About 1,000,000 B.C., an unidentified alien race sent out robotic factories to many worlds in their part of the galaxy to prepare for future settlement. One of those factory ships suffers severe radiation damage from a near-miss by a supernova and goes off course, drifting in space for a hundred thousand years before landing on the Saturnian moon Titan. Due to a malfunction in its database it begins producing imperfect copies that begin to evolve on their own. (The description of this background is presented in a prologue that proved sufficiently popular among readers that it was later anthologized on its own in a collection of Hogan''s short fiction.) The resulting machine ecosystem eventually gives rise to humanoid robots with human-like intellects who develop a civilization similar to early civilization of Earth. Almost all of them have reverence for their mythical creator, a being they call the "Lifemaker". Early in the 21st century, the North Atlantic Space Organization (combining NASA and NATO) dispatched the Orion with a cover story of terraforming Mars for human habitation. Karl Zambendorf, a con artist who is present on this expedition to verify ESP over interplanetary distances, prematurely learns that the Orion and its crew of researchers is headed for Titan, where the discovery of the Taloids has been kept need-to-know on Earth. When the Orion arrives, the first landing party sets down in a freethinking state where Thirg, a Taloid who was cast out of his home state Kroaxia, has fled. They are mistaken for the Lifemaker because they have come from the sky, which the Taloids cannot see out of due to Titan''s atmosphere. But Thirg becomes more discerning as he and the humans begin to understand more of each others'' speech. Thirg''s brother Groork has come from Kroaxia to apprehend him, but Zambendorf intercepts him and sends him back to Kroaxia as a prophet. Zambendorf learned that NASO plans to exploit Titan''s natural resources and use the Taloids to build the factories they need, reducing them to slaves. The NASO business administrators on the Orion are already in agreement with the Kroaxian government to use human (the Taloids call humans "Lumians" because they glow brightly in their infrared vision) weapons to conquer Titan, believing the Kroaxian leadership buttressed by priests will be the easiest to control. Zambendorf, in his unanticipated role as Messenger for the Lifemaker, has given Groork guidelines akin to the Ten Commandments for his people to prevent a war from starting. "All Taloids are brothers" and "No Taloid is to enslave or be a slave" does not sit well with the ruling establishment of Kroaxia, and Groork is saved by the Orion crew not working for NASO. There will be use of Titan''s resources, but the partnership between humans and Taloids will be one of equals.

Code of the Lifemaker

The novel''s protagonist is Joe Oakes - "Oakesy" - a journalist who makes his living exposing supernatural hoaxes. So, when a bizarre videotape recorded by a tourist catches a glimpse of a disturbing creature, half-man half-beast, wandering the beaches of a remote Scottish island, Oaksey is just the man to investigate. Pig Island is home to a mysterious religious community, the Psychogenic Healing Ministries, and its leader Pastor Malachi Dove, and they ask him to come to the island to debunk the rumours of Satanism which are the result of the videotape. Oaksey has met Pastor Dove before, and the two have a long-standing threat to make good on. However, Oaksey''s visit throws up more questions than answers. Why does the wider community not want him there? Why will no one talk about the creature seen wandering the island? What lies beyond the wood and the gorge that almost splits the island in two, with a fence that has rotting pig heads atop its posts? Most importantly, what has happened to Pastor Dove, not seen on the island for years, and why will no one talk about him? Joe''s visit to the island, and its horrific conclusion, is only the beginning of the legacy that Pig Island will leave on his life.

Pig Island

A  group of men from the Night's Watch—the ancient but derelict organization that guards the Wall—track a group of “wildling” people who live beyond the boundaries of the realm. Pale, blue-eyed wights kill most of their party.

King Robert Baratheon travels north to the castle of Winterfell to see his old friend, Lord Ned Stark. However, Jon Snow (the son of Ned, who wasn't married to Jon's mother when Jon was born) sees the man's fear. After, a group of direwolf puppies is discovered in the woods. Each of the five Stark children is given a direwolf puppy to raise. Direwolves are the sigil of House Stark.

