The opening chapters of Fortunes for All set out Vash Young''s credentials: the long, happy and rewarding life that he has enjoyed - his ''Fortune'' - through taking his own advice and living by the rules he formulated as a young man. Vash then turns to his early life of hardship, poverty, hunger and deprivation and candidly reveals how he squandered early opportunities as a young man through self-doubt and moral weakness. Vash Young then describes the flash of insight the enabled him to re-invent himself. This was the defining point in his life when Vash the failure changed virtually overnight into Vash the success. The bulk of the book explains in detail the methods he used to give himself the mindset needed to find his Fortune. These lessons are amply illustrate by anecdotes taken from his own life and from those of people he encountered. Vash goes out of his way to show that what he did is relevant to anyone at any time or place. The title shows his intent: Fortunes for All is intended to be a handbook for everyone.

Fortunes for All

Hornblower has just finished his tour blockading Brest in command of the Royal Navy sloop Hotspur. As he travels back to England for his next assignment, he is asked to participate in the court martial of Hotspur''s new captain and officers. Hotspur ran aground and was lost the day after Hornblower turned over command. Following the court martial, the officers travel back to England with Hornblower. On their way, they are pursued by a French brig, which they engage and disable. During the battle, Hornblower boards the brig and finds important papers in the French captain''s quarters. Back in England, he travels to the Admiralty with the documents. He arrives at the same time as the disappointing news that the French fleet under Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve has escaped into Ferrol, Spain after an indecisive engagement. Hornblower presents a daring plan to the Secretary of the Navy, to send false orders to Villeneuve, made possible because the papers brought by Hornblower include an example of Napoleon Bonaparte''s new signature. The orders are to draw Villeneuve out of a safe harbour and into a decisive engagement with Admiral Nelson. The unfinished book stops at the point where Hornblower is persuaded to attempt the mission himself. Notes left by CS Forster indicate that Hornblower would carry out the mission accompanied by South American revolutionary Francisco de Miranda, with Hornblower posing as his servant. They deliver the false orders to Villeneuve without arousing suspicion, prompting him to take his fleet to sea; this ultimately leads the destruction of the Franco–Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar. This book also includes two short-stories, "Hornblower and the Widow McCool"(a.k.a. "Hornblower’s Temptation"), set early in Hornblower''s career, and "The Last Encounter", set at the very end. sv:Hornblower och hans samvete

Hornblower and the Crisis

The focus is on the struggles between the pioneers to establish a new social order now that they have left Basilica. The new society is opposite to that of the previous societies - male dominated instead of female dominated, monogamous and lifelong marriages instead of the yearly contracts of Basilica. The struggles between the characters ultimately come down to the struggles between Nafai and Elemak, two sons of Volemak. Nafai leads the faction who have faith in the Oversoul, while Elemak leads the faction who want desperately to return to the civilization of doomed Basilica. Both are ostensibly under the leadership of Volemak (and not Rasa, as they had been in the city). The settlers, after years of traveling, finally arrive in a land lost in ancient times which holds the secret of the Oversoul. Also many children are born, all in their preparation for the ultimate journey to Earth. The book offers an interesting justification of the social structures of the Hebrew tribes in Genesis, all while the originally powerful female characters gradually succumb to the new hierarchy of "men" and "wives." Only one character - Shedemei, the brilliant geneticist, thinks about this problem. The focus in on the group dynamics of the new tribe as they journey where the Oversoul guides them. Prophetic dreams abound, mostly involving giant rats and bats ("diggers" and "angels"). The Oversoul discovers itself.

