A young lion is living in the jungle. On a night, when all the lions are sleeping, they awaken to hear a gunshot. All the lions run away except for one named Grmmff, who is the protagonist of the story. He is confused about why the other lions are running away, until an old lion tells him that hunters are coming. He does not know what a hunter is, but thinks that he likes the sound of the word "hunters," so he stops running and hides in the tall grass. The hunters pass by wearing red caps and carrying funny sticks that make loud noises (obviously guns). The lion likes their looks, so when a hunter passes, he stands up, says hello, and tries to make friends with the hunter. This offends the hunter''s sense of the proper relationship between lion and hunter, and the hunter says he will shoot Grmmff. When the hunter finds, however, that he has not loaded his rifle, Lafcadio decides he does not like the hunter after all, and eats him up, red cap and all. He tries to eat up the gun and the bullets, but he cannot chew them. He brings them to the other lions. The old lion says to throw them away, but the young lion shoots the gun with his tail. The lions initially run away. They are angry with the young lion when they discover that he is the one shooting. However, the young lion likes shooting the gun so much that he practices to become the best shot in the whole world. A year later, another man comes walking through the jungle, the young lion wants to shoot him. However he is revealed that the man is a circus man. Finchfinger, the circus man, persuades the reluctant lion to come with him to the circus with the promise of marshmallows. They arrive in the city, which is not at all like the jungle. There are "tall square things" (buildings) and "things that look like hippopotamuses that move very fast with people inside them" (cars). The lion goes into the hotel and goes up and down the elevator many times. He then meets Uncle Shelby, (obviously Shel Silverstein, as he tells the story) goes to the barbershop, gets his paws shined, his claws manicured and a free haircut. He has dinner, and eats lots of marshmallow dishes, then finally eats his napkin for dessert. He wears a marshmallow suit, but it gets ironed and it melts all over him. He goes back to the hotel and stays up very late singing the "marshmallow song:" <poem> Marshmallows Marshmallows Marching Marshing Mellow Malling Mallows Marshing Fellows Marshy-Murshy- </poem> The young lion&#39;s name is changed to Lafcadio the Great. The next morning, there is a big parade for him. Lafcadio goes into the tent, shoots six bottles off the table, a hundred balloons off the ceiling, a marshmallow off everybody&#39;s head including some monkeys, shoots 12,322 of the Ace of Spades (but misses once), shoots in many different ways, and then joins the circus. He shoots for many different governments, becomes rich and very famous and signs six autographs at once. He then becomes more like a man, standing on his back paws, wearing clothes, playing golf and tennis, going swimming and diving, painting pictures (despite being unable to draw a straight line), doing exercises, going skating, and attempting to learn to ride a bicycle. He goes to the beach at Cannes, sings, plays the guitar, bowls and seldom says &#34;GRAUGRRR&#34; except on very special occasions. He writes his autobiography, becomes a clothes lion, and becomes very happy, rich and famous. But suddenly, Lafcadio is crying because he is tired of what he has, and wants something new. Uncle Shelby asks if he has gone up and down the elevator a few times or eaten marshmallows, but that is old stuff. Then Finchfinger gets the idea to take Lafcadio on a hunting trip in Africa. Uncle Shelby cannot come because he has to water his philodendron plant. So Lafcadio, along with Finchfinger and some other hunters, goes back to Africa and begins hunting lions. A very old lion realizes that Lafcadio is a lion too and comes up to him. Lafcadio remembers that he was a lion, and that he still is a lion. All the lions want him to come back and be a lion with them, but the hunters also want Lafcadio to stay a hunter. Lafcadio cannot make up his mind and says that he does not want to do either and that he does not think that he belongs anywhere. He puts down his gun and walks away, not knowing where he&#39;s going and not knowing what&#39;s happening to him. Lafcadio has not been heard from since.

