Every day life for Jake is a struggle due to his mother''s horrible and violent boyfriend, Steve. To escape his problems, Jake dreams of having his own tall tower where he can be peaceful and safe. In his pretend tower he daydreams of his father, who gave him a hug and a fluffy duck when he was born. Though certain he will never see him again, Jake believes that he might somehow get to meet him one day. But when the struggle gets too much for him and his mother, they run away from Steve to Jake''s grandmother (his father''s mother, Mrs Judd). She never believed that Jake was her son''s son until she meets him and, seeing the resemblance, she helps protect him from the danger that he is involved in. However, Jake''s mother insists on fighting for Jake''s custody, resulting in a case conference between Jake''s mother and his grandmother. Meanwhile, Jake bestfriend Kieran, a boy at his school and they agree to go to and from school with each other. When Kieran is sick one day, Jake takes a shortcut, only to be apprehended by the one person he did not want to meet - Steve. Steve grabs Jake, but immediately releases him when Jake''s teachers come out. However, when his teacher leave, Steve starts to intimidate Jake again. Jake manages to escape to his grandmother''s house, where Mrs. Judd manages to get rid of Steve when he follows Jake. The following day Jake returns home from school while Mrs Judd and his mother are at his case conference. Suddenly the door opens - standing at the living room door is Jake''s father.

Jake''s Tower

William Melbury and his younger sister Susan (Sue) live with their mother in the south of England, in furnished rooms. His mother inherits a cottage from her second cousin; but only if she lives in it for five years. Cousin Fay disliked week-enders and wanted Beckfoot Cottage to be lived in. So they move from the south of England to the cottage in Bannermere, Upper Bannerdale. William and Susan transfer to schools at Winthwaite five miles away, a boy’s grammar school and a county secondary school. Bill befriends Tim Darren and Sue befriends Penelope (Penny) Morchard at their respective schools. Bill finds that Cousin Fay also owns a rowboat and they row to the island of Brant Holm in the lake. But the owner of Bannermere Hall stops his tenant the farmer Mr Tyler leasing them the boathouse by the lake. Sir Alfred Askew only bought the property last year when he retired from India, but is determined to play the local squire, complete with monocle. They suspect Sir Alfred of something, go into his woods, and find that he has uncovered an ancient buried skeleton on the lakeside. There are actually five skeletons, possibly from the 9th century during the period of Viking raids, and Sir Alfred has not notified the police of the find. An inquest is held. Later when Bill sees an aerial photo of the lake, he sees shading indicating a burial on the island in the lake. They investigate, and uncover a buried skeleton, but are interrupted by Sir Alfred and his friend Matson an antique-dealer. There are also some silver dishes and flagons, probably the monastery treasure mentioned in an old chronicle of St Coloumbs Abbey in Yorkshire. At the inquest they are deemed treasure trove, as the skeleton was Christian and buried facing east with hands crossed on the breast (as proved by Tim’s photo). As finders the four get three hundred pounds reward each. Sir Alfred claimed it could have been a heathen burial by Norsemen with the items buried publicly; as at Sutton Hoo the items would not be treasure trove but would belong to the landowner. Matson would have sold them for a high price in America.

No Boats on Bannermere

In an English public house, The Long Dragon, George McWhirter Fotheringay is engaged in vigorously asserting the impossibility of miracles while arguing with the obnoxious Toddy Beamish. However, after an unintended command of Fotheringay''s, an oil lamp does the impossibleflaming upside down. Although it is thought to be a trick, and quickly dismissed by his acquaintances, back home Fotheringay continues to use his new power for other petty uncanny deeds. Then, after also magically accomplishing his everyday chores as a clerk at Gomshott''s office, Fotheringay goes to a park to practise further. However, he has an untimely encounter with a local constable, Winch, who is then accidentally injured. In the ensuing confrontation Fotheringay unintentionally curses him, so the policeman literally goes to Hades; hours later, Fotheringay relocates him safely to San Francisco. As a result of these and other miracles, Fotheringay decides to attend the local church services on Sunday. He is then moved by the clergyman, Mr. Maydig, as he coincidentally preaches about unnatural occurrences. Fotheringay meets him for advice at his quarters. After few petty demonstrations the priest becomes enthusiastic, suggesting that Fotheringay should do them on behalf of the public; during that night they traverse the town streets, healing the illness and the vice and revamping public works. The priest then plans to reform the whole world. They could disregard their obligations for the next day, if Fotheringay could stop the night altogether. Fotheringay does so, stopping the motion of the whole planet Earth. However, his clumsy wording backfires, resulting in all objects on Earth being hurled off the ground without control, "with more force than a cannon shot". As the surface becomes a pandemonium, Fotheringay miraculously ensures his own safety back on the ground. Fotheringay would not be able to amend such a big mess though, so he repents; for his last two wishes he relinquishes such power forever and he commands a return to the time before he had it. Effectively, this happens: Fotheringay is back in the public house, discussing miracles with his friends as before, without any recollection of the uncanny events.