The Ships of Earth

The book begins with the pixie Opal Koboi faking a coma inside an asylum to avoid incarceration by the Lower Elements Police (LEP) after her failed rebellion and attempt at world domination (which took place in Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident). Opal Koboi, who was under 24-hour surveillance and had DNA tests done every 4 hours by the LEP to ensure that Opal was actually in the asylum cell, with help from the Brill Brothers manages to replace herself with a clone, which is identical to herself (the only difference being that the clone is brain dead). Opal lures Commander Julius Root and Captain Holly Short into a lava chute alone. Koboi then kills Commander Root of the LEP (framing Captain Holly Short as the murderer), and launches a bio-bomb at Artemis Fowl, which fails to kill him and his bodyguard Domovoi Butler. Opal then proceeds with her plan to help Italian environmentalist Giovanni Zito send a probe downward, which, at least in Koboi''s plan, will cause the humans to find the fairies and start an inter-species war, leading to fairy genocide. Artemis Fowl was mindwiped in the third book of the series, Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code and has no memory of meeting the fairies. This has also caused him to revert back to his former self- the one cruel enough to kidnap a fairy. But he has a conscience, the difference is he chooses not to listen to it. Artemis is rescued from the scene of the bio-bomb attack by Holly. She tells him who she is, in hopes to ignite his memory. He does not regain his memories of the past adventures, but agrees to help her for a fee. They are then recaptured by Koboi and thrown into a troll-infested abandoned fairy theme park known as the Eleven Wonders of the Human World (containing scale-models not only of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World but also the additions of Abu Simbel, Borobodur, Rapa Nui and the Throne Hall at Persepolis). After a desperate battle against the troll hordes on a model of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, they are rescued by former criminal Mulch Diggums and Butler. Holly and Artemis become friends "bonded by trauma" and Artemis says he feels that he doesn''t need money to help a friend. After being rescued, Mulch gives Artemis the disk that had been passed off as a gold medallion, which Butler was given earlier in the book. Artemis views the disk and regains his memories. He is overcome with guilt of what he had done to the fairies but to Holly the most and for the first time, he apologises for kidnapping her. He realises that Holly, Butler, and Mulch were the only friends he had. Together, the four friends take on Opal Koboi, knowing that they are the only ones that know she''s escaped. It becomes a more difficult task with the LEP on their tail, who still thinks Holly is the one who killed the Commander. The new Commander refuses to believe anything, despite the fact that everyone knows Root was like a father to Holly. Afterward, the story follows the struggle over the probe, which is closing in on the E7 chute. The probe eventually misses the chute, Koboi is detained by the LEP, and Holly is cleared of all charges over Commander Root''s murder. However, she is frustrated by Commander Root''s replacement, Ark Sool, so she resigns and starts a private investigation firm with Mulch Diggums. It is also apparent that Artemis has had a change of heart, as he anonymously donates the famed painting The Fairy Thief, which he had stolen directly before Koboi''s bio-bomb attack, to the Louvre museum.

Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception

Knyaz (Prince) Nikita Serebryanni is on his way to Moscow. In Medvedevka village his small armed unit of servants clashes with the oprichnik Khomyak’s gang. There and then the Prince learns that bloodshed and lawlessness here were inspired by Tsar Ioann''s new policies, known as oprichnina. Another plotline involves Yelena Morozova, the wife of Medvedevka landlord whom the Prince helped out; she turns out to be his own loved one of the old times, who had to marry the old man in order to thwart another vile oprichnik, Vyazemsky, with his unwanted passes. Further on his way, Serebrenni helps out the outlaw named Persten (the latter would repay the Prince later by leading him out of Grozny’s jail) and encounters the terrible Tsar himself. Appalled by Godunov''s cynicism (who suggests that the two should join forces in the anti-Grozny alliance) and torn apart between his righteous hatred towards the Tsar with his corrupt oprichnicks, and his own oath of allegiance, Serebrenni, all kinds of adventures behind, chooses to go to war, to fight for his country (not its amoral ruler), and die the death of a noble man.