Lafcadio: The Lion Who Shot Back

Caith mac Sliabhin, condemned by the Sidhe in The Brothers for committing patricide, wanders along the river Guagach, accompanied and tormented by Dubhain, a mischievous pooka. Their journey takes them to Gleann Fiain where a beast from the river chases Caith up a hill to an isolated cottage. The occupants, twins Ceannann and Firinne, let Caith and Dubhain in and allow them to spend the night. Unbeknown to Caith, the birth of the twins 21 years ago set in motion a sequence of events that damned Gleann Fiain and cast a shadow over Faery. The twins were born to Fianna, queen of Gleann Fiain in Dun Glas. But unbeknown to her husband, Ceannann mac Ceannann, Fianna was unable to conceive and had sought help from a wise-women, Moragacht. Moragacht struck a bargain with her, promising her twins if she lay down with a selkie, in exchange for one of the twins when they were born. But when the twins arrived (a human and a selkie) and Moragacht came to claim one of them, Fianna denied any knowledge of her, and mac Ceannann turned Moragacht away. From that day onwards, grief and misery struck the family, and mac Ceannann and Fianna were forced to vacate Dun Glas and flee with the twins to an abandoned hilltop fortress. But the loch beast, under Moragacht''s control, found them there and killed them all, except the twins, now aged 14, who escaped to the cottage. The witch then seized control of Dun Glas from where she damned all of Gleann Fiain. But the wards that had protected the cottage from Moragacht fall when Caith and Dubhain arrive. Riders from Dun Glas come and capture the twins. Caith and Dubhain (as a horse) give chase, but as they approach the riders, Dubhain is overcome by the witch''s magic and falls into the loch, abandoning Caith. Caith and the twins are taken to Dun Glas where they are locked in cells bordering the loch. Caith lapses into a dream where he enters the loch to find Dubhain duelling with the loch beast. He draws Dubhain back to his cell, who in turn calls Nuallan from Faery, the bright Sidhe controlling their destinies. Nuallan gives Caith a silver key to unlock the iron cells and so lifts a spell enabling Nuallan to cast Caith, Dubhain and the twins out of Dun Glas. Moragacht allows her prisoners to escape because with her magic she now holds Nuallan, a bigger catch and her means to controlling Faery. The twins lead Caith and Dubhain to the ruins of the hilltop fortress, their former home. There they make a fire with the remains of a staircase, but a ghost appears out of the smoke that transports Caith back to the night of the fall of the fortress and into the body of Padraic, head of mac Ceannann''s household. There he relives the last few hours of the family until he is killed by the beast. Firinne retrieves one of the burning timbers from the fire as a keepsake, and the twins set off for the sea to search for their selkie father, with Caith and Dubhain in pursuit. Caith finds the selkie first, a whale floundering on the beach. But when the selkie shapeshifts to a man, he is killed by one of Moragacht''s pursuing riders. In the ensuing confusion, Caith accidentally kills Ceannann. Firinne is devastated by the loss of her twin brother and gives Caith her keepsake from the fortress. Then, revealing her selkie birth, she changes into a whale and heads out to sea. Caith rides Dubhain back to Dun Glas to free Nuallan. Once again Dubhain is weakened by the witch''s spells and Caith has to enter the keep on his own. He sees Nuallan helpless in his cell, but Nuallan asks him to unlock it with the silver key Caith unknowingly still had all this time, the key that would have given Moragacht access to Faery. Nuallan takes the key and flees the keep, leaving Caith to fend for himself. Moragacht, furious at the loss of the Sidhe, prepares to deal with Caith, but he throws the charred piece of wood Firinne gave him into the fireplace which releases Padraic, the ghost from the hilltop fortress. In an act of revenge, it begins destroying Dun Glas and all in it. With the witch''s spell now diminishing, Dubhain rescues Caith from the keep, while in the loch a whale from the sea turns on the beast. The shadow over Faery lifts and Caith and Dubhain resume their travels.

