Set in November to December 1987 (December 1988 in Night of the Hawk), Flight of the Old Dog is the story of a secret highly modified B-52 bomber flying into Russia on an impromptu strike mission. The book begins with a B-52 crew during a military exercise in Idaho. Not long after, the Americans discover the existence of a Soviet ground-based laser in the Kamchatka Peninsula. Although Moscow insists that the system does not violate existing strategic accords such as the ABM Treaty, their frequent use of the laser in striking vital US assets challenges Washington''s patience before the UN. Meanwhile, Gen. Bradley Elliott, commander of the High Technology Aerospace Weapons Center (HAWC; also known as Dreamland), tests a unique B-52 bomber with the help of several young crewmembers. Called the EB-52 Megafortress (named Old Dog), the plane is being eyed as a new strategic escort for SAC forces. The technology tested in the plane is later adapted and fitted into two B-1 bombers that are sent to attack the Soviet laser after it destroys an American space defense satellite. The B-1 mission is intercepted by the Soviets, but the aircraft are not shot down. At the same time, terrorists attack HAWC, forcing Elliott and the Old Dog crew to launch immediately. The crew push ahead with the B-1s'' mission after they realize that they are the only remaining hope for destroying the laser. After faking a crash outside Seattle and forcing a KC-10 crew in Shemya to refuel them , the Old Dog enters Soviet airspace and engages PVO fighters before and after destroying the laser. With a number of crew members injured, and the aircraft damaged and leaking fuel, the crew realize that they no longer have enough fuel to return safely to the United States. They set down at Anadyr, a little-used Russian airfield to steal enough fuel for their journey home. Surprised in the act of refueling by Soviet forces, one of the crew sacrifices himself to allow the plane to take off. Despite considerable damage to both crew and aircraft and a final attack by a Soviet fighter, the Old Dog is able to make it home safely.

Flight of the Old Dog

The heroine, Bryony, has the gift of telepathy, and is able to communicate subliminally with a man she regards as her lover, but whose identity she is unsure of. She knows that he is a blood relative, and assumes him to be one of her three male cousins, twins Emory and James, and the younger Francis. Bryony returns to the UK having received a telepathic message and discovers that her father has been hit by a car, and has died after speaking some mysterious phrases. She remains puzzled about the identity of her telepathic contact. Her initial preference is for James, but she gradually realises that the twins are plotting to steal her inheritance, and that her secret lover is a long-standing friend to whom she had not known she was related. Bryony gradually solves her father''s puzzles, some of which include a maze depicted on the family''s arms, the motto being "Touch not the cat". In the book''s climax, the twins attempt to murder Bryony and flood the family gardens, so they can sell them for redevelopment. They are stopped by Bryony''s lover.

