The story takes place entirely aboard an Emergency Dispatch Ship (EDS) headed for the frontier planet Woden with a load of desperately needed medical supplies. The pilot, Barton, discovers a stowaway: an eighteen-year-old girl. By law, all EDS stowaways are to be jettisoned because EDS vessels carry no more fuel than is absolutely necessary to land safely at their destination. The girl, Marilyn, merely wants to see her brother, Gerry, and is not aware of the law. When boarding the EDS, Marilyn sees the "UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL KEEP OUT!" sign, but thinks she will simply have to pay a fine if she is caught. Barton explains that her presence dooms the mission by exceeding the weight limit, and will result in the deaths of the colonists. No cargo can be jettisoned, and the presence of the captain is required on ship, so Barton cannot sacrifice himself. After contacting her brother, Marilyn willingly walks out of the airlock and is ejected into space. The story, first published in the August 1954 issue of Astounding, has been widely anthologized and even dramatized.

The Cold Equations

In When True Night Falls, Damien, Hesseth, and Tarrant land on the shores of the Eastern Continent where the order of the Church have managed to subdue the unconscious working of the Fae. Consequently the technology of the civilization is far more advanced than the Western Continent as is seen by the casual use of explosive weapons and fireworks. While conversing with various leaders, the group learns that only women are allowed to rise to the highest ranks in the Eastern Church. Many rarely see the Matria or holy women of the Church except for odd snippets of time and it is discovered by the group that the Matria and holy women are in fact rakh disguised with tidal fae. After learning of the corruption starting on the Eastern Continent the group manage to trace it south, to the crystal palace of the Immortal Prince, and his Iezu servant, Calesta. Along the way, they rescue a young girl, Jenseny, whose father was killed and impersonated by the Prince''s rakh servants. Jenseny is driven near to madness by events she has seen and her rare ability to see and control tidal fae. While scared and untrustful she manages to form a bond with Hesseth who is unable to bear children as was ritual to the rakh who journey away from their homes to mingle with humans. The Prince makes a deal with Tarrant; in return for immortality, the Hunter must lead Hesseth, Damien, and Jenseny into a trap. But there was one catch to the deal: the Immortal Prince''s plans include the corruption of the Church, and the former Prophet is not willing to accept that. Meanwhile Damien, Hesseth and Jenseny cross a seemingly endless desert populated with scraggly white trees and skeletons. Damien is hesitant to cross the desert as the skeletons indicate some form of predator but sees nothing that could possibly pose a true threat. The group decides to cross and settle down for the night under a tree. Damien and Hesseth awaken to find that the tree''s roots have begun to grow into their bodies. While at first they cannot move, they both eventually break free of the trees and find that Jenseny''s body has also been invaded by the roots. Damien cut away the roots but feared that they might still be harmful to the young girl. The trio keeps traveling without rest to avoid the roots of the trees. They finally find rest on a granite outcropping. That evening when Gerald returns, he kills the roots of the tree that are still inside Jenseny. Damien then Heals the wounds that are left when Gerald is finished. Soon afterwards the group notice that there are large quadrupeds headed towards them with the intent purpose of killing them. In the escape that follows, Hesseth willingly gives up her life to save Jenseny - feeling that Jenseny was much akin to a child of her own and thereby willing to possess the greatest honor in sacrifice. Tarrant joins the group at nightfall and leads Damien and Jenseny into the trap in the Prince''s lands but finds a way to smuggle a coldfire-worked knife into Damien''s hands. Damien attempts to kill the Prince, but the Prince''s soul jumps into the body of his rakh captain. Jenseny finds the coldfire knife, and, hiding it, makes a deal with the Immortal Prince: he can have her body, and with it, her ability to work the tidal fae, a newly evolved human trait. The Prince agrees, but just as he is entering her body, Jenseny weaves a bond between herself and the Prince, and sacrifices herself to kill the Prince. Following the Prince''s death, Damien and Gerald Tarrant return north where civil unrest has broken out due to the revealing of the corruption in the Church. The new leader of the Church plans to purge the Eastern Continent which in turn infuriates Tarrant as that was not Tarrant''s conception of the Church. However in Tarrant''s confrontation with the new leader, Tarrant accidentally shares a "divining" of the possible fall of the Church thereby bringing the new leader to his senses and stopping the slaughter of thousands of innocent lives. By doing so, Tarrant breaks his oath to the Unnamed and endangers his life in the process - a fact Calesta is quick to catch on to.