Robert arrives after the news that his and Ned's mutual father figure, Lord Jon Arryn, is dead. Arryn was the Hand of the King, the king's most powerful advisor. Now, Robert wants Ned to fill the position. While the royal retinue is in Winterfell, Ned's young son Bran spots Cersei and Jaime engaged in an incestuous sexual relationship while climbing the castle walls. Jaime pushes Bran from a window, and the fall paralyzes Bran and puts him in a coma.

Ned travels south with Robert. Jon joins the Night's Watch.

At the same time, across the sea in Pentos, Daenerys Targaryen meets her new husband. Daenerys and her older brother Viserys are the last remaining members of the royal family Robert dethroned. Viserys wishes to marry Daenerys to a Dothraki horse lord named Khal Drogo and use Drogo's army to retake the Seven Kingdoms. Daenerys receives three dragon eggs as a wedding gift. Viserys becomes increasingly frustrated with his sister.

Ned and his daughters travel south. While Sansa falls in love with her betrothed—Robert's son Prince Joffrey—Arya practices sword fighting with a local common boy. When Sansa and Joffrey find Arya and her friend, an argument breaks out and Joffrey is bitten by Arya's direwolf. Cersei insists on punishing someone following Joffrey's lies about the incident. Arya chased her direwolf away, so Sansa's direwolf is executed in its place. In Winterfell, an assassin tries to kill the comatose Bran but is stopped by Catelyn and Bran's direwolf. Because of a letter from her sister Lysa, Jon Arryn's widow, Catelyn suspects the Lannisters are to blame. She travels south to warn Ned. At the Wall, Jon learns that the Night's Watch is not as honorable as he expected. He must humble himself and help his fellow recruits, especially the disinherited Samwell Tarly, who is continually bullied by the master-at-arms Alliser Thorne.

Littlefinger confirms Catelyns suspicions that the Lannisters were behind the attack on Bran and the death of Jon Arryn. Ned promises to investigate, and Catelyn returns north. On the way, she meets Tyrion Lannister and takes him prisoner. She hauls Tyrion to Lysa's mountaintop castle nearby. Tyrion demands trial by combat, and he survives with the help of a sellsword named Bronn. Tyrion and Bronn are sent out into the woods around the castle, where they meet the violent clansmen whom Lysa hoped would kill them. Instead, Tyrion makes a deal with them.

Ned investigates the death of Jon Arryn and struggles with the politics of King's Landing. He resigns as Hand, and he is attacked by Jaime Lannister as revenge for Catelyn capturing Tyrion. Ned is reinstated as Hand with a broken leg, and he sends men north to punish Lannister men who are harassing smallfolk in the country. Meanwhile, Daenerys becomes pregnant with Khal Drogo's child, and Viserys is increasingly frustrated by the lack of progress toward Westeros. After Viserys insults everyone, Drogo kills him. In the aftermath, Drogo promises to travel west and take back the Seven Kingdoms for Daenerys.

Ned confronts Cersei about her incestuous relationship. Before he can tell Robert, the king is fatally wounded in a hunting accident. Cersei ignores the will. Joffrey becomes king, and Ned is arrested for treason.

As the Lannisters try to establish control of King's Landing, Robert's younger brother Renly plots a rebellion against Joffrey while Arya escapes and Sansa is held prisoner. In the north, Robb calls the northern lords and mounts a rebellion of his own in response to Ned's arrest. After winning notable defeats against the Lannister armies and capturing Jaime, Robb's men declare Robb as King in the North. At the Wall, Jon is made steward for the lord commander. He saves the old commander from a reanimated corpse that resembles the wights. 

Ned is publicly executed. Arya escapes King's Landing by presenting herself as a boy while Sansa remains a prisoner. Jon is tempted to travel south to help his brother avenge their father, but he remains loyal to his oath. Drogo is wounded in a raid, and despite Daenerys's attempts to heal Drogo with magic, she is forced to euthanize him and gives birth to a stillborn, dragon-like creature. She burns Drogo's body and steps into the flames with her dragon eggs. Daenerys emerges unharmed with three baby dragons.