Touch Not the Cat

The story follows immediately from the final scene of Renegades of Pern, in which the Admin building from Pern''s first generation of colonists is discovered, along with an advanced computer called AIVAS (Artificial Intelligence Voice Address System), at the Landing site that is being excavated. AIVAS has remained undisturbed since the events of Dragonsdawn some 2500 years earlier and, in addition to holding a huge volume of stored information long since lost to the Pernese society, claims to be able to eliminate the threat of Thread forever. The Weyrs, led by Lessa and F''lar, enthusiastically embrace this possibility, and with the support of the Holds (led in particular by Jaxom) and the Crafthalls (championed by Masterharper Robinton) proceed to implement the ambitious plan under the careful guidance of AIVAS. Aivas itself had been programmed to speak with a masculine-analogue, inquisitive, somewhat humorous personality, which gave the impression of a light-hearted counsellor to the Pernese, who have no real concept of what artificial intelligence entails. Over the course of the next four years, Pernese society systematically regains much technology that was lost to the colonists in early attempts to survive Threadfall, including marvels such as electricity, plastics manufacture, heating & cooling, printing presses, and surgery. Although most technological development focuses on the tools and knowledge needed to eliminate the threat of Thread, there are huge developments in the areas of Medicine and Science, and along the way new Crafthalls are created, including the Print Hall, Paper Hall, Computer Hall, and Dolphin Hall (this last occurs in a parallel story later in the series The Dolphins of Pern). The phenomenal advancements in technology lead to a kind of culture shock, manifesting in certain traditionalist elements among the Pernese who label AIVAS an "Abomination" that is corrupting their society. This dissenting opinion results in attempts to sabotage AIVAS itself and the projects it initiates, culminating in the kidnapping of the beloved Masterharper Robinton in an attempt to ransom his life for the destruction of AIVAS. When the conspirators responsible for the kidnapping are brought to justice, two Lords Holder and a Craftmaster are among those sentenced to exile for the crime. The Weyrs, Holds, and Halls are successful in carrying out AIVAS''s plan to transfer the anti-matter engines from the ships used to colonize Pern to the Red Star, and detonate them. The explosion alters the Red Star''s orbit, eliminating the configuration that allowed Thread to land on Pern. AIVAS earlier reveals to Jaxom that in order for the project to succeed, he must lead the other Dragonriders into using the lesser-known Draconic capability to transfer between time to deposit two of the three engines 1800 and 600 years in the past. Only the cumulative effect of three interspersed explosions will provide sufficient force to alter the planet''s orbit. Jaxom''s Ruth, who has an unusually precise ability to know exactly his location in time, is the only Dragon capable of performing this feat. In parallel to the primary task to alter the Red Star''s orbit, a team of medical researchers led by Masterhealers Oldive and Sharra develop an improved parasitic vector which is capable of infecting the space-born Ovoids that are the precursors to Thread. During the course of the three engine-transfer missions, Green Dragons are deployed to seed the surface of the Red Star with these infected Ovoids so that they can be dragged back to infect the Oort Cloud, which is the origin of Thread in the Pernese system. The combination of Jaxom''s time travel and this infestation is responsible for the two Long Intervals in the history of Pern wherein Thread failed to appear. The book concludes with the peaceful death of Masterharper Robinton, whose health has declined since the kidnapping, and his fire-lizard Zair. "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." Thereafter AIVAS deactivates itself, presumably to prevent Pernese society from idolising the facility as an all-knowing Oracle and thereby stifling the society.

All the Weyrs of Pern

The novel''s first-person protagonist, an unnamed vagrant with intellectual leanings, probably in his late twenties, wanders the streets of Norway''s capital in pursuit of nourishment. Over four episodes he meets a number of more or less mysterious persons, the most notable being Ylajali, a young woman with whom he engages in a mild degree of physical intimacy. He exhibits a self-created code of chivalry, giving money and clothes to needy children and vagrants, not eating food given to him, and turning himself in for stealing. Essentially self-destructive, he thus falls into traps of his own making, and with a lack of food, warmth and basic comfort, his body turns slowly to ruin. Overwhelmed by hunger, he scrounges for meals, at one point nearly eating his own (rather precious) pencil. His social, physical and mental state are in constant decline. However, he has no antagonistic feelings towards ''society'' as such, rather he blames his fate on ''God'' or a divine world order. He vows not to succumb to this order and remains ''a foreigner in life'', haunted by ''nervousness, by irrational details''. He experiences a major artistic and financial triumph when he sells a text to a newspaper, but despite this he finds writing increasingly difficult. At a point in the story, he asks to spend a night in a prison cell, posing as a well-to-do journalist who has lost the keys to his apartment; in the morning he can''t bring himself to reveal his poverty, even to partake in the free breakfast they provide the homeless. Finally as the book comes to close, when his existence is at an absolute ebb, he signs on to the crew of a ship leaving the city.