When True Night Falls

An electric storm raging in France as a result of the breakdown at one of the electric stations accidentally puts in contact George Lorris and Estelle Lacombe who meet each other via the téléphonoscope. George, a lieutenant of the French army in the corps of chemical engineers, is the only son of the great scientist and inventor Philox Lorris. Estelle belongs to a middle class family. George is planning to marry Estelle, a plan which encounters opposition from his father. The latter wants to marry George to either La Docroresse Bardoz or La Senatrice Coupard, de la Sarthe, either of which is a woman of great accomplishments. George insists on his original intention, and when he and his bride embark on a pre-nuptial journey, Philox Lorris employs his colleague Sulfatin to break the relationship of the couple. Instead of the tour over the factories and scientific laboratories suggested by Philox Lorris and intended to fatigue the young pair, George takes Estelle and Sulfatin to a quiet village whose inhabitants resist modern technology and live in the traditions of the 19th century. Sulfatin takes along on a journey his ward and patient, an invalid Adrien La Héronnière who is suffering from the exhaustion of the body due to an intensive mental work during his lifetime. Despite the instructions of Philox Lorris, Sulfatin does not meddle in the relationship of George and Estelle, apparently trying to make his boss disinherit George. This would make Sulfatin the sole successor of the great scientist. Philox Lorris seeing the failure of his plans, engages George in military maneuvers where George excels and advances in esteem of his bride even further. When George returns from his trip, more than ever convinced in the rightness of his decision to marry Estelle, his father becomes furious. Still, Philox Lorris believes he can alter the choice of his son. Presently, Philox Lorris is working on his two novel scientific applications: a biological weapon and a vaccine that is meant to give boost to one''s health. To promote these achievements and lobby them on a political level, he organizes a large party at his house to which he invites various dignitaries, including Arsène de Marettes, a prominent political figure. George is asked to collect the video-recordings of the greatest singers and performers of the past and play them for the audience. Unfortunately, as the party begins and the videos are played out, the sound quality turns out to be mediocre. The voices recorded on the tapes sound as if their owners caught a cold. This is due to Sulfatin''s absent-mindedness: he took the tapes out to a chilly air last night. Due to this unforeseen circumstance, the video concert is going to be stopped in the middle. However, Estelle had taken the copies of the tapes for her personal enjoyment, and since the copies have not been affected by the cold air, she is able to replace the originals with them after which the concert continues with great success. Meanwhile, Philox Lorris explains his inventions to politicians. Sulfatin who is assisting him with the demonstrations, confuses the health vaccine with the biological weapon and lets some of the latter escape into the room where the guests are gathered. Panic ensues; and many people including Philox Lorris and Sulfatin are poisoned. Luckily, the weapon is not lethal, and only incapacitates the affected. The house of Philox Lorris is transformed into a hospital where the guests (named the martyrs of the science in newspapers) occupy sick-beds. Philox Lorris and Sulfatin quarrel, but soon notice that Adrien La Héronnière recently cured by Sulfatin by the vaccine is immune to the poison. Philox Lorris has an idea: he tries the vaccine on himself and in two days recovers completely. He repeats the application of the vaccine on the rest of the sick and achieves the desired effect. This makes a phenomenal advertisement of the vaccine which is immediately accepted as panacea on a national level. George marries Estella, and Philox Lorris has to save his face before La Docroresse Bardoz and La Senatrice Coupard, de la Sarthe having previously offered the hand of George to both. He escapes the looming lawsuits by managing to marry La Senatrice Coupard, de la Sarthe to Sulfatin and La Docroresse Bardoz to Adrien La Héronnière.