The Man Who Could Work Miracles

Pharaoh begins with one of the more memorable openings in a novel — an opening written in the style of an ancient chronicle: Pharaoh combines features of several literary genres: the historical novel, the political novel, the Bildungsroman, the utopian novel, the sensation novel. It also comprises a number of interbraided strands — including the plot line, Egypt''s cycle of seasons, the country''s geography and monuments, and ancient Egyptian practices (e.g. mummification rituals and techniques) — each of which rises to prominence at appropriate moments. Much as in an ancient Greek tragedy, the fate of the novel''s protagonist, the future "Ramses XIII," is known from the beginning. Prus closes his introduction with the statement that the narrative "relates to the eleventh century before Christ, when the Twentieth Dynasty fell and when, after the demise of the Son of the Sun the eternally living Ramses XIII, the throne was seized by, and the uraeus came to adorn the brow of, the eternally living Son of the Sun Sem-amen-Herhor, High Priest of Amon." What the novel will subsequently reveal is the elements that lead to this denouement—the character traits of the principals, the social forces in play. Ancient Egypt at the end of its New Kingdom period is experiencing adversities. The deserts are eroding Egypt''s arable land. The country''s population has declined from eight to six million. Foreign peoples are entering Egypt in ever-growing numbers, undermining its unity. The chasm between the peasants and craftsmen on one hand, and the ruling classes on the other, is growing, exacerbated by the ruling elites'' fondness for luxury and idleness. The country is becoming ever more deeply indebted to Phoenician merchants, as imported goods destroy native industries. The Egyptian priesthood, backbone of the bureaucracy and virtual monopolists of knowledge, have grown immensely wealthy at the expense of the pharaoh and the country. At the same time, Egypt is facing prospective peril at the hands of rising powers to the north — Assyria and Persia. The 22-year-old Egyptian crown prince and viceroy Ramses, having made a careful study of his country and of the challenges that it faces, evolves a strategy that he hopes will arrest the decline of his own political power and of Egypt''s internal viability and international standing. Ramses plans to win over or subordinate the priesthood, especially the High Priest of Amon, Herhor; obtain for the country''s use the treasures that lie stored in the Labyrinth; and, emulating Ramses the Great''s military exploits, wage war on Assyria. Ramses proves himself a brilliant military commander in a victorious lightning war against the invading Libyans. On succeeding to the throne, he encounters the adamant opposition of the priestly hierarchy to his planned reforms. The Egyptian populace is instinctively drawn to Ramses, but he must still win over or crush the priesthood and their adherents. In the course of the political intrigue, Ramses'' private life becomes hostage to the conflicting interests of the Phoenicians and the Egyptian high priests. Ramses'' ultimate downfall is caused by his underestimation of his opponents and by his impatience with priestly obscurantism. Along with the chaff of the priests'' myths and rituals, he has inadvertently discarded a crucial piece of scientific knowledge. Ramses is succeeded to the throne by his arch-enemy Herhor, who paradoxically ends up raising treasure from the Labyrinth to finance the very social reforms that had been planned by Ramses, and whose implementation Herhor and his allies had blocked. But it is too late to arrest the decline of the Egyptian polity and to avert the eventual fall of the Egyptian civilization. The novel closes with a poetic epilogue that reflects Prus'' own path through life. The priest Pentuer, who had declined to betray the priesthood and aid Ramses'' campaign to reform the Egyptian polity, mourns Ramses, who like the teenage Prus had risked all to save his country. As Pentuer and his mentor, the sage priest Menes, listen to the song of a mendicant priest, Pentuer says:

Pharaoh

In 1980, Ned (Edward) Maddstone, is a seventeen-year old schoolboy who appears to be the sort of person for whom everything goes right. He is head boy, talented at sports, and following in the footsteps of his father towards Oxford University and a career in politics. Things begin to go wrong for the main character when his schoolfriend Ashley Barson-Garland discovers that Maddstone has secretly read part of his diary and therefore knows his dark secret, namely that he is ashamed of his working class roots. The clever Barson-Garland plots to besmirch Maddstone''s good fortune with an arrest for possession of marijuana with the help of Rufus Cade, who is jealous of Maddstone''s good looks and popularity, and Gordon Fendeman, Portia''s American cousin, who is also in love with her. Unfortunately, when Maddstone is arrested, an envelope in his pocket, entrusted to him by his dying sailing instructor, turns out to be a coded message from the Irish Republican Army. He is whisked away from the police station by a smooth Secret Services operative called Oliver Delft, who listens calmly to Maddstone''s explanation of events until he reveals the address to which he was asked to deliver the envelope, which is of Delft''s mother and would reveal his hidden ancestral relationship to a Fenian traitor. So, Delft callously decides that Maddstone must disappear. Maddstone is beaten up, pumped full of drugs, and taken away to a remote lunatic asylum on an island off the coast of Sweden. For many years, it is impressed on him by Dr. Mallo that his memories of his life as Ned Maddstone are false and merely the product of a diseased mind. Then, just when he is starting to believe this mind-programming, he is finally allowed to fraternise with the other inmates. He begins regularly playing chess with a man known simply as Babe, a highly educated and perfectly sane man who was also imprisoned by the British government, but has learned to cope with his situation by acting mad for the benefit of his captors. The two men become close friends and generally give each other hope. Babe agrees to educate Maddstone, helping him to master the game of chess and teaching him to speak multiple languages among other things. Eventually, Maddstone realises he is indeed the son of Sir Charles Maddstone and, with Babe''s help, laterally determines who betrayed him and how, although he is still baffled as to why he was imprisoned on the island. When Ned mentions the name of Oliver Delft, however, Babe is able to recall a list of IRA sympathisers that he once briefly saw thanks to his photographic memory, leading Ned to learn the true nature of the conspiracy. After some time, Babe dies, having first devised a way in which Maddstone might escape to the mainland by hiding in his intended coffin. Once free, he sells some prescription drugs stolen from the asylum and, as directed by Babe, travels to Switzerland, to visit a bank and gains access to an account in which Babe had deposited large sums of stolen money (which has also accrued many years'' worth of interest). Thus, by the year 2000, Maddstone has become fabulously wealthy (to the tune of £324 million). Assuming the identity of Simon Cotter, he swiftly becomes famous as a mysterious Internet entrepreneur, making huge profits by investing in high-risk ventures. He then returns to England and wreaks his revenge by cleverly driving Rufus Cade, Ashley Barson-Garland, Gordon Fendeman and Oliver Delft to their deaths. When his task is complete, he hopes to renew his relationship with Portia, but this is not to be. On discovering his identity, Portia is horrified by the change in Maddstone''s personality and flees with her son Albert after the death of her husband, Gordon. The novel ends with Cotter/Maddstone tearing up the old love letters he once sent to Portia as he returns to what he now realises is his only real ''home'', the hospital on the island that he now owns.