A Game of Thrones

Lord Voldemort has returned and his wrath has been felt in both the Muggle (non-magical) and Wizarding worlds. Severus Snape, a member of Dumbledore''s anti-Voldemort Order of the Phoenix but formerly one of Voldemort''s Death Eaters, meets with Narcissa Malfoy, mother of Harry Potter''s school rival Draco. Snape makes an Unbreakable Vow to Narcissa, promising to assist and protect Draco. Meanwhile, Dumbledore collects Harry from his aunt and uncle''s house and takes him to the home of Horace Slughorn, former Potions teacher at Hogwarts. Dumbledore tries to persuade a reluctant Slughorn to return to teaching and finally succeeds. Later, when shopping for schoolbooks, Harry and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger follow Draco Malfoy to Dark Arts supplier Borgin and Burkes, where they overhear Draco insisting that the store-owner fix an unknown object. Harry is instantly suspicious of Draco, whom he believes to be a Death Eater like his father. The students return to school, where Dumbledore announces that Snape, the previous Potions teacher, will be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts, while Slughorn will resume his post as Potions teacher. This allows Harry to continue with a Potions course, in which he now excels, thanks mainly due to having received a used Potions textbook that once belonged to someone named "The Half-Blood Prince", which is heavily annotated. Harry falls in love with Ron''s sister Ginny, and Ron and his girlfriend Lavender Brown break up, to Hermione''s delight. Harry spends much of his time following Draco Malfoy for any proof of suspicious actions, though he often cannot find him on his magical map of Hogwarts. Harry realises that when Draco is not on the map, he is using the Room of Requirement on the seventh floor of Hogwarts, which transforms into whatever its user needs. Harry is unable to gain access to the room unless he knows for what exact purpose Draco is using the room. Believing that Harry needs to learn Voldemort''s past to gain advantage in a foretold fight, Dumbledore schedules regular meetings with Harry in which they use Dumbledore''s Pensieve to look at memories of those who have had direct contact with Voldemort. Harry learns about Voldemort''s family and the influences that corrupted Voldemort. Harry eventually succeeds in retrieving one of Slughorn''s memories about how he revealed the secrets about splitting one''s soul and hiding it in several objects called Horcruxes. Dumbledore explains that two of these have already been destroyed but that others remain. He suspects three of those to be objects belonging to three of the Hogwarts founders (one for each except Gryffindor), and the last one to reside in Voldemort''s snake. Harry and Dumbledore leave Hogwarts to fetch and destroy one of the Horcruxes. They journey into a cave important to Voldemort''s youth that Dumbledore senses is protected with magic. They reach the basin where the purported Horcrux is hidden underneath a potion. Dumbledore drinks the potion and Harry fights off Voldemort''s Inferi, an army of re-animated corpses. They take the Horcrux, Slytherin''s locket, and return to Hogwarts as quickly as possible. Dumbledore is very weak, and when they reach Hogsmeade they can see the Dark Mark, Voldemort''s symbol, visible above the astronomy tower. When they arrive at the tower, Dumbledore uses his magic to freeze Harry in place while Harry remains hidden by his cloak of invisibility. When Draco Malfoy arrives, he disarms and threatens to kill Dumbledore, acting on his mission from Voldemort. Dumbledore tries to stall Draco by telling him he is not a killer, but Snape bursts into the tower and kills Dumbledore. Because of Dumbledore''s death, his spell on Harry is broken and Harry rushes after Snape to avenge Dumbledore''s death. Snape reveals that he is the Half-Blood Prince and manages to escape. Later, Harry finds out that the locket that he and Dumbledore retrieved is not the real Horcrux; containing only a note from someone named "R. A. B". After Dumbledore''s funeral, Hermione explains to Harry that Snape was called the Half-Blood Prince because he had a Muggle father and a magical mother (whose maiden name was Prince). Harry is devastated to think that he trusted and took help from the man who would turn out to be Dumbledore''s murderer. He tells his friends that he will not be returning to Hogwarts next year and will instead search out and kill Voldemort by destroying all of the Horcruxes. Ron and Hermione vow to join him.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