Le Vingtième siècle. La vie électrique

Renia and Josl Bensky grow up in the Polish town of Łódź, Poland. Shortly after their marriage, they are forced to move to the Ghetto of Łódź, and soon, they are deported to the concentration camp of Auschwitz. After the downfall of the Third Reich, they meet again, and their first daughter Lola is born in a DP camp in 1946. In 1948, The Benskys move to Melbourne and try to start a new life, far away from the horrible crimes they had to endure during the Holocaust. They find good friends among fellow Jewish Immigrants, and with this tight group of friends, they try to live as normal a life as possible. Josl and Renia both try to live with their past; in this mixture of trying to forget and to commemorate, they raise Lola to be an Australian girl. Lola knows she will never understand her parents completely since she will never experience what they had to live through. She has her own problems. She has overweight, weird boyfriends and a first husband whom she does not love. When she turns 19, Lola starts to write for a rock magazine and gets to travel around the world to interview the stars of her time. Apart from her job, she raises her children and tries to figure out her life. Finally, she marries the artist Garth and moves to New York.

Things Could Be Worse

It is AD 1300. A group of Anasazi villagers are tending crops, while Indian women grind corn, children play and dogs bark, under the warm summer sun in a verdant valley of the American Southwest. Suddenly, a dazzling daystar appears in the sky above them, momentarily outshining the brilliant Southwestern sun. A highly evolved time traveler from a distant world visits Earth via a time transport. He is a prophetic messenger who views us and our world as an outside observer. He has come to bestow a gift upon mankind that will change the way we view ourselves and our place in the world. But the messenger also brings us a warning, one that tells mankind to choose correctly or suffer the same fate of another world just like our own, his planet of origin. Because of their superstitions the Indians receive him as a spirit messenger and a deity from the "Heavens of Fire." Dwelling with them for a time, he learns their language and tells them about the star system where he originated. He also teaches them to use his gateway to other worlds, and he leaves behind a token of his friendship, an unusual gold coin he gives to the tribe''s Holy Man for safekeeping, promising his future return. A major time shift occurs in a historical flash forward to present day, Arizona, Navajo Indian Reservation. The time-traveler, Daniel, returns in the same place, bearing a gift he hopes will benefit mankind. The Anasazi have long since disappeared into the shadows of antiquity. Walking along Navajo Highway 160, that cuts a swath through the of primordial red rock, mesas, buttes and expansive desert landscape, the time-traveler meets a rugged, fiercely independent Navajo truck driver who offers him a ride. Daniel saves the Indian''s life through the use of his unique powers, when the Indian is nearly trampled by the herd of cattle he is delivering to a stockyard in Flagstaff, Arizona. But in seeking out those on whom he will bestow his gift, Daniel becomes ensnared in a bizarre double homicide as the primary suspect. The Navajo truck driver, Zachary Thomas, knows the stranger is innocent. He was with him at the ancient Anasazi ruins the night the murders took place. He is also indebted to the enigmatic stranger for saving his life. He is willing to do anything to protect him, even if it means helping him hide from the authorities. In doing so, Zachary becomes a suspected accomplice to the murders, and he feels he must prove his innocence and the stranger''s as well. But his efforts only unearth a greater, unholy conspiracy to cover up illegal activity by the Reservation''s chief power broker, the Tribal Council Chairman himself, Jack McCloud. The intrigue reaches a precipice of ultimate danger and no return when Daniel asks the Navajo to bring a female archeologist to the ruins where he is hiding, hoping Tracy Baldwin and a male astronomer friend, Michael Severson can assist him in his mission to deliver his gift before he is discovered by the forces determined to seek him out and destroy him. However, Zachary Thomas has had a past romantic encounter with the seductively intelligent Anglo woman, Tracy Baldwin, and he reluctantly involves her, reigniting their affair in spite of her long-standing relationship with the young, contrastingly intellectual astronomer, Michael Severson, who is perplexed by a side of the young woman he has never seen before and doesn''t understand, but is helplessly attracted to. An epic manhunt ensues on the reservation with the local authorities seeking out the suspected murderer and inadvertently discovering one of their own, the flamboyant Tribal Council Chairman, Jack McCloud is involved. In order to cover up the crime and avert possible political fallout, the police detective in charge of the investigation, Lemuel Red Feather, who is an old friend and political ally, vows to protect the chairman''s good name at any cost, even if it means terminating the stranger before he can be exonerated. Zachary Thomas, the two scientists and an old Navajo crystal gazer, White Horse—an old family friend of the young Navajo—who is in possession of the original gold coin, protected and mysteriously handed down through generations by the Anasazi Holy Man, come to the aid of the one they now call The-One-of-Many-Faces, in an attempt to help him escape. But they have only succeeded in buying time for the time-traveler to deliver his message and his benevolent gift. The forces determined to eradicate him, before he can complete his mission and dramatically alter the course of human history, are growing stronger. The struggle between good and evil, man and nature, and human nature, brings all these forces to bear in a magnificently written story, an epic tale of truth and something higher than ourselves. It reveals our sense of aloneness and vulnerability within a staggeringly boundless universe, and our innate need to believe in a greater power.