Hunger

Vera is a barmaid in her father''s tavern, which is situated along a road to the prison camps in Siberia. A gang of prisoners stop at the tavern. Vera immediately recognises her brother Dmitri as one of the prisoners. He begs her to go to Moscow and join the Nihilists, a terrorism group trying to assassinate the Czar, and avenge his imprisonment. She and her father''s manservant Michael leave to join the Nihilists. Years later, Vera has become the Nihilists'' top assassin, and is wanted across Europe. She is in love with a fellow Nihilist named Alexis: however, Nihilists are sworn never to marry. A Nihilist meeting is nearly broken up by soldiers, but Alexis thwarts the soldiers by revealing his true identity: he is the Tsarevich, heir to the Russian throne. This act earns him the further admiration of Vera and the hatred of the Nihilists. At a council meeting, Tsar Ivan and his cruel epigrammatic minister Prince Paul Maraloffski criticise Tsarovitch Alexis''s democratic leanings, but the Tsar is assassinated by Michael after the Tsarovitch opened the window. Alexis ascends the throne and exiles Prince Paul Maraloffski, not to Siberia, but to Paris. Maraloffski joins the Nihilists to kill Alexis. The task of assassinating the Tsar is given to Vera. She must infiltrate the palace, stab the Tsar and throw the dagger out the window as a signal to Nihilist agents below. If she does not, the agents will break in and kill him. Vera is reluctant to kill the man she loves, though. Alexis returns to the palace after his coronation, intending to end injustice in Russia during his reign. Vera enters the palace, knife at the ready. Alexis asks her to marry him. She accepts, but then she hears the agents outside crying out for the signal. She stabs herself and throws the dagger out the window, and the agent departs satisfied. :Alexis: Vera, what have you done? :Vera: I have saved Russia. [dies]

Vera; or, The Nihilists

The bulk of the book focuses on a British writer, Nathan, who is attempting to sell an idea for a Claustrosphere commercial to Plastic Tolstoy, owner and chief marketer of the company which builds them. The commercial represents a change in emphasis for the advertising campaign; up to now Claustropheres have been sold as a kind of fall back insurance, just in case the environment collapses. However, now that virtually everybody owns at least a basic model, sales are falling and the company is having to try and sell upgrade and improvement packages instead. The new advertising, therefore, attempts to convince people for the first time that the environment truly is doomed and they are inevitably going to have to live in their Claustrospheres. Tolstoy accepts Nathan''s idea and assigns him to work with Max, a shallow and pretentious young actor. During a subsequent meeting with Tolstoy, Nathan makes a joking suggestion that it would be ironic if his company actually covertly sponsored the Eco-Terrorism movement led by Jurgen Thor, which despises the Claustrosphere company since it represents, in their eyes, an abrogation of mankind''s responsibility to care for the environment. Nathan is subsequently murdered as he plays a virtual reality game with Max. Max sets out to investigate the murder, falling in with Rosalie Connolly, an Eco Terrorist working for Thor''s organization. Max ultimately discovers that Thor and Tolstoy are in fact partners. The eco-terrorists raids, whilst highly successful, never present more than a minor problem to the vast Claustrosphere company, but do grab headlines and bring awareness of the looming eco disaster into the public mind - prompting them to buy more Claustrospheres. Tolstoy confesses that he has even geared his advertising campaign to work in perfect sync with the terrorists, with new commercials ready to roll out instantly after each attack. After a confrontation between Max, Rosalie and Jurgen in which Jurgen is killed, Tolstoy decides to evade justice by leaking news indicating that the ecology is finally collapsing. The news is suddenly full of stories of environmental catastrophe, and people are told that they need to lock themselves in their Claustrospheres for several decades. The "rat run", as it is termed, removes the large bulk of humanity from the world, effectively ending the current civilization. In one of the novel''s great ironies, one of the by-products of the vanishing of global society is that all industry ceases, ending further pollution of the environment. Freed of this burden Earth begins to gradually recover from the damage inflicted so far.

This Other Eden

The Alchemist follows the journey of an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago. Santiago, believing a recurring dream to be prophetic, decides to travel to a gypsy in a nearby town to discover its meaning. She tells him that there is a treasure in the Pyramids in Egypt. Early into his journey, he meets an old king, Melchizedek, who tells him to sell his sheep to travel to Egypt, and his Personal Legend: what he always wanted to accomplish in his life. And that "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it." This is the core philosophy and motto of the book. Along the way, he encounters love, danger, opportunity, disaster and learns a lot about himself and the ways of the world. During his travels, he meets a beautiful Arabian woman named Fatima who explains to him that if he follows his heart, he shall find what it is he seeks. Santiago then encounters a lone alchemist who tells about personal legends. He says that people only want to find the treasure of their personal legends but not the personal legend itself. He feels unsure about himself as he listens to the alchemist''s teachings. The alchemist states "Those who don''t understand their personal legends will fail to comprehend its teachings." It also states that treasure is more worthy than gold.