The Stars'' Tennis Balls

The novel has a convoluted plot about two distant cousins both named Allan Armadale. The father of one had murdered the father of the other (the two fathers are also named Allan Armadale). The story starts with a deathbed confession by the murderer in the form of a letter to be given to his baby son when he grows up. Many years pass. The son, mistreated at home, runs away from his mother and stepfather, and takes up a wandering life under the assumed name of Ozias Midwinter. He becomes a companion to his distant cousin, the other Allan Armadale, who throughout the novel never discovers the relationship. But Ozias is constantly haunted by feeling that he might harm Allan, first after he reads the letter left for him, and then again after they spend the night on a shipwreck off the Isle of Man — the ship turning out to be the same on which the murder took place (the murderer locked his victim in a cabin as the boat filled with water). On the boat, Allan has a mysterious dream involving three characters. This dream fills Ozias with foreboding, justifiably so as its three scenes become fulfilled in the course of the novel. Allan inherits estates at Thorpe Ambrose in Norfolk after the mysterious death of three of the family. He is unused to wealth, and falls in love with the sixteen-year-old daughter of Major Milroy, to whom he has rented a cottage. This love affair is for a period thwarted by the machinations of Miss Milroy''s governess, Lydia Gwilt. Lydia, who is thirty-five but looks twenty-something, is the villain of the novel and her colourful portrayal takes up much of the rest of the story. Originally Allan’s mother''s maid, and a contributor to the conflict between Allan''s and Ozias''s fathers, she is a fortune-hunter and, it turns out, a murderess. Unable to alienate Allan''s affections from Miss Milroy, she settles for marrying Midwinter, having discovered his name is the same. She plots to murder Allan — or to have him killed by her ex-husband, a Spanish desperado — and, since she is now "Mrs. Armadale," to impersonate his widow. Allan escapes the desperado''s attempt on his life — he is supposed to have drowned in a shipwreck — and returns to England. Lydia''s plans are thus foiled. Her last shot is to murder Allan herself — the weapon being poison gas, the scene being a sanatorium run by a quack called Doctor Downward — but she is thwarted by her own conscience. Midwinter and Allan have switched rooms, and she can''t bring herself to murder her true husband, for whom she does have genuine feelings of love. After rescuing Midwinter and writing him a farewell note, she goes into the air-poisoned room and kills herself. Allan marries Miss Milroy; Midwinter, still his best friend, becomes a writer. Some linking passages consist of letters between the various characters, or of extracts from Lydia''s journal, but the great majority of the text narrates the events as they occur. The novel is enlivened by many minor characters including Mr Bashwood, an old failure of a clerk who is infatuated with the beautiful Lydia; his son, James Bashwood, a private detective; Mrs Oldershaw, an unscrupulous associate of Lydia’s; the Pedgifts (father and son), Allan''s sometime lawyers; and the Rev Decimus Brock, a shrewd (but not quite shrewd enough) clergymen who brings Allan up but who is kept out of the way for much of the book. Is the dream to be interpreted rationally or superstitiously, as Midwinter does? The question is never resolved. “The distortions of the plot, the violent and irrational reactions of the characters, reflect and dramatize the ways in which his readers’ perceptions were distorted by the assumptions and hypocrisies of the society in which they lived," writes Catherine Peters. In the end, the novel is a story of redemption that teaches that the sins of the fathers are not necessarily visited on the children, and the son of a murderer can turn out good. Collins was to take this up again later in The Legacy of Cain.

Armadale

The novel begins following the British victory of the first Opium War and the seizure of Hong Kong. Although the island is largely uninhabited and the terrain unfriendly, it has a large natural harbour that both the British government and various trading companies believe will be useful for the import of merchandise to be traded on mainland China, a highly lucrative market. Although the novel features many characters, it is Dirk Struan and Tyler Brock, former shipmates and the owners of two massive (fictional) trading companies who are the main focal points of the story. Their rocky and often abusive relationship as seamen initiated an intense amount of competitive tension. Throughout the novel, both men seek to destroy each other in matters of business and personal affairs. Struan is referred to throughout the novel as Tai-Pan, indicating his position as head of the largest of all the trading companies in Asia. Clavell translates Tai-Pan as "Supreme Leader," although as described in the Tai-Pan entry, "Big Shot" might be more accurate. Brock, owner of the second largest of the trading companies, constantly vies to destroy Struan''s company and reputation in an attempt both to exact revenge on Struan and to become the new "Tai-Pan" of Chinese trade. Other important characters of the novel include: * Culum Struan - Dirk Struan''s son and future Tai-pan * Robb Struan - Dirk Struan''s half-brother and business partner. * William Longstaff - first Governor of Hong Kong * Jeff Cooper, American trader and secret partner to the Noble House * Wilf Tillman, American trader and partner to Jeff Cooper. Guardian to Shevaun Tillman. Advocate of slavery. * Count Zergyev - Russian diplomat and spy to gauge British influence in Hong Kong * Gorth Brock - Tyler Brock''s boat-captain son. * Jin-Qua, Chinese tea and opium trader, lends Dirk Struan "40 Lac" (about 1.656 million Pounds sterling, or 8 million dollars in silver bullion) to get out of debt to Tyler Brock. He is the originator of the "coin debt" to which Dirk and future Tai-Pans must swear to uphold (revealed as well in Noble House) * May–May - Dirk Struan''s Chinese mistress, granddaughter of Jin-Qua, instructed to teach Dirk "civilized" (Chinese) ways. * Liza Brock, wife of Tyler Brock and Tess'' mother * Aristotle Quance - Painter and hedonist, always in debt. The Struan family own several of his paintings. * Shevaun Tillman, ward of Wilf Tillman and hopeful bride to Dirk Struan. * Captain Orlov, "The Hunchback" Finnish opium ship captain under Dirk Struan. Often has visions of precognition of future events. * William Skinner, editor of the island newspaper, privy to secrets handed to him by Dirk Struan to keep his rivals off balance * Gordon Chen - Dirk Struan''s Eurasian son by a Chinese mistress and secret head of the first Hong Kong Triad (underground society) * Tess Brock, daughter of Tyler Brock and eventual wife of Culum Struan.Also known as Hag Struan in later novels. * Mary Sinclair, secret English prostitute and devotee/spy of Dirk Struan, and sister of Horatio Sinclair. * Captain Glessing, former ship captain of Royal Navy and harbor master. Has a peninsula named after him. Loses an arm in the typhoon. * Horatio Sinclair, clerk to Dirk Struan, church fanatic and harbors incestuous desires for his sister Mary. * Wolfgang Mauss, renegade priest and teacher to Gordon Chen. * Roger Blore, gambler, makes an unheard of record time journey to Hong Kong, later becomes Dirk Struan''s horse racing club owner. * Captain Scragger, pirate and negotiator for Wu Fang Choi, a pirate king. Scragger''s family line is mentioned several times in the following books of the Asian Saga. * Wu Fang Choi, pirate king and secret partner to Jin-Qua, as the bullion for the deal came from him.