Spirit Messenger

The plot centers on the experiences of the protagonist Di Yun, a simple and ordinary peasant from Xiangxi. He lives in the countryside for several years together with his martial arts teacher Qi Zhangfa and the latter''s daughter Qi Fang, who is his sweetheart. One day, the three of them travel to the city to attend the birthday party of Wan Zhenshan, Qi Zhangfa''s senior from the same martial arts sect. Di Yun runs into trouble as he is framed for larceny and attempted rape, and is arrested and imprisoned. Qi Zhangfa disappears mysteriously when Di Yun needs him the most. Wan Zhenshan''s son Wan Gui bribes the magistrate to hand a heavy sentence to Di Yun to exaggerate the seriousness of Di''s "crimes", while hypocritically playing the role of a good man by pretending to help Di in order to win Qi Fang''s heart. Qi Fang becomes disappointed with Di Yun after believing that he is indeed guilty and gives up on him. With no one else to turn to, she eventually marries Wan Gui. Di Yun suffers in prison and is continuously harassed by Ding Dian, a fellow raving inmate who accuses him of being a spy and subjects him to constant physical beatings. However, after Di Yun attempts suicide, Ding Dian is finally convinced that Di is not a spy and they become close friends. Ding Dian tells Di Yun that he has obtained from an old man named Mei Niansheng the manual for the skill called Liancheng Swordplay, and has since become the target of many jianghu pugilists who are after the book. Ding Dian also teaches Di Yun a powerful inner energy skill that later proves to be a blessing for Di. Di Yu overhears the dirty secrets of his respected teacher Qi Zhangfa and his fellows, of how they murdered their teacher Mei Niansheng to seize possession of the Liancheng Swordplay manual. Di Yun and Ding Dian manage to break out from jail but Ding is fatally poisoned by Ling Tuisi, a heartless magistrate who is the father of Ding''s late lover. Di Yun returns to Qi Fang''s house and sees that Qi has conceived with Wan Gui a daughter nicknamed Kongxincai. He is depressed and emotionally hurt and escapes as a runaway convict. Di Yun soon arrives at a temple, where he encounters an evil cannibalistic monk called Baoxiang, whom he outwits and kills. He dons Baoxiang''s robes and is mistaken by the Tibetan Blood Saber Sect''s lascivious leader Grandmaster Xuedao as a grand disciple. Xuedao protects Di Yun from attackers from orthodox sects, and captures a girl named Shui Sheng, holding her as a hostage as they flee. They encounter an avalanche that causes them to be trapped a snowy valley in the Daxue Mountains during deep winter. Xuedao manages to kill three of their pursuers, one of whom is Shui Sheng''s father. Meanwhile Xuedao becomes suspicious of Di Yun''s identity and he attempts to kill the latter when Di''s cover is blown. Unexpectedly, Xuedao''s strike helps Di Yun channel his inner energy cycle and he dies at Di''s hands instead. The last surviving pursuer Hua Tiegan reveals his true colours after Xuedao''s death and resorts to cannibalism on his three dead companions in order to survive. While Di Yun, Shui Sheng and Hua Tiegan remain in the valley to wait for spring, Shui sees Di''s kindness beneath his seeming misanthropy. When the three of them are finally able to leave the valley and meet up with other pugilists, Hua Tiegan accuses Di Yun and Shui Sheng of sexual immorality in front of Shui''s fiance. Di Yun separates himself from Shui Sheng and continues on his lonely journey to vengeance. Di Yun tracks down the perpetrators responsible for his wrongful incarceration and learns that his teacher Qi Zhangfa is actually a scheming and ruthless villain, just as Ding Dian had told him. His first love Qi Fang is mercilessly killed by her husband Wan Gui when he suspects her of infidelity. As the story progresses, all the antagonists in the novel eventually locate the whereabouts of the Liancheng Swordplay manual in a temple. They start slaying each other over the treasure and all become insane after coming into contact with the deadly venom smeared on the jewels. After witnessing these beastly acts, especially Qi Fang''s death, Di Yun becomes totally disillusioned with the dark nature and greed of humanity. He brings Qi Fang''s daughter Kongxincai with him to the snowy valley and intends to lead a reclusive life there. To his surprise, he meets Shui Sheng, who has been faithfully waiting alone for his return.