The Alchemist

Passage to Nirvana begins with Carlson''s accident, when he was hit by a car standing outside a car wash, striking his head violently on the pavement, fracturing his skull, lapsing into a light coma and sustaining a Traumatic Brain Injury, with bleeding on the brain and other damage. The story follows him through his brief hospitalization, then a year-long rehab in Florida, then his return to the North Fork of Long Island where he tries to rebuild his shattered life. His wife has left him and moved away with their children, his work life has evaporated, he has no home and has to start over again from scratch. During his year in Florida he also helps care for his mother, who is severely disabled from her own traumatic brain injury sustained when she fell down a flight of basement stairs. She is in a wheelchair, unable to walk, talk or feed herself. While he is in Florida, his mother eventually dies. Upon returning to Long Island, more misfortunes seem to pile on at every turn: his aunt dies of cancer, as does his brother-in-law, and he returns to Buffalo to help his sister and her children while his brother-in-law is in the hospital. While this may sound morbid and depressing, the bulk of the book is uplifting, a positive affirmation of life. Carlson concentrates on his Zen Buddhist studies and meditation as a way of helping him heal, working with the noted writer and Zen teacher Peter Matthiessen. Sections of the book take place in the Ocean Zendo, a Zen center run by Matthiessen, and much of the book is a meditation on the spiritual aspects of healing, acceptance and rebuilding a life. Eventually Carlson meets a beautiful, understanding woman who has been through difficulties of her own: a difficult divorce, raising two children as a single mother. They fall in love, and decide to buy a sailboat named "Nirvana" that they discover rotting in a boatyard in St. Martin. They renovate the boat, sail her back to the eastern end of Long Island, where they are joined by their four children and two dogs, working at creating a new family and a new life. Eventually they sail "Nirvana" to the Bahamas for a winter writing sabbatical, where most of the book was written. Trying to describe the "plot" is difficult, however, as the book is really a collection of short essays, some about events happening in real time, some about Traumatic Brain Injury, some reflections on various aspects of philosophy and Eastern thought, and some stories recalling the author''s childhood. See the section "Unique Writing Style" below for more information.

Passage to Nirvana

The Walkers help Jim Brading, who was given the sailing cutter Goblin by his uncle, moor her when he misses the buoy. In return he invites them to sail aboard Goblin. Mother agrees provided that they stay within the estuary of the rivers Orwell and Stour, do not pass the Beach End buoy at the mouth of the rivers, and do not go out to sea. These conditions are imposed because of the imminent arrival of their father, Ted Walker, who, after an overseas posting with the Navy, is expected to return by ferry at any time from Holland. He was travelling overland from China; in Swallows and Amazons his ship was at Malta but under orders for Hong Kong (as also stated in Missee Lee). The children agree to these conditions. However, on the second morning during a calm, the engine runs out of petrol; Jim had used it for some time the night before last. So Jim rows ashore in the Imp the dinghy of the anchored Goblin to fill a can, but does not return. An unexpected bank of fog drifts over the river, and the Goblin is without her captain. Some hours later, after hearing the anchor drag in the fog, the Walkers realise that the tide has risen, the anchor chain is now too short, and they are drifting down river. While attempting to put out more chain, John loses the anchor, and the yacht drifts out beyond Beach End into the North Sea. Aboard the drifting boat, John decides that it is safer to hoist the sails and go farther out to sea rather than stay near the shore among the sandbanks and shoals of the estuary, with the risk of being wrecked in the fog. They put about in the night to return to the river, but find that sailing against the wind is impossible, so run eastward with the wind. The Goblin sails east through the night in hazardous conditions, being nearly run down as the navigation lights are out of paraffin. At dawn next morning, John persuades Susan to continue to the nearest port rather than trying to return to Harwich. They find themselves approaching an unknown coast; it is the southern Netherlands. Jim has warned them about longshore sharks who might claim salvage if asked for help. But they see a pilot boat, and pick up a Dutch pilot. They arrive safely in Flushing at the same time as their absent father is leaving on a ferry to Harwich. Their father leaves the ferry and returns to help them sail the Goblin back. On arriving in England, the Goblin and its crew are reunited with their mother and with Jim Brading, who is looking for his missing yacht. The absent skipper had been unconscious in hospital for two days, suffering from concussion after being involved in a collision with a motor bus. cs:Nechtěli jsme na moře