Prince Serebrenni

Orlando tells the story of a young man named Orlando, born in England during the reign of Elizabeth I, who decides not to grow old. He is briefly a lover to the elderly queen, but after her death has a brief, intense love affair with Sasha, a princess in the entourage of the Russian embassy. This episode, of love and excitement against the background of the Great Frost, is one of the best known, and is said to represent Vita Sackville-West''s affair with Violet Trefusis. Following Sasha''s sudden, unwarned departure and return to Russia, the desolate, heartbroken Orlando returns to writing The Oak Tree, a poem started and abandoned in his youth. He meets with a famous poet, Nicholas Greene, with whom he joyfully entertains, but who criticises Orlando''s writing, later making Orlando feel betrayed when he finds himself made the foolishly-depicted subject of one of Greene''s subsequent works. This period of contemplating love and life leads Orlando to appreciate the value of his ancestral stately home, which he proceeds to furnish lavishly and then plays host to the populace. Ennui sets in and the harassment of a persistent suitor, the Archduchess Harriet, leads to Orlando''s fleeing the country when appointed by King Charles II as British ambassador to Constantinople. Orlando performs his duties well, until a night of civil unrest and murderous riots. He falls asleep for a lengthy period of days while in Turkey, resistant to all efforts to rouse him. Upon awakening he finds, unsurprised, that he has metamorphosed into a woman—the same person, with the same personality and intellect, but in a woman''s body. The now Lady Orlando covertly escapes Constantinople in the company of a Gypsy clan, adopting their way of life until its essential conflict with her upbringing leads her to head home. Only on the ship back to England, with her constraining female clothes and an incident in which a flash of her ankle nearly results in a sailor''s falling to his death, does she realise the magnitude of becoming a woman; yet she concludes the overall advantages, declaring ''Praise God I''m a woman!'' Back in England, Orlando is hounded once again by the archduchess, who now reveals herself in fact to be a man, the Archduke Harry. Orlando evades his marriage proposals, instead living a life switching between gender roles, dressing as both man and woman. Orlando soon becomes caught up in the life of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, holding court with the great poets (notably Alexander Pope), including Nick Greene who appears to be as timeless as she, now promoting her writing and promising to help her publish The Oak Tree. Orlando wins a lawsuit over her property and marries a sea captain, Marmaduke Bonthrop Shelmerdine. In 1928, she publishes The Oak Tree centuries after starting it, winning a prize. As her husband''s ship returns, in the aftermath of her success, she rushes to greet him.

Orlando: A Biography

Before the play begins, the Viceroy of Portugal has rebelled against Spanish rule. A battle has taken place in which the Portuguese were defeated and their leader, the Viceroy''s son Balthazar, captured; but the Spanish officer Andrea has been killed by none other than the captured Balthazar. His ghost and the spirit of Revenge (present onstage throughout the entirety of the play) serve as chorus and, at the beginning of each act, Andrea bemoans the series of injustices that take place before being reassured by Revenge that those deserving will get their comeuppance. There is a subplot concerning the enmity of two Portuguese noblemen, one of whom attempts to convince the Viceroy that his rival has murdered the missing Balthazar. The King''s nephew Lorenzo and Andrea''s best friend Horatio dispute over who captured Balthazar, and though it is made clear early on that it is in fact Horatio that defeated him while Lorenzo essentially cheats his way into taking partial credit, the King leaves Balthazar in Lorenzo''s charge and splits the spoils of the victory between the two. Horatio comforts Lorenzo''s sister, Bel-imperia, who was in love with Andrea against her family''s wishes; despite her former feelings for Andrea, Bel-imperia soon falls for Horatio. Her courtship with Horatio is motivated partially by her desire for revenge. Bel-imperia intends to torment an amorous Balthazar, the killer of her former lover. As Balthazar is in love with Bel-imperia, the royal family concludes that their marriage would be an excellent way to repair the peace with Portugal. Horatio''s father, the Marshall Hieronimo, stages an entertainment for the Portuguese ambassador; Lorenzo, suspecting that Bel-Imperia has found a new lover, bribes her servant Pedringano and discovers that Horatio is the man. He persuades Balthazar to help him murder Horatio during an assignation with Bel-Imperia; Hieronimo and his wife Isabella find the body of their son hanged and stabbed, and Isabella is driven mad. Revisions made to the original play supplement the scene with Hieronimo briefly losing his wits as well. Lorenzo locks Bel-Imperia away, but she succeeds in sending Hieronimo a letter, written in her own blood, informing him that Lorenzo and Balthazar were Horatio''s murderers. His questions and attempts to see Bel-Imperia convince Lorenzo that he knows something; afraid that Balthazar''s servant Serberine has betrayed the plot, Lorenzo convinces Pedringano to murder him, then arranges for Pedringano''s arrest in the hopes of silencing him too. Hieronimo, appointed judge, sentences Pedringano to death; Pedringano expects Lorenzo to procure his pardon, and Lorenzo, having written a fake letter of pardon, lets him believe this right up until the hangman drops Pedringano to his death. Lorenzo manages to prevent Hieronimo from seeking justice by convincing the King that Horatio is alive and well. Furthermore, Lorenzo does not allow Hieronimo to see the King, claiming that he is too busy. This, combined with his wife''s suicide, which happens just prior to Hieronimo''s appeal to the King, pushes Hieronimo past his limit. He rants incoherently and digs at the ground with his dagger. Lorenzo goes on to tell his uncle, the King, that Hieronimo''s odd behaviour is due to his inability to deal with his son Horatio''s new found wealth (Balthazar''s ransom from the Portuguese Viceroy), and he has gone mad with jealousy. Regaining his senses, Hieronimo, along with Bel-Imperia, feigns reconciliation with the murderers. The two plan to put on a play together, Soliman and Perseda. Under cover of the play they stab Lorenzo and Balthazar to death in front of the King, Viceroy, and Duke of Castile (Lorenzo and Bel-Imperia''s father); Bel-Imperia kills herself, and Hieronimo tells his audience of his motive behind the murders, but refuses to reveal Bel-Imperia''s complicity in the plot. He then bites out his own tongue to prevent himself from talking under torture, after which he kills the Duke and then himself. Andrea and Revenge are satisfied, delivering suitable eternal punishments to the guilty parties.