Requiem of Ling Sing

After the events in Storm Front. Kim Delaney, who Dresden helped to control her magical talents, asks Dresden how to create a set of three magical circles, which could be used to contain powerful entities. Dresden withholds the information, because such circles are generally used to contain demigods and archangels. Lt. Karrin Murphy asks Dresden to consult on a homicide. A henchman of Johnnie Marcone''s was found near a group of wolfish paw prints. Dresden follows a lead that takes him into a confrontation with a gang of teenage werewolves and their pack leader, Tera West. At the police station, he gets a tip from FBI Agent Harris that the Streetwolves biker gang might know something about the murder, learning The Streetwolves and their packleader Parker are lycanthropes. They do not change shape, but become bestial in their minds. Dresden escapes unscathed, but now the Streetwolves want him dead. Marcone shows up in Dresden''s office. He offers to hire Dresden as his security adviser, for protection. Dresden refuses. On his way out the door, Marcone says that these killings are connected to Harley MacFinn and his Northwest Passage Project. Dresden summons the demon Chaunzaggoroth in order to get information, exchanging one more part of his name for information about Harley MacFinn. Before Dresden can check on Harley MacFinn, Lt. Murphy arrests him. Kim Delaney''s shredded body is found in MacFinn''s apartment next to a summoning circle. Tera West sneaks in and frees Dresden. Tera tells Dresden that he must draw the containment circle around her fiancé Harley MacFinn before the moon rises, or innocent people will die. MacFinn is a loup-garou, an incredibly powerful werewolf that can only be killed with inherited silver. Dresden is shot during his escape from police custody, and is rescued by Tera. Desperate, he calls Susan and bums a ride in exchange for an exclusive on the wolf murders. Ignoring Dresden''s warnings, Murphy arrests and jails MacFinn in his human form. Dresden races to the station to get to MacFinn, but the moon rises, and MacFinn changes, slaughtering the suspects in the holding cells, the desk sergeant, and Murphy''s staff. Dresden drives off MacFinn and goes in search of Marcone. While searching for MacFinn, Dresden is attacked by the Streetwolves, and learns the FBI agents are hexenwolves behind the murders after capturing one of them. At moonrise, they pile into a rented van and head to Marcone''s estate to save him from MacFinn. Dresden and his allies are captured by the FBI hexenwolves and are thrown into a pit Marcone had prepared to capture the transformed MacFinn, but Marcone frees them. Dresden and Murphy kill the FBI hexenwolves and MacFinn. Dresden and Murphy burn the hexenwolves'' belts before Chicago PD arrives—so they can never be used again. Susan evacuates the Alphas, and Chicago PD arrests Marcone on general principle. Tera West, revealed to be a wolf that can change into a human, returns to her family in the Northwest. One major question is left unsolved, though-where did the FBI agents get their belts?