Faery in Shadow

The End of Faith opens with a literary account of a day in the life of a suicide bomber &ndash; his last day. In an introductory chapter, Harris calls for an end to respect and tolerance for the competing belief systems of religion, which he describes as being "all equally uncontaminated by evidence". While focusing on the dangers posed by religious extremist groups now armed with weapons of mass destruction, Harris is equally critical of religious moderation, which he describes as "the context in which religious violence can never be adequately opposed." Harris continues by examining the nature of belief itself, challenging the notion that we can in any sense enjoy freedom of belief, and arguing that "belief is a fount of action in potentia." Instead he posits that in order to be useful, beliefs must be both logically coherent, and truly representative of the real world. Insofar as religious belief fails to ground itself in empirical evidence, Harris likens religion to a form of mental illness which, he says, "allows otherwise normal human beings to reap the fruits of madness and consider them holy." He argues that there may be "sanity in numbers", but that it is "merely an accident of history that it is considered normal in our society to believe that the Creator of the universe can hear your prayers, while it is demonstrative of mental illness to believe that he is communicating with you by having the rain tap in Morse code on your bedroom window." Harris follows this with a brief survey of Christianity down the ages, examining the Inquisition and persecutions of witches and Jews. He contends that, far from being an aberration, the torture of heretics was a logical expression of Christian doctrine &ndash; one which, he says, was clearly justified by men such as Saint Augustine. Going still further, Harris sees the Holocaust as essentially drawing its inspiration from historical Christian anti-Semitism. "Knowingly or not," he says, "the Nazis were agents of religion." Among the controversial aspects of The End of Faith is an uncompromising assessment and criticism of Islam, which Harris describes as being a "cult of death." He infers a clear link between Islamic teaching and terrorist atrocities such as 9/11, a notion he supports with quotations from the Koran that call for the use of violence. He also presents data from the Pew Research Center, purporting to show that significant percentages of Muslims worldwide would justify suicide bombing as a legitimate tactic. In an attack on what he terms "leftist unreason," Harris criticises Noam Chomsky among others for, in his view, displaying an illogical willingness to lay the entire blame for such attitudes upon U.S. foreign policy. However, Harris also critiques the role of the Christian right in the United States, in influencing such areas as drug policies, embryonic stem cell research, and AIDS prevention in the developing world. In what he sees as a steady drift towards theocracy, Harris strongly criticises leading figures from both the legislature and the judiciary for what he perceives as an unabashed failure to separate church and state in their various domains. "Not only do we still eat the offal of the ancient world," he asserts, "we are positively smug about it." Next, Harris goes on to outline what he terms a "science of good and evil" &ndash; a rational approach to ethics, which he claims must necessarily be predicated upon questions of human happiness and suffering. He talks about the need to sustain "moral communities," a venture in which he feels that the separate religious moral identities of the "saved" and the "damned" can play no part. But Harris is critical of the stance of moral relativism, and also of what he calls "the false choice of pacifism." In another controversial passage, he compares the ethical questions raised by collateral damage and judicial torture during war. He concludes that collateral damage is more ethically troublesome. "If we are unwilling to torture, we should be unwilling to wage modern war," Harris concludes. Finally, Harris turns to spirituality, where he takes his inspiration from the practices of Eastern religion, arguing that as far as Western spirituality is concerned, "we appear to have been standing on the shoulders of dwarfs." He discusses the nature of consciousness, and how our sense of "self" can be made to vanish by employing the techniques of meditation. Harris quotes from Eastern mystics such as Padmasambhava, but he does not admit any supernatural element into his argument &ndash; "mysticism is a rational enterprise," he contends, "religion is not." He states that it is possible for one''s experience of the world to be "radically transformed", but that we must speak about the possibility in "rational terms".

The End of Faith

Eighteen-year-old Charity Royall is bored with life in the small town of North Dormer. She is a librarian and ward of North Dormer’s premier citizen, Lawyer Royall. While working at the library, Charity meets visiting architect Lucius Harney. When Harney’s cousin, Miss Hatchard, with whom he is boarding, leaves the village, Harney becomes Mr Royall’s boarder, and Charity his companion while he explores buildings for a book on colonial houses he is preparing. Mr Royall, who once tried to force his way into Charity''s bedroom after his wife''s death, and later asked her to marry him, notices their growing closeness. He tries to put a stop to it by telling Harney he can no longer accommodate him in his house. Harney makes it appear as though he has left town, but only moves to a nearby village and continues to communicate with Charity. On a trip to Nettleton, Harney kisses Charity for the first time and buys her a present of a brooch. Afterwards they run into a drunken Mr Royall, who is accompanied by prostitutes. Mr Royall verbally abuses Charity, causing her to become overwhelmed with shame. After the trip, Charity and Harney begin a sexual relationship. At a ceremony during North Dormer’s Old Home Week, Charity sees Harney with Annabel Balch, a society girl whom she envies. Afterwards, Charity goes to the abandoned house where she and Harney usually meet. Mr Royall unexpectedly shows up and, when Harney arrives, Mr Royall asks him sarcastically if that is where he intends to live after he marries Charity. After an angry Mr Royall leaves, Harney promises Charity that he is going to marry her, but that he has to go away for a while first. After Harney has left the town, Charity’s friend Ally lets slip that she saw him leave with Annabel Balch, to whom he is engaged to be married. Charity writes a letter to Harney telling him to do the right thing and marry Annabel. Charity has been feeling unwell, so she goes to Dr Merkle ("a plump woman with small bright eyes, an immense mass of black hair coming down low on her forehead, and unnaturally white and even teeth"), who confirms her suspicion that she is pregnant. After the examination Dr Merkle charges five dollars, and Charity, not having enough money to cover it, has to leave the brooch Harney gave her. When she gets home she reads a letter from Harney that makes her realise that, despite his promises, he is unlikely to break his engagement to Miss Balch. Charity decides she cannot stay at home and so makes her way to the mountain, intending to look for her mother. On the way she sees the minister, Mr Miles, and her friend Liff Hyatt. They are on their way to the mountain because Charity’s mother is dying. When they arrive, Charity’s mother is already dead, and the three of them bury her. Charity stays on the mountain overnight, where she sees the abject poverty and resolves not to raise her child there. She decides that she is going to be a prostitute, and with the money she earns she will hire someone to take care of her child. On the way home she meets Mr Royall, who has come to pick her up. He offers to marry her. After Charity marries Mr Royall in Nettleton, she realizes that he knows she is pregnant and has married her only to protect her. He gives her money to buy clothes, but instead she goes to Dr Merkle to get her brooch back. Dr Merkle has heard of her marriage to Mr Royall and demands a large sum for returning the brooch. Rather than paying the money, Charity quickly grabs the brooch and rushes from the office (in a few editions of the novel, she leaves the money with Merkle). Charity writes a last letter to Harney, telling him about her marriage, and finally returns to North Dormer to live with Mr Royall.