In The Emigrants Sebald''s narrator recounts his involvement with and the life stories of four different characters, all of whom are German emigrants (to England and the United States). As with most of Sebald''s work, the text includes many black and white, unlabeled photographs and strays sharply from general formats of plot and narrative. Dr. Henry Selwyn is the estranged husband of Sebald''s landlady, who fought in the First World War and has a propensity for gardening and tending to animals. He confides in Sebald about his family''s immigration to England from Lithuania, and suspects that it is this secretive, alien past that helped dissolve his relationship with his wife. He commits suicide. Paul Bereyter was the narrator''s childhood teacher in a town referenced in the text only as "S". A quarter Jewish, he found employment difficult in the period leading up to the Second World War, although he eventually served in the Wehrmacht. Teaching in the small school after the war, Bereyter found a passion for his students while living a lonely, quiet life. In later years, his eyesight began to fail and he moved to France, where he met and spent much time with Mme Landau, from whom the narrator obtains most of his information about Bereyter. The narrator''s great uncle, Ambros Adelwarth, was the travelling companion of an affluent young aviator gifted with much luck at gambling and a wayward attitude towards life. In his youth, he accompanied this man across Europe, and into Turkey and Asia Minor, before his companion fell ill and was sent to a mental institution. Afterwards, Adelwarth was the butler of the young man''s family, living on Long Island until their death. As a young man in Manchester the narrator befriends an expatriate German-Jewish painter, Max Aurach. Years later the artist gives the narrator his mother''s history of her idyllic life as a girl in a Bavarian village. It was written as she and her husband awaited deportation to the East and death. This section is written as a gradual discovery on the narrator''s part of the effects of the Holocaust on Aurach and his family.

The Emigrants

The story takes place in the 1840s up to 1850. The first part of the novel describes the hardships faced by rural families in Sweden. Karl Oskar Nilsson and his wife, Kristina, own a farm in Ljuder Socken in Småland. They have four children and work hard to make a living, but the poor harvests lead to famine, a catalyst for the beginnings of emigration to the United States in search of a better life. Karl Oskar and his brother Robert want to go, but Kristina doesn''t want to leave her home country, knowing that she will never see the rest of their family again. But after the death of their oldest child, she accepts her husband''s plans when she realizes that they are in just as much danger from their lives in Sweden as on the big sea and in a New World. They pack up all their belongings and book passage in a group with others from their parish. The characters illustrate some of the motives that prompted people to leave Sweden in the 19th century. The travelers include: * Karl-Oskar, Kristina and their four children - seeking to escape poverty and famine and finding a place where their work pays off. * Robert, Karl Oskar''s adventurous brother - landless, as the second son of a farmer whose holding is too small to sub-divide. He seeks escape from the harsh conditions of hired farm help. * Danjel Andreasson with family, Kristina''s uncle, who had been banished from the country due to his religious "delusions". The state Lutheran church was very powerful, and dissent, even in the simple form of home Bible study, was not tolerated. They bring their farmhand Arvid, who is a friend of Robert. * Jonas Petter Albrektsson, who seeks to escape from an unhappy marriage at a time when divorce was not possible. * Ulrika of Västergöhl, a former prostitute, looking to leave her past behind and start afresh with her daughter Elin. The second part of the book tells how they board the ship in Karlshamn, and then how the life goes on during the ten weeks they spend on board - battling sea-sickness and scurvy, before finally reaching New York City in midsummer of 1850. sv:Utvandrarna (bok)