The Spanish Tragedy

The novel begins with an "oath" signed by John Conlan and Lorraine Jensen, two high school sophomores, which pledge that they will report only the facts about their experiences with Mr. Pignati. When John, Lorraine, and two teen troublemakers, Norton Kelly and Dennis Kobin make prank phone calls, Lorraine picks out Mr. Pignati''s phone number and pretends to be calling from a charity. Mr. Pignati offers to donate ten dollars, and John and Lorraine travel to his house to collect the funds. From the first meeting, the two teenagers and the old man become close friends. Mr. Pignati finds new vitality, and happily takes on the role of a father-figure for the two teenagers. John and Lorraine''s visits become increasingly frequent, and during one such visit, they discover the documents that show that Mr. Pignati''s wife, Conchetta, is dead, not just on vacation as he had previously told them. Soon, John and Lorraine visit him every day after school, and he showers them with gifts, food, and most importantly, the love and attention they do not receive in their own joyless homes. They reveal to him that they were never affiliated with any charity, and he reveals what they already know: his wife is dead. Mr. Pignati suffers a heart attack while he and the teens are playing tag with roller skates, and he''s sent to the hospital; John and Lorraine agree to take care of his house while he recovers. The true betrayal comes when John invites friends over to Mr. Pignati''s house. The situation quickly turns into a drunken, boisterous party. Lorraine''s friend rips one of Conchetta Pignati''s dresses. Norton ransacks Mr. Pignati''s house and destroys Conchetta''s collection of porcelain pigs, which Mr. Pignati holds very dear to him. John beats him up in retaliation. Mr. Pignati returns to find his house ransacked, and is incredibly hurt when he finds out John and Lorraine were responsible for the incident. Feeling terrible, the two offer to take him to the zoo to help make up for it. At the zoo, they discover that Bobo the baboon, Mr. Pignati''s favorite animal and buddy, has died. Overcome with grief and the heaviness of the recent events, Mr. Pignati suffers a cardiac arrest and dies, leaving John and Lorraine grieving and reflecting on the fragility of life.

The Pigman

Jack Frusciante Has Left the Band tells the story of the relationship between Alex, a 17 year old rebel, and Aidi, a girl who enters his life out of the blue one Sunday with a phone call. She asks about a poetry book and they end up talking about their projects and aspirations. Before they part she kisses him on the cheek. Alex falls for her, and later asks her to be his girlfriend. She begins behaving increasingly coldly to him until she states that she doesn''t want any relationship because she''ll be leaving for the States the following year and doesn''t want to be in a long-distance relationship. Alex accepts her decision. Nonetheless, they maintain a relationship that, though not full-blown love, is stronger than mere friendship. Meanwhile, Alex takes a position in opposition to bourgeois society, rejecting the commonplace life that everyone expects him to be leading in the future ("a car, two children, a wife and a business consultant") and befriending Martino, the son of a rich family but an "outcast" like Alex himself.