Tai-Pan: A Novel of Hong Kong

Amanda McCready was four years old when she vanished from a Boston neighborhood in 1997. Desperate pleas for help from the child’s aunt led savvy, tough-nosed investigators Kenzie and Gennaro to take on the case. The pair risked everything to find the young girl — only to orchestrate her return to a neglectful mother and a broken home. Now Amanda is 16 — and gone again. A stellar student, brilliant but aloof, she seemed destined to escape her upbringing. Amanda’s aunt is once again knocking at Patrick Kenzie’s door, fearing the worst for the little girl who has blossomed into a striking, bright young woman who hasn’t been seen in two weeks. Haunted by the past, Kenzie and Gennaro revisit the case that troubled them the most, following a 12-year trail of secrets and lies down the darkest alleys of Boston’s gritty, blue-collar streets. Assuring themselves that this time will be different, they vow to make good on their promise to find Amanda and see that she is safe. But their determination to do the right thing holds dark implications Kenzie and Gennaro aren’t prepared for ... consequences that could cost them not only Amanda’s life, but their own. Since "Prayers for Rain" Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro have married and had a child.

Moonlight Mile

In 1985, Yates and Simpson attempted a first-ascent of the previously unclimbed West Face of Siula Grande in alpine style. Several teams had previously tried and failed to climb this face. Yates and Simpson were successful in their attempt, and after summiting they descended via the difficult North Ridge. Disaster struck on the descent when Joe slipped down an ice cliff and landed awkwardly, smashing his tibia into his knee joint, thus breaking his right leg. The pair, whose trip had already taken longer than they intended because of bad weather on the ascent, had run out of fuel for their stove and could not melt ice and snow for drinking water. With bad weather closing in and daylight fading, they needed to descend quickly to the glacier, about 3,000 feet below. Yates proceeded to lower Simpson off the North Ridge by tying two 150'' lengths of rope together to make one longer 300-foot rope. However because the two ropes were tied together, the knot couldn''t go through the belay plate. Simpson would have to stand on his good (left) leg to give Yates enough slack to unclip the rope, in order to thread the rope back through the lowering device with the knot on the other side. With storm conditions worsening and darkness upon them, Yates inadvertently lowered Simpson off a cliff. Because Yates was sitting higher up the mountain, he could not see or hear Simpson; he could only feel that Simpson had all his weight on the rope. Simpson attempted to ascend the rope using a Prusik knot. However, because his hands were badly frost-bitten, he was unable to tie the knots properly and accidentally dropped one of the cords required to ascend the rope. The pair were stuck in a very bad situation. Simpson could not climb up the rope, Yates could not pull him back up, and the cliff was too high for Simpson to be lowered down. They remained in this position for some time, until it was obvious that the snow around Yates'' belay seat was about to give out. Because the pair were tied together, they would both be pulled to their deaths. Yates had little choice but to cut the rope in order to save his own life. Ironically, doing so may very well have saved Simpson''s life as well, as he would have died of exposure if he had been left to hang in the strong freezing wind for much longer. When Yates cut the rope, Simpson plummeted down the cliff and into a deep crevasse. Exhausted and suffering from hypothermia, Yates dug himself a snow cave to wait out the storm. The next day, Yates carried on descending the mountain by himself. When he reached the crevasse he realized the situation that Simpson had been in, and what had happened when he cut the rope. After calling for Simpson and hearing no reply, Yates was forced to assume that he had died and so continued down the mountain alone. Simpson, however, was still alive. He had survived the 150-foot fall despite his broken leg, and had landed on a small ledge inside the crevasse. When Simpson regained consciousness, he discovered that the rope had been cut and realized that Yates would presume that he was dead. He therefore had to save himself. Simpson eventually abseiled from his landing spot onto a thin ice roof part way down the crevasse, and climbed back onto the glacier via a steep snow slope. From there, Simpson spent three days without food and with almost no water, crawling and hopping five miles back to their base camp. Exhausted and almost completely delirious, he reached their tents only a few hours before Yates intended to return to civilization. Simpson''s survival is widely regarded by mountaineers as amongst the most amazing pieces of mountaineering lore.