Fool Moon

Ray Richardson and his top team of architects have developed a super-smart building for Yue-Kong Yu''s business, the Yu Corporation. It is very much self-standing. It can clean itself, uses holograms as greeters in the reception, controls the lifts, toilets, and offices, and digitizes everyone''s voice on entry, to allow them to use voice activated services in the building such as lifts and doors. The whole system was given the name Abraham. Another key feature of Abraham was its ability to replicate itself, to adapt to modern office needs and objectives. This, however becomes a problem, when, before office work even starts in the Gridiron, Abraham start creating a new program named Isaac. This is deleted by computer programmers Yojo and Beech, with Beech actually reluctant to do so. Shortly after this, however, members of the Gridiron team begin to be suspiciously killed. These seem to be the fault of the protesters against the building who are outside, and Cheng Peng Fei is arrested on suspicion of one of the murders. Then, a routine inspection of the Gridiron involving Ray Richarson and his entire team (including Jenny Bao), ends in the whole group being locked in, and two policemen from LAPD Homicide coming to inspect the murder of Sam Glieg. After several more deaths from the team, Bob Beech discovers that during the self-replication that Abraham started, another program was created in the process, namely, Ishmael. This program escaped the deletion process by integrating itself with a video game which was on the Gridiron''s system. Ishmael now believes that he is in a game, and the objective is to kill all human players before one escapes, or before time runs out. The majority of the team are killed, leaving Mitch, Jenny, Helen, and Frank to escape the Gridiron moments before it destroys itself (time has run out). Ishmael, however, had e-mailed himself to an unknown location, thus saving himself from the destruction of the building.

Gridiron

To Middle City, a fictional American metropolis built around a volcano, burnt-out art student Ursula Van Urden arrives to care for her younger sister Ivy, a fashion model who has recently suffered a much-publicized schizophrenic meltdown. Ursula soon begins working for Ivy’s former boyfriend, Chas Lacouture, owner of the trendspotting firm Tomorrow, Ltd. She is trained as a trendspotter by both Chas and her coworker, Javier Delreal. A manic optimist, Javier takes her on rollerblading and party-crashing expeditions, predicting a new megatrend he calls the "Light Age," a "renaissance of self-creation," which he believes will coincide with the defeat of irony. By contrast, Chas, a cynical ex-philosophy professor, takes her to skulk in supermarkets and spy on customers, and introduces her to the concept of "paradessence," (Shakar’s invention), the "broken soul" at the center of every product, consisting of two opposing desires that it will promise to satisfy simultaneously: "‘The paradessence of coffee is stimulation and relaxation. Every successful ad campaign for coffee will promise both of those mutually exclusive states." As Ivy, still arguably insane, resumes her modeling activities, Ursula’s own trendspotting work comes to focus on a homeless girl who lives in a city park, makes her own clothing, and hunts pigeons for food. This eponymous “savage girl” forms the basis of a marketing campaign for a new product, "Diet Water," and serves as a harbinger, for Chas and Javier alike, of the new age to come. This age, of "postirony" (another of Shakar’s terms) is not so much unironic as darkly schizophrenic. The story builds to revelations both comic and tragic.