Summer

Angel Sullivan has always been the outcast, suffering the taunts of cruel schoolmates and the wild fits of an alcoholic father. Things for Angel''s family have hit rock bottom until a call from her aunt has them moving to a new town and making a fresh start. In the town of Roundtree, Massachusetts a beautiful home awaits, a home that is selling at a steal of a price, there is only one problem...the house at Black Creek Crossing holds a murderous secret. Seth Baker lives in Roundtree and, much the same as Angel, he too is the outcast of his schoolmates, as well the victim of a psychically abusive father. Seth does his best to deal with his father, but finds sanctuary in photograph taking, until he meets Angel. As Seth and Angel become better friends, Seth tells her of the deadly legacy surrounding her home and the rumors of supernatural possession that still dwells there. Angel, desperate for the truth about Black Creek Crossing, uncovers a centuries-old horror that lies within her home''s walls. Now, that Angel and Seth have uncovered the dark secrets buried in Roundtree, they find themselves trapped in a maelstrom of desire and violence that will erupt in unspeakable tragedy. `Black Creek Crossing'' is a chilling page-turner that begs to be read in one sitting. From the shocking opening to the explosive climax the plot speeds along with unstoppable force. Vivid gothic descriptions and likable characters combined with creepy scares will hold readers breathless until the final page has been turned.

Black Creek Crossing

In this, the second book in the Vladimir Tod series, Vlad is just starting High School. In the beginning of the novel Henry (Vlad''s best friend and human slave) and Vlad (the half vampire/half human protagonist of the story) welcome Henry''s cousin, Joss, to Bathory. As they work their way through their Freshman year of high school Joss and Vlad become close friends. Joss develops a crush on Meredith Brookstone, the girl Vlad is in love with, but does not date her at this point because of his and Vlad''s friendship. When winter break rolls around Otis Otis, fellow vampire and Vlad''s uncle, takes Vlad on a trip to Siberia when Vlad meets Vikas, both his uncle''s and his father''s teacher and friend. Vlad tells Vikas of his father''s death and they hold a Pyre, a vampire funeral. Vikas then begins teaching Vlad to use his powers and tells him the story of the Pravus, the fabled half human/half vampire that would rule of Vampire kind and enslave the human race. Otis shows Vlad memories of Vlad''s father and consents to teach Vlad to use his powers due to his disapproval of Vikas''s teaching methods. Shortly after returning from Siberia and to school, Joss decides to let Vlad in on his secret, that he is a Slayer and has been sent to Bathory to kill a vampire. At this point Joss still believes Vlad is human and asks that they search for the vampire together. D''Ablo, the vampire antagonist of the first book who was assumed dead, returns to attempt to kill Vlad. Vlad tells Joss about this and the agree to look for the vampire that attacked Vlad together. When they meet in the clearing in the woods D''Ablo is there and Joss finds out that Vlad is a vampire, the vampire he was sent to kill. On top of that, it was D''Ablo who sent Joss and was controlling his mind to prevent him from realizing that D''Ablo was a vampire. Joss stakes Vlad and Vlad almost dies, but is saved by Otis and taken to the hospital. While Vlad is in the hospital Joss visits him and tells him that their friendship is over and leaves. When Vlad gets back to school he finds a note on his locker from Joss confirming that they are no longer friends.