In the book Ferriss uses the acronym DEAL for the four main chapters. It stands for: Definition, Elimination, Automation, and Liberation. Definition means to figure out what a person wants, get over fears, see past society''s "expectations," and figure out what it will really cost to get where a person wants to go. Elimination is about time management, or rather about not managing time. This is achieved by applying the ''Pareto principle'' or ''80-20 Rule'' (80% of your benefits come from 20% of your efforts) to focus only on those tasks that contribute the majority of benefit, and using Parkinson''s law (work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion) to limit the amount of actual time spent working. There''s a difference, Ferriss says, between efficiency and effectiveness. The book''s emphasis is on effectiveness. Automation is about building a sustainable, automatic source of income. This includes techniques such as drop-shipping, automation, Google AdWords and AdSense, and outsourcing. Liberation is dedicated to the successful automation of one''s lifestyle and the liberation from a geographical location and job. Incidentally, Ferriss notes that if somebody has a regular job, the order of steps will be DELA, not DEAL. The book asserts that technology such as email, instant messaging, and Internet-enabled PDAs complicate life rather than simplify it. "Most fundamentally, Mr. Ferriss turned ruthless against e-mail. " It advocates hiring virtual assistants from developing countries such as India and Philippines to free up personal time.

The 4-Hour Workweek

The four Clans of warrior cats, ThunderClan, ShadowClan, RiverClan and WindClan, discover a lake which serves as their new home, replacing their old home which is destroyed by humans. The Clans temporarily set up camp by the lakeshore and decide that, the next day, they sort out their respective territories and look for a Gathering place to hold their monthly meetings under a truce. During a meeting, Firestar, leader of ThunderClan, calls up Squirrelpaw, his daughter who is an apprentice, and promotes her to the status of warrior, giving her the warrior name Squirrelflight. The next day, the leaders call upon the four remaining cats that go on the journey to the sun-drown-place in Midnight, Brambleclaw, Squirrelflight, Crowfeather, and Tawnypelt, as well as Mistyfoot of RiverClan to explore around the lake and find camps for each Clan. The cats come across a location that seems ideal for RiverClan''s fishing lifestyle. Continuing on, they find a coniferous forest which seems to suit ShadowClan. Desperate to prove herself by finding ThunderClan a camp, Squirrelflight runs ahead and accidentally falls down a large circular stone hollow. She recovers and realizes that it is a perfect place for a well-sheltered ThunderClan camp. The cats later cross a moorland which Crowfeather thinks suits WindClan''s lifestyle of chasing rabbits. The five cats return and announce their findings to all of the other cats. The Clans decide to leave for their new camps the next day. After the Clans move into their new camps, Barkface, the WindClan medicine cat, goes to Firestar and tells him that Tallstar, leader of WindClan, is dying. Firestar asks Brambleclaw to follow him as well as Onewhisker of WindClan, at Tallstar''s request. Tallstar tells them that he does not wish for Mudclaw, the WindClan deputy, to lead WindClan, and wishes to switch to Onewhisker as deputy. He dies soon after telling the cats. The next morning, Firestar and Onewhisker announce this to the other Clans, much to Mudclaw''s anger. Onewhisker appoints Ashfoot as his deputy, although he has not yet received his nine lives and leader name from StarClan, the cats'' ancestors. The medicine cats worry about whether there is another Moonstone (a sacred stone in the old territory) for Onewhisker to visit for his leadership ceremony. During Gatherings and times when the Clans are together, Brambleclaw spends more time with his half-brother Hawkfrost, which does not sit well with Squirrelflight. Brambleclaw has a dream in which he sees Tigerstar, his evil dead father, and Hawkfrost. Tigerstar praises Brambleclaw and Hawkfrost for their courage during the change in territory and tells them that he has great plans for them. There is also tension erupting in WindClan, which seems to be divided in two groups consisting of Mudclaw''s supporters and Onewhisker''s supporters. One night, Spottedleaf, a former ThunderClan medicine cat, now deceased, goes to Leafpaw, a ThunderClan medicine cat apprentice, and tells her to follow her. Leafpaw''s friend Sorreltail accompanies Leafpaw, and the two of them go far up on ThunderClan''s territory near the border with WindClan. Spottedleaf takes Leafpaw to her destination: a pool of water which reflects the stars and moonlight. Leafpaw sees all of the cats of StarClan and realizes this could be the replacement for the Moonstone. Bluestar, former leader of ThunderClan tells her that this place, the Moonpool, is where medicine cats come to share tongues with StarClan. She goes back to tell Cinderpelt, ThunderClan''s medicine cat, and the two of them tell all of the other medicine cats. Later, during the half-moon, Leafpaw receives her full medicine cat name, Leafpool. The next day, Mistyfoot rushes into ThunderClan camp and says that Mudclaw and Hawkfrost have been meeting at night. She then says that Hawkfrost and a patrol went out at dawn that day and had not returned, and she suspects that they have gone to attack Onewhisker''s followers in WindClan. Firestar assembles a patrol to accompany him to fight, and sure enough, a battle starts on WindClan territory. Leafpool is left behind with a couple of other ThunderClan warriors in the camp. Two ShadowClan warriors invade and almost kill Leafpool when Crowfeather comes to her rescue. Crowfeather confesses he loves her, and she realizes she loves him too. During the battle, Brambleclaw fights Mudclaw. Although Mudclaw has the advantage over Brambleclaw, Hawkfrost saves Bramblelcaw. Mudclaw claims that he and Hawkfrost had an agreement: Mudclaw would take over and make Hawkfrost the deputy, despite the fact that Hawkfrost is from RiverClan. Hawkfrost denies this when lightning suddenly strikes a tree, crushing Mudclaw and making a bridge to an island, making it the new Gathering place.

