm and is in love with her childhood sweetheart Amédé, the son of the local épicier M''sieu'' Colombe. Amédé is now twenty and will soon be leaving the village to become a soldier and fight the English. On Fleurette''s 18th birthday, Bibi comes home to visit and all seems perfect in Fleurette''s world. Yet, although the horrors of the Revolution appear far away, in reality they are nearby, for a group of soldiers has arrived in the village to arrest the Frontenac family at their chateau. When the soldiers arrive at the farm they discover that Madame de Frontenac and her crippled daughter Rose have disappeared. Only Charles de Frontenac, farmer and descendant of a long line of aristocrats, is at the house. They turn the house over looking for his wife and daughter with no success for the Scarlet Pimpernel has beaten them to it. Meanwhile, oblivious to what is happening at the farm, Fleurette hears a mysterious voice that tells her "Papers and valuables are behind the panel in Madame''s room" She realises that &#39;Madame&#39; is Madame de Frontenac and rushes excitedly to the chateau, thinking that the message is from St. Antoine, and that perhaps Madame has mislaid some papers. She arrives at the farm to discover the soldiers have trashed the place. Remembering a secret cupboard that Madame had shown her and Rose, Fleurette takes a wallet, a money-bag and a small casket and hides them in her pockets and under her shawl. She is just about to leave for home when she runs into her father standing by the stables with a tricolour sash around his waist. She gets away without him discovering what she has been doing and gives the items to her lover Amédé to hide in his father&#39;s tool shed. The next day, a group of soldiers arrive to search the Colombe&#39;s premises, having been tipped off that the items are there. They find the items and march off with Amédé, M. de Frontenac, and the soldiers who were there before. It&#39;s not long before Fleurette hears that Amédé has been accused of theft and, determined to clear his name, she takes old Louise and searches for her father to explain what really happened in the hope that he can intervene. She eventually finds him down in Orange at the Commission, for her father is none other than Citizen Armand Chauvelin, the arch-enemy of the Scarlet Pimpernel. Chauvelin may be ruthless and merciless, but it appears that he can also be gentle and caring where Fleurette is concerned. It turns out that the soldiers who took Amédé, M. de Frontenac were actually the &#39;English spies&#39; and he is terrified of what might happen to Fleurette after he hears her story. It is not long before Chauvelin&#39;s fears come true as Lieutenant Godot, whom Chauvelin has threatened to denounce for losing the prisoners to the Scarlet Pimpernel, brings Fleurette in front of the Committee on a charge of treason. To make matters worse there is a witness: Old Louise&#39;s daughter Adele who has always resented Fleurette&#39;s wealthy lifestyle. With his daughter apparently trapped by laws that he had helped to create, Chauvelin is determined to save her, thinking even now that if only he can capture the Scarlet Pimpernel, perhaps he would be able to trade the Englishman for his daughter&#39;s life. Despite his best efforts to forestall the inevitable process of trial and guillotine from happening to his beloved daughter the day arrives when Fleurette must face condemnation from her own father. After suffering intense mental anguish for weeks it finally occurs to Chauvelin that he may have to turn to his bitter enemy for help; for surely the Scarlet Pimpernel is the only person who can save Fleurette - but will Sir Percy be willing to help his enemy&#39;s child considering Chauvelin&#39;s previous treatment of Lady Blakeney? de:The Scarlet Pimpernel fr:Le Mouron rouge

Sir Percy Hits Back

Subtitled "a memoir of a better era," North''s book is a prose poem to adolescent angst. Rascal chronicles young Sterling''s loving yet distant relationship with his father, dreamer David Willard North, and the aching loss represented by the death of his mother, Elizabeth Nelson North. (The book also touches on young Sterling''s concerns for his older brother Herschel, who is in Europe fighting in World War One). The boy reconnects with society through the unlikely intervention of his pet raccoon, a "ringtailed wonder" charmer that dominates almost every page. The book begins with the capture of the baby raccoon, and follows his growth to a yearling. The story is also a personal chronicle of the era of change between the (nearly) untouched forest wilderness and agriculture; between the days of the pioneers and the rise of towns; and between horse-drawn transportation and automobiles, among other transitions. The author''s through-a-boy''s-eyes view of his observations during expeditions in and around his home town, contrasted with his father''s reminiscences of the time "when Wisconsin was still half wilderness, when panthers sometimes looked in through the windows, and the whippoorwills called all night long", provide a glimpse of the past, as the original subtitle suggests. The book is filled with humorous moments. His sister Theo cannot understand Sterling''s building of a canoe in the living room and is "startled nearly out of her wits" when Rascal, who had been lying on and blending into Uncle Justus'' Amazonian jaguar rug, stands up. Later in the book, Rascal joins him in a pie eating contest, and they win, but are disqualified, although his friend, Oscar Sunderland, takes first prize because of it. Rascal also enjoyed riding in his bicycle''s basket, and helped him sell magazines by creating an animated sideshow. The book also has serious moments. The author''s brother Herschel is serving in the military during World War I, and Sterling longs for a word from him. Rascal is confined after he bites an annoying lad who snaps him with a rubber band. Later, Sterling catches a mild case of the Spanish flu during the epidemic. (It is stated in the book that his Aunt Lillie, who took care of him during his sickness, said that Sterling''s mother had wanted him to be a writer, which he achieved.) Eventually the problems with Rascal''s raids into fields and henhouses become too much of an issue; the neighbors'' irritation with the boy''s pet can no longer be ignored. In addition, Rascal has become a young adult and, as such, is getting attention from jealous male and interested female raccoons. Sterling realizes that Rascal is a wild animal and can no longer be kept, unless always kept in a cage. He travels in the newly completed canoe to release Rascal in the woods at the far side of the nearby lake. The author''s sister, the straight-laced poet and art historian Jessica Nelson North, is one note of early 1900s normalcy in the book. She wasn''t particularly pleased with how her brother portrayed her family in Rascal (yet was proud of her brother''s achievement, regardless). The theme of Rascal is not friendship, but loss, and the transcendence of it. Sterling loses his mother, the attention of his father, his brother to war, and eventually his best friend, Rascal, but survives and learns from it.