Ninth Grade Slays

Gilbert Selwyn''s mother has remarried once more—this time to a successful but aging Hollywood producer. Gilbert, ever the schemer, lifted a few plot points from Casablanca (i.e., plagiarized the entire film and put a new title on it) and convinced his new stepfather to promote the script to actor Stephen Donato''s producer. Gilbert convinces his friends, Philip Cavanaugh and Claire Simmons, to move to Hollywood to help him rewrite the script. They quickly uncover his deception. But since Gilbert told the studio executives that the script was mostly Philip and Claire''s, they must help rewrite the screenplay or else find any chance of a career ruined. Claire refuses to go along with the stunt, but Gilbert offers her the chance of a lifetime: Gilbert''s agent, having heard of their success selling a screenplay, has offered the trio a chance to write actress Diana Malenfant''s new film. The movie will be the first time Diana and her son, Stephen Donato, have acted together on screen since Stephen was 10, and it may prove the jump-start to Diana''s career which she''s been searching for. Gilbert is able to wrangle an appointment with Diana Malenfant, who is not particularly interested. But Lily, her drunken and estranged sister, is writing a tell-all book. Philip convinces Diana and Stephen that he has a job assisting Lily with her memoirs, and that he could find out what Lily intends to say in her book. Shrewdly, Diana agrees to hire Gilbert, Philip and Claire to write her new film while Philip spies on Lily. Stephen, who is gay, soon makes a secret rendezvous with Philip. He''s worried that Aunt Lily might attempt to out him in her book. Stephen convinces Philip that he should not only spy on Lily but actually sabotage the book. Philip agrees. Lily''s older brother, former child actor Monty Malenfant (and an openly gay man), is suspicious of Philip but goes along to keep Lily happy. As if events were not complicated enough, Moira Finch suddenly shows up at Gilbert, Philip and Claire''s home. She has heard about their deal with Diana Malenfant, and threatens to expose them as frauds. But Moira offers the three a deal: Moira has recently opened a ritzy Hollywood spa, but is lacking clients and cachet. Get Stephen Donato to show up for a free weekend at her spa, and Moira will forget all about how "Casablanca" happened to be sold (again) to one of Hollywood''s biggest producers. Philip soon finds that Monty is on to him. Monty confirms that Stephen is indeed a homosexual, which thrills Philip and leads to numerous fantasies. But Monty also threatens to expose Philip to Diana. Monty offers him a deal: Philip helps Lily turn her book into a best-seller, and nothing will be said to Diana. Now Claire, Philip and Gilbert are caught in a bind. How do they help Lily while also ruining any chance her book might have? And what of Moira? Claire begins to suspect that her spa isn''t quite what it seems, for Moira has far too much money and too many friends. The trio quickly get caught in a downward spiral of sex, closeted movie stars, hustlers, blackmail, secret videotape, a homophobic district attorney, a cute bartender, false fire alarms, car theft, impersonating a police officer, a sleazy public-access television host and a "night with Oscar" that has nothing to do with the Academy Awards.

My Lucky Star

As the existing social and economic structures of the Soviet Union break down, Arkady Renko has been reinstated as an Investigator in the Moscow Militsiya (Police Force). He is trying to clear up a nest of illicit traders when his chief informant dies in a horrific fireball. At the late informer''s flat, his fax machine keeps asking the apparently meaningless question, "Where is Red Square?" The question does not pertain to a location but to an avant-garde painting by suprematist painter Malevich which has resurfaced on the black market after being lost since World War II. The story, however, reverts to the August Coup, which takes place in and around Red Square and indeed throughout Moscow in August 1991, leading to the fragmentation of the former Soviet Union. One of the subplots within this novel involves Arkady Renko''s improbable reunion with the one great love of his life, Irina Asanova. Her seemingly total disinterest in Arkady sends him resignedly on his way until, in an ultimate ironic twist, a belatedly-delivered message from Renko''s recently deceased father galvanizes him into one last, determined attempt at winning Irina back. <gallery> Image:Redsquarenight.jpg|The Red Square in Moscow Image:Red Square. Visual Realism of a Peasant Woman in Two Dimensions.jpg|Rotes Viereck (Red Square, Malevich, 1913), the source of the book''s name. </gallery>