Touching the Void

M receives word that a terrorist organisation known as BAST (Brotherhood of Anarchy and Secret Terrorism) is planning to infiltrate and destroy a top-secret British Royal Navy aircraft carrier-based summit scheduled a year hence between American President George H. W. Bush, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Russian Premier Mikhail Gorbachev. To counteract this, James Bond is returned to active duty in the Royal Navy and promoted from Commander to Captain, in order to infiltrate the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible and identify potential sleeper agents. In the months leading to the top-secret summit, Bond spends his time training at Yeovilton learning to fly a Navy Sea Harrier jet. With knowledge of Bond''s task, BAST decides that Bond is a hindrance to their plans and attempts to kill him, once attempting to shoot him down while in his Sea Harrier during a training exercise. Later, when Bond goes on holiday in Italy, another attempt is made on his life. Bond escapes and, presumably, ends up taking the life of his then-current girlfriend, Beatrice Maria da Ricci. Returning from holiday Bond boards HMS Invincible and is tasked with security for the secret summit referred to as the "Stewards'' Meeting" all the while a massive war game is being carried out between American, British, and Soviet Navies known as Landsea ''89. Before long Bond is at the centre of a murder investigation of an American Naval Intelligence officer, and while away to report the incident BAST has executed its plans to capture the ship and hold the world''s three most powerful leaders for a 600 billion dollar ransom.

Win, Lose or Die

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

"Hekat will be slave to no man..." And thus the first Godspeaker book begins. Hekat, a girl born no better than a slave to an unloving father who beats his wife. Who rapes her on the insistence that she should birth him more sons. Who kills his own flesh and blood when it runs away, and who trades them to strange men for gold. Hekat...sold to slave trader Abajai. Once sold, she begins her journey to Abajai''s homeland, Et-Raklion city in the land of Mijak. along the way, Abajai teaches her how to speak, how to dress, and how to sing and dance, and holds her away from the rest of the slaves. Her first love, he treats her as human, until she realizes too late, to him she is just a slave. A pretty slave that with some training will fetch much. Heartbroken, Hekat runs and joins Et-Raklion Warlord''s army through the help of the nameless god, and pity to those who stand in her way, because Hekat will not be tamed. Hekat will be slave to no man. She is in the god''s eye, precious and beautiful.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Jake's Tower

By Elizabeth Laird

No Boats on Bannermere

By Geoffrey Trease

The Man Who Could Work Miracles

By H. G. Wells

Pharaoh

By Bolesław Prus

The Stars' Tennis Balls

By Stephen Fry

Armadale

By Wilkie Collins

Tai-Pan: A Novel of Hong Kong

By James Clavell

Moonlight Mile

By Dennis Lehane

Touching the Void

By Joe Simpson

Win, Lose or Die

By John Gardner

The Spanish Tragedy

By Thomas Kyd

Empress of Mijak

By Karen Miller