Jack Frusciante è uscito dal gruppo

Harold Barnaby is a brilliant Egyptologist who has discovered a hidden message while translating some hieroglyphics. The message tells of an unnamed Pharaoh whose tomb hasn''t been discovered yet. Barnaby is exhilarated by the discovery and the prospect of the fame and fortune that will come with it. There is only one problem. He doesn''t have the knowledge, influence or wherewithal to pull off such a job without alerting the Egyptian authorities who would surely encroach on his discovery. Luckily, Barnaby meets Robert Pierce, a transient freelance writer who is in between jobs and looking for some excitement. In a moment of drunken indiscretion, Barnaby shares his discovery with Pierce along with his small logistical problem. Pierce, who because of his job has many friends in high—and low—places, offers his services to plan and manage the "extraction". For a cut, of course. He brings on Lord Grover, the fifth Earl of Wheatston to bankroll the project; smuggler Alan Conway; and international thief, Nikos Karagannis. Together, this motley crew set up camp in the harsh conditions of the Egyptian desert and "dig in" for the long haul. Their task is made all-the-more challenging when an Egyptian official becomes suspicious of their activities. tr:Easy Go

Easy Go

To protect the cargo ships essential to the continuing existence of the fledgling Coalition of Planets, the captains of the United Earth''s Starfleet are ordered to interstellar picket duty, with little more to do than ask "Who goes there?" into the darkness of space. Captain Jonathan Archer of the Enterprise seethes with frustration, wondering if anyone else can see what he sees. A secret, closed, militaristic society, convinced that their survival hangs by a thread, who view their neighbors as a threat to their very existence -- the Spartans of ancient Greece, the Russians of the old Soviet Union, the Koreans under Kim Il-sung -- with only one goal: attain ultimate power, no matter the cost. The little-known, never-seen Romulans seem to live by these same principles. The captain realizes that the bond between the signers of the Coalition charter is fragile and likely to snap if pushed. But he knows that the Romulans are hostile, and he believes they are the force behind the cargo ship attacks. If asked, Archer can offer no proof without endangering his friend''s life. To whom does he owe his loyalty: his friend, his world, the Coalition? And by choosing one, does he not risk losing all of them? What is the solution to a no-win scenario?

Kobayashi Maru

In the previous novel Tarzan and Jane''s son, Jack Clayton, a.k.a. Korak, had come into his own. In this novel Tarzan returns to Opar, the source of the gold where a lost colony of fabled Atlantis is located, in order to make good on some financial reverses he has recently suffered. While Atlantis itself sank beneath the waves thousands of years ago, the workers of Opar continued to mine all of the gold, which means there is a rather huge stockpile but which is now lost to the memory of the Oparians and only Tarzan knows its secret location. A greedy, outlawed Belgian army officer, Albert Werper, in the employ of a criminal Arab, secretly follows Tarzan to Opar. There, John Clayton loses his memory after being struck on the head by a falling rock in the treasure room during an earthquake. On encountering La, the high priestess who is the servant of the Flaming God of Opar, and who is also very beautiful, Tarzan once again rejects her love which enrages her and she tries to have Tarzan killed; she had fallen in love with the apeman during their first encounter and La and her high priests are not going to allow Tarzan to escape their sacrificial knives this time. In the meanwhile, Jane has been kidnapped by the Arab and wonders what is keeping her husband from once again coming to her rescue. A now amnesiac Tarzan and the Werper escape from Opar, bearing away the sacrificial knife of Opar which La and some retainers set out to recover. There is intrigue and counter intrigue the rest of the way.

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Fortunes for All

No Author Listed

Hornblower and the Crisis

By C. S. Forester

The Ships of Earth

By Orson Scott Card

Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception

By Eoin Colfer

Prince Serebrenni

By Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy

Orlando: A Biography

By Virginia Woolf

The Spanish Tragedy

By Thomas Kyd

The Pigman

By Paul Zindel

Jack Frusciante è uscito dal gruppo

No Author Listed

Easy Go

By Michael Crichton

Kobayashi Maru

By Michael A. Martin

Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar

By Edgar Rice Burroughs