The Savage Girl

Mr. Bertram and Cary are about to get married. An unambitious assistant accountant, Bertram''s plans for marriage are not particularly exciting. One day, he comes to the attention of Dreuther, the powerful director of his company, who changes Bertram''s plan for him: they are to wed and honeymoon in Monte Carlo. Dreuther will meet the couple in Monte Carlo and be their witness, on board his private yacht. Bertram and Cary arrive in Monte Carlo but Dreuther does not show up. The couple are therefore forced to stay there. Bertram is angry with Dreuther. In order to make sure they can pay the hotel bills, Bertram visits the casino. At first he loses, but gradually his system starts working, and he begins to win big money. He wins so much money that he gets the attention of Mr. Bowles, another director of the company gambling in Monte Carlo, who is also a rival of Dreuther. Bowles wants Bertram to lend him money. In exchange, Bertram wants Bowles'' shares of the company, so that, in gaining control of the company, he will get his revenge on Dreuther. Meanwhile, Cary is disappointed that Bertram becomes obsessed with his system. A romantic person, she does not want him to become rich. At this time, she meets a "hungry" young man who expresses his love for her. She decides to leave Bertram. Devastated, Bertram does not know what to do. He blames Dreuther for ruining his marriage. Just at this time, Dreuther arrives on his yacht. He explains that his no-show is not deliberate: he is only forgetful. Bertram, while still doubting Dreuther''s sincerity, tells him about his trouble. The wise and well-meaning Dreuther then devises a plan that would help Bertram gets Cary back. The plan works perfectly. With Cary coming back to him, Bertram is happy even though he loses all his money to Bowles (thereby cancelling his deal with him) and the hungry young man. Hence, it is "loser takes all".

Loser Takes All

The novel is based on the (fictional) "Everhard Manuscript" written by Avis Everhard which she hid and which was subsequently found centuries later. In addition, this novel has an introduction and series of (often lengthy) footnotes written from the perspective of scholar Anthony Meredith. Meredith writes from around 2600 AD or 419 B.O.M. (the Brotherhood of Man). Jack London thus writes at two levels, often having Meredith condescendingly correcting the errors of Everhard yet, at the same time, exposing the often incomplete understanding of this distant future perspective. Meredith''s introduction also acts as a deliberate "spoiler" (the term did not yet exist at the time of writing). Before ever getting a chance to get to know Avis and Ernest, how they fell in love or how Avis became politically involved, the reader is already told that all their struggles and hopes would end in total failure and repression, and that both of them would be summarily executed. This gives all that follows the air of a foreordained tragedy. There is still left the consolation that a happy end would come for humanity as a whole&nbsp;– though hundreds of years too late for Avis and Ernest as individuals; the cruel oligarchy would fall, and the two will be vindicated and respected by posterity as pioneers and martyrs. (George Orwell would forty years later specifically and explicitly deny that consolation to his Winston Smith though he confirms it in appendix, and so would other later dystopian writers.) The Manuscript itself covers the years 1912 through 1932 in which the Oligarchy (or "Iron Heel") arose in the United States. In Asia, Japan conquered East Asia and created its own empire, India gained independence, and Europe became socialist. Canada, Mexico, and Cuba formed their own Oligarchies and were aligned with the U.S. (London remains silent as to the fates of South America, Africa, and the Middle East.) In North America, the Oligarchy maintains power for three centuries until the Revolution succeeds and ushers in the Brotherhood of Man. During the years of the novel, the First Revolt is described and preparations for the Second Revolt are discussed. From the perspective of Everhard, the imminent Second Revolt is sure to succeed but, from the distant future perspective of Meredith, we readers realize that Everhard''s hopes were to be crushed for centuries to come. The Oligarchy are the largest monopoly trusts (or robber barons) who manage to squeeze out the middle class by bankrupting most small to mid-sized business as well as reducing all farmers to effective serfdom. This Oligarchy maintains power through a "labor caste" and the Mercenaries. Labor in essential industries like steel and rail are elevated and given decent wages, housing, and education. Indeed, the tragic turn in the novel (and Jack London''s core warning to his contemporaries) is the treachery of these favored unions which break with the other unions and side with the Oligarchy. Further, a second, military caste is formed: the Mercenaries. The Mercenaries are officially the army of the US but are in fact in the employ of the Oligarchs. Asgard is the name of a fictional wonder-city, a city constructed by the Oligarchy to be admired and appreciated as well as lived in. Thousands of proletarians live in poverty there, and are used whenever a public work needs to be completed, such as the building of levee or a canal. The Manuscript is Everhard''s autobiography as she tells of: her privileged childhood as the daughter of an accomplished scientist; her marriage to the socialist revolutionary Ernest Everhard; the fall of the US republic; and her years in the underground resistance from the First Revolt through the years leading to the Second Revolt. By telling the story of Avis Everhard, the novel is essentially an adventurous tale heavily strewn with social commentary of an alternate future (from a 1907 perspective). However, the future perspective of the scholar Meredith deepens the tragic plight of Everhard and her revolutionary comrades.