Rascal

A new virus strain has infected rice crops in East Asia causing massive famine; soon a mutation appears which infects the staple crops of West Asia and Europe such as wheat and barley, all of them types of grasses (thus the novel''s title), threatening a famine engulfing the whole of the Old World, while Australasia and the Americas attempt to impose rigorous quarantine to keep the virus out. The novel follows the struggles of architect John Custance and his friend, civil servant Roger Buckley, as, along with their families, they make their way across an England which is rapidly descending into anarchy, hoping to reach the safety of John''s brother''s potato farm in an isolated Westmorland valley. Picking up a travelling companion in a gun shop owner named Pirrie, they find they must sacrifice many of their morals in order to stay alive. At one point, when their food supply runs out, they kill a family to take their bread. The protagonist justifies this with the belief that "it was them or us." By the time they reach the valley, they have accumulated a considerable entourage as a result of their encounters with other groups of survivors along the way. They find that John''s brother is unable to let them all in to the heavily-defended valley. Pirrie acts to prevent John leaving the group and taking only his immediate family into the valley; instead, the group takes the valley by force. Pirrie and John''s brother are killed; John takes possession of the valley.

The Death Of Grass

The full title of the article is "The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power: Ruined lives. Lost fortunes. Federal crimes. Scientology poses as a religion but is really a ruthless global scam — and aiming for the mainstream". The article reported on the founding of the Church of Scientology by L. Ron Hubbard and controversies involving the Church and its affiliated business operations, as well as the suicide of a Scientologist. Lottick was a Russian studies student who had taken a series of Scientology courses; he died after jumping from a hotel tenth floor window. The Church of Scientology and Lottick''s family have differing positions on the effect Scientology coursework had on him. While none of the parties assigned blame, they expressed misgivings about his death. Initially, his father had thought that Scientology was similar to Dale Carnegie''s self-improvement techniques; however, after his ordeal, the elder Lottick came to believe that the organization is a "school for psychopaths". Mike Rinder, the head of the Church of Scientology''s Office of Special Affairs and a Church spokesman, stated "I think Ed Lottick should look in the mirror&nbsp;... I think Ed Lottick made his son''s life intolerable". The article outlined a brief history of Scientology, discussing Hubbard''s initial background as a science fiction writer, and cited a California judge who had deemed Hubbard a "pathological liar". Cynthia Kisser, then director of the Cult Awareness Network, was quoted: "Scientology is quite likely the most ruthless, the most classically terroristic, the most litigious and the most lucrative cult the country has ever seen. No cult extracts more money from its members".