Red Square

Not long after Tarzan claims his hereditary title of Lord Greystoke and marries Jane, their infant son, Jack, is kidnapped in London by his old Russian enemies, Nikolas Rokoff and Alexis Paulvitch. Following an anonymous call about the whereabouts of Jack, Tarzan himself falls into Rokoff''s trap and is imprisoned aboard a ship carrying Jack. Jane, fearing Tarzan was entering a trap, follows him and also finds herself in Rokoff''s clutches aboard the ship. Rokoff sets sail to Africa, eventually exiling Tarzan on an island near the African coast and telling Tarzan that Jack will be left with a cannibal tribe and raised as one of their own. Using his jungle skill and primal intelligence, Tarzan wins the help of Sheeta, the vicious panther, a tribe of great apes led by the intelligent Akut, and the native warrior Mugambi. With their aid, Tarzan reaches the mainland, kills Rokoff, and tracks down his wife and son. Paulvitch, the other villain, is presumed dead, but manages to escape into the jungle.

The Beasts of Tarzan

Jonathan is a 27-year-old artist living in Paris who befriends a single mother and her six-year-old son, Serge. When Serge is eight, his mother asks Jonathan to look after him for a week, which they spend together at Jonathan''s country house in southern France. Jonathan and Serge become close friends. Jonathan, smitten with the boy, is distraught when Serge returns to Paris. They meet each other again when Serge is age 10, and their sexual relationship continues. While Jonathan and Serge are separated, the sexual side of Jonathan''s desires begins to dominate his behaviour. He eventually seeks out other young boys; he is rejected by some and finds no real satisfaction in sex with the others. Serge, fatherless and miserable at home with his aloof and demeaning mother, decides to run away to be with Jonathan. He sets off to find him, but becomes overwhelmed by hopelessness, and when confronted with a busy road to cross at night, commits suicide by throwing himself under a fast-moving car.

When Jonathan Died

Carruthers, a minor official in the Foreign Office is contacted by an acquaintance, Davies, asking him to join in a yachting holiday in the Baltic Sea. Carruthers agrees, as his other plans for a holiday have fallen through. He arrives to find that Davies has a small sailing boat (the vessel was named Dulcibella, a reference to Childers''s own sister of that name), not the comfortable crewed yacht that he expected. Davies gradually reveals that he suspects that the Germans are undertaking something sinister in the German Frisian islands, based on his belief that he was nearly wrecked by a German yacht luring him into a shoal in rough weather. Carruthers and Davies sail back to the Frisian Islands and spend some time exploring the shallow tidal waters of the area, moving closer to the mysterious site where there is a rumoured secret treasure recovery project in progress. They are watched by a German navy patrol boat, which warns them away from the area. Taking advantage of a thick fog, Davies navigates them covertly through the complicated sandbanks in a small boat to investigate the site. They find that it is actually the centre of a German plan to invade England. The invasion plan is master-minded by a renegade Englishman, but Davies has fallen in love with his daughter and he does not want to hurt her by revealing her father''s treason. Eventually they manage to escape with the information and the invasion plan is foiled.

The Riddle of the Sands

Humans crash on a distant planet which is earth like but completely water-covered; their ship is too damaged to take off, nor do they have sufficient supplies to survive for long. The humans create a race of microscopic aquatic humanoids to carry on their legacy before they themselves die. The majority of the story concerns these creatures and their intelligence, curiosity, and evolving technology. In particular, the aquatic humanoids develop a "space ship", or rather "air ship", which enables them to pierce the previously impenetrable surface of the water and travel through what is, to them, hostile space—open air—to other worlds in other bodies of water. Surface Tension was among the stories selected in 1970 by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one the best science fiction short stories published before the creation of the Nebula Awards. As such, it was published in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One, 1929-1964. It was adapted by George Lefferts as a radio drama for X Minus One in 1956. In this adaptation, the humanoids are part of an experiment running on a doomed Earth. Anthony Boucher, commenting on the collected version of the story, noted that although Blish might seem "to pass the most remote bounds of scientific extrapolation, . . . the details are worked out in magnificently convincing manner."

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Lafcadio: The Lion Who Shot Back

By Shel Silverstein

Faery in Shadow

By C. J. Cherryh

The End of Faith

By Sam Harris

Summer

By Edith Wharton

Black Creek Crossing

By John Saul

Ninth Grade Slays

No Author Listed

My Lucky Star

By Joe Keenan

Red Square

By Martin Cruz Smith

The Beasts of Tarzan

By Edgar Rice Burroughs

When Jonathan Died

By Tony Duvert

The Riddle of the Sands

By Robert Erskine Childers

Surface Tension

By James Blish