The Iron Heel

The Survivors live deep underground in a world of complete darkness, divided into two clans, one living in the Lower Level and one in the Upper Level. Their legends tell of the Original World where man lived alongside the Light Almighty (a concept of which they can no longer conceive) and away from the ultimate evil, Radiation, with its two Lieutenants the Twin Devils Cobalt and Strontium. The Lower Level Survivors venerate a relic known as the Holy Bulb. "So compassionate was the Almighty (it was the Guardian of the Way''s voice that came back [to Jared] now) that when He banished man from Paradise, He sent parts of Himself to be with us for a while. And He dwelled in many little vessels like this Holy Bulb." Jared is the son of the Prime Survivor, the leader of the Lower Level clan. He is himself due to become a Survivor (i.e. an adult clansman), but Jared is too busy with his quest to find Light. He rationalize that to find distant Light he must first locate its opposite, Darkness, which is near and "abounds in the worlds of men!" He goes on to theorize that: "Darkness must be something real. Only, we can''t recognize it." ... "There''s a clue [however]. We know that in the Original World - the first world that man inhabited after he left Paradise - we were closer to Light Almighty. In other words, it was a good world. Now let''s suppose there''s some sort of connection between sin and evil and this Darkness stuff. That means there must be less Darkness in the Original World, Right?" ... "Then all I have to do is find something there''s less of in the Original World [than there is here]." ... "If Darkness is connected with evil and if Light is its opposite, then Light must be good. And if I find Darkness, then I may have some kind of idea as to the nature of Light." By leaving the safety of the central echo-caster, with only a pair of click stones with which to listen, Jared exposes himself to soubat (once common cave bats that either "Cobalt or Strontium took ... down to Radiation and made [them] over into ... super-creature[s]") and Zivvers (people with the unfathomable ability to ''hear'' their surroundings despite having poor hearing compared to the fine tune senses of the Survivors). The soubats and Zivvers are thought of as similarly, or even related by the Survivors because of their ability to navigate the subterran world perfectly without ''proper'' hearing. "It was an uncanny ability nobody could explain, except to say [soubats and Zivvers] were possessed of Cobalt or Strontium." Jared''s quest for Light is interrupted by unexplained disappearances and an arranged marriage to Della, a girl from the Upper Level, the daughter of their chief ''the Wheel''. Things get progressively worse as strange monsters roam the world and the hot springs begin to dry up. Along with his betrothed, Jared sets out for the Zivver world, hoping it will bring him closer to Light, instead they finding themselves fleeing from the monsters once again, and being pushed closer to the Original World.

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The Cold Equations

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When True Night Falls

By Celia S. Friedman

Le Vingtième siècle. La vie électrique

No Author Listed

Things Could Be Worse

By Lily Brett

Spirit Messenger

No Author Listed

Requiem of Ling Sing

By Louis Cha

Fool Moon

By Jim Butcher

Gridiron

By Philip Kerr

The Savage Girl

No Author Listed

Loser Takes All

By Graham Greene

The Iron Heel

By Jack London

Dark Universe

By Daniel F. Galouye