The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power

War with the neighboring country of Scanra is declared at last, and Kel finds herself in charge of a refugee camp. Her district commander, Lord Wyldon, has chosen not to place her in control of a border post or a portion of the army like the other knights, so she''s certain that he wishes to keep her—who, as a woman, he views as inferior in combat to males—out of fighting. However, it is revealed that she was chosen for her post because she is the only knight Wyldon knows who wouldn''t discriminate against those not of noble blood. Kel soon comes to realize that these refugees, torn from their homes, robbed of their wealth and self-respect, are her responsibility. She must feed them, house them, and keep them safe from harm, on a piece of ground that is far too close to the Scanran border. She is able to be a hero, even outside of the battlefield. In her work at the camp Kel names Haven, she receives help in the shape of her old friends Neal and Merric, the horses Peachblossom and Hoshi, the dog Jump, and her personal sparrow flock, as well as from mixed a myriad group of others: the Wildmage Daine; Daine''s lover, the great mage Numair Salmalin; Neal''s own father, Duke Baird of Queenscove; Kel''s former knight-master Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie''s Peak; men of the King''s Own (including Kel''s friend and Neal''s cousin Sergeant Domitan of Masbolle); convict soldiers who have been given the choice to fight in the army or to die at hard labor; several hundred disillusioned refugees who have received too many empty promises from nobles; smugglers, and a young, orphaned boy with wild magic for horses named Tobe. While Kel struggles with her responsibilities and the urge simply to abandon the camp and find a real fight, another obligation hangs over her. Before the war began, she was given a task by the Chamber of the Ordeal: to find and destroy the mage whose necromancy creates the giant, swift-moving, deadly metallic machines from the souls of children, known to the Tortallans as "killing devices." But, tied to the camp, she cannot pursue it. However, as the summer wears on and the war intensifies, events move to put that perverted mage and his conscienceless war-leader in Kel''s path, and at last her resolve is tested, and she and all of Tortall find out if she is truly worthy of her shield. After months of hard work with the refugees, Kel feels that they can sufficiently take care of the camp while she is gone for several days to deliver a requested oral report to Lord Wyldon. However, when Tobe is brought into the fort, tired from a long trek from Kel''s refugee camp, she knows that something is wrong. The Scanrans have captured her people, and Kel believes that the children will be used to create the horrible metal killing devices terrorizing Tortall. Worse, Lord Wyldon forbids her to go after them. She is left with a choice: obey Wyldon''s orders and leave her people for the killing devices, or go after them and presumably be declared a traitor. After burying the few dead at Haven, Kel tricks her guards into returning to Lord Wyldon without her, and begins what she believes will be a long and harrowing journey into enemy territory. Much to her surprise and dismay, she is soon joined by Neal, several of her other year-mates, Owen, Tobe and members of the King''s Own. They follow the path of the kidnapped refugees across the deadly Vassa river and into Scanra. A series of altercations result in the Scanran guards being depleted, and the rescue of the adult refugees and convict guards of Haven. Continuing to track the kidnapped children, they are led to Fief Rathhausak, and a final battle between the Tortallans and the Scanrans leaves Blayce dead, and the people of Rathhausak free from his tyranny. The Tortallans and villagers of Rathhausak return across the border to Tortall. In recompense for disobeying orders, she is ordered to build and command a new refugee camp, known as New Hope.

Lady Knight

David Fyfe, a high school English teacher, brings Wolfe a problem regarding a contract and inheritance. His brother Bert has just died of pneumonia and left his estate to David, another brother Paul, and their sister Louise Fyfe Tuttle. But under the terms of an agreement with Bert''s business partner, Johnny Arrow, all assets from their uranium mining operation go to Arrow, and the assets represent nearly all of Bert''s five million dollar estate. Paul Fyfe thinks that Arrow might have killed Bert before he could shelter his assets by giving them to his relatives. The family hires Wolfe to determine whether there''s enough evidence of a crime to refer the matter to the police. Twenty years earlier, Bert was charged with the murder of his father. Bert was acquitted, largely on the basis of an alibi provided by Vincent Tuttle, at the time his roommate and later his brother-in-law. After his acquittal Bert broke contact with his family and moved to Canada, where, in partnership with Arrow, he struck it rich in uranium. Having recently returned to New York to re-establish ties with his family, Bert invited them to his hotel suite for dinner, and to a Broadway show. But Bert fell ill with pneumonia and required bed rest and 24-hour nursing care. Paul, a masher, manhandled nurse Anne Goren, who phoned the attending physician to send another nurse. Louise Tuttle volunteered to watch Bert, and Miss Goren left. Then Paul got into a fistfight with Arrow over Miss Goren, who had aroused romantic and protective feelings in Arrow. Arrow beat Paul so badly that he was arrested and spent the night in jail. That night, Bert died, and his doctor certifies that the death was due to pneumonia. Paul now suggests that Arrow might have found a way to substitute something toxic for the morphine that the doctor had left with the nurse. There are several strange aspects to Bert''s death. One is that Bert''s father had died in a similar fashion 20 years earlier – someone had opened the bedroom windows on a snowy winter night as the father lay asleep, also suffering from pneumonia. Louise Tuttle has felt guilty ever since, because she was supposed to be looking after him but had fallen asleep in the next room. Then there''s the matter of the missing ice cream. Paul had brought two quarts of ice cream to Bert''s hotel room and put them in the refrigerator. It went uneaten due to the subsequent events, but somehow it has disappeared. Wolfe sends Archie to see Paul, Louise and Vincent in Mount Kisco to check on the morphine, and while he''s there to investigate the ice cream''s disappearance. Yet another strange aspect is that when Bert''s body was found, there were two hot water bags next to him. The presence of the bags was expected; that they were both empty was not.

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