We Didn''t Mean To Go To Sea

The book begins with statistics of short life expectancy, high death rates, high infant mortality, low birth weight rates, and high disease rates as compared to European Americans. Randall states that they are a direct result of slavery and the lack of health care that was provided from the time of slavery to the Jim Crow laws, the Affirmation Action time, and to the Racial Entrenchment time of the present. She points out the racial barriers to the access of health care, nursing homes, hospitals, physicians, and other professionals. In addition, she acknowledges a lack of minority health professionals and thus a shortage of minority input into the health care system. She insists that the health care system rid itself of intentional and inadvertent racism. The managed care organizations entice providers and facilitators to engage in discrimination. This has also led to a mistrust of the health care system by blacks. Randall insists that this is not simply paranoia but is based on a history of experimentation, Sickle Cell Screening Initiative, planning/involuntary sterilization, and the excuses that the medical system gave to justify its discriminations. These abuses contribute to her accusation of the human rights violations by institutional racism in the health care system, the large inequality in health status, and the lack of legal protection. She concludes her book with the authenticity of her call for reparations from the American government. The slave health deficit will continue to negatively impact African Americans unless a well planned legal program is enacted.

Dying While Black

When Carl''s mother, Kerry, disappears, he and his brother, Harley, are sent to Wattle Beach to live with their aunt Beryl. During his stay at Wattle Beach, Carl works in a barge, an old colleague of Carl''s grandfather. Carl does not know that his grandfather was involved in an accident that killed Skips 8-year-old son, Graham. Carl is initially withdrawn; he does not convey his worries about his missing mother, nor the anxiety that he feels over his rebellious younger brother, who is constantly in centrelink. However, during the course of the novel he learns to "open up" and share his feelings with those who care about him. In the end, it is discovered that Kerry Matt died in a bus accident when she was trying to get home to her children, Sarah, Harley and Carl. Once this is unearthed,Carl returns home to find that Aunt Beryl has run off in true Matt spirit to join her boyfriend, Bruce. Because Carl has nowhere else to stay, Joy Duncan invites him to come and live with them at Wiseman''s Cove with his brother, Harley, who has already claimed the Duncans as his surrogate family. Their sister Sarah left them and flew to another country to get a chance at her own life.

A Bridge to Wiseman''s Cove

Tara is outgoing and impulsive and likes to write, while Elizabeth is shy, quiet and prefers writing poetry. Even so, they are best friends. When Tara moves to Ohio, the girls continue their friendship through letters back and forth to each other. They have to do this by writing, because Elizabeth''s father does not like Tara, and Tara''s parents think it is expensive to talk on the phone. The letters detail the changes in their lives – Tara must cope with moving, making new friends and dealing with her mother''s pregnancy, while Elizabeth''s family begins to fall apart. Tara makes another best friend in Ohio, whose name is Hannah. Tara calls her Pal Palindrome because her name is the same spelled backwards as forwards. It becomes her new nickname and everyone calls her "Pal". Tara also gets a boyfriend, Alex, who kisses her. Elizabeth''s father starts to scare her when he is coming home later than usual, drinking, and going overboard on his credit cards after he loses his job and has no money. Meanwhile Tara is making new friends, joining clubs and getting involved in school activities. When Elizabeth''s family has to move to an apartment because of the money problem, her dad decides to leave, and separates from her mother. It is through their alternating letters that readers learn how Tara and Elizabeth grow and change – and how they keep their friendship strong, even if it is long-distance. This book shows how hard a friendship can be when a person can''t see her friend, but suggests that for someone who truly cares about something and works hard for it, anything can happen.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Flight of the Old Dog

By Dale Brown

Touch Not the Cat

By Mary Stewart

All the Weyrs of Pern

By Anne McCaffrey

Hunger

By Knut Hamsun

Vera; or, The Nihilists

By Oscar Wilde

This Other Eden

By Ben Elton

The Alchemist

By Donna Boyd

Passage to Nirvana

By Lee Carlson

We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea

By Arthur Ransome

Dying While Black

By Vernellia Randall

A Bridge to Wiseman's Cove

By James Moloney

P.S. Longer Letter Later

By Ann M. Martin