Starlight

Inferno is based upon the hell described in Dante''s Inferno. However, it adds a modern twist to the story. The story is told in the first person by Allen Carpentier (né Carpenter), an agnostic science fiction writer who died in a failed attempt to entertain his fans at a Science fiction convention party. He is only released, after many decades, from a Djinn-bottle in the Vestibule on the outer edge to Hell when he finally calls upon God for mercy. Upon release he is met by Benito, a Virgil-like figure whose full identity is not immediately apparent. Benito offers to take him out of Hell by bringing him to the center. At first, as Allen and Benito travel through Hell, Allen tries to scientifically rationalize everything he sees, renaming his surroundings as ''Infernoland'', a high-tech amusement park some thousand years in the future. It isn''t until he sees a man recover from incineration and his own leg heal from a compound fracture that he starts to actually believe that he is in Hell. From this point on, as Allen travels through the inner circles of Hell, he sees how he is guilty of each of the sins in some fashion, commenting to himself that he is in no danger from ditch 3 of circle 8 (simony) only because he has never had any holy offices to sell. At first Allen views the punishments for these sins as far surpassing the crime, repeatedly thinking, "We''re in the hands of infinite power and infinite sadism", although he comes to more and more to accept the justice of the situation as he realizes that it is their continuing denial of their sins that keeps many of the condemned in hell. Eventually Allen takes over Benito''s role in helping reformed souls proceed onto Paradise via Purgatory, allowing Benito to move on towards Purgatory himself. It is revealed that Benito is actually Benito Mussolini, prime minister of Italy during World War II. Along the way Allen meets a number of his Californian acquaintances and notable people from history (e.g. Epictetus, Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Bob Ford, L Ron Hubbard, Henry VIII of England, Vlad Tepes, Aimee Semple McPherson, William M. Tweed, Al Capone) and from classical mythology (e.g. Hector, Aeneas, Charon, Minos, Phlegyas, Geryon). Due to the long time he spent bottled up in the outer vestibule he also meets some people from the future of 1976, such as a space shuttle pilot.

Inferno

The plot centres around Bobby Zha, a Sergeant at the fictional SFPD Chinatown station in San Francisco. The claimed shooting of a burglar by eleven-year-old Natalie Persikov conflicts with Zha''s intuition on the matter, but before he has a real chance to investigate he is shot himself. After meeting the Jinwei hu (the nine-tailed fox of the title) while dead, Bobby wakes up in a hospital. However, there are a few surprises for him on waking; not least that apparently he isn''t Bobby Zha anymore. The doctors tell him he''s in New York, not San Francisco; he was never shot; and that he''s Robert Van Berg, sole survivor of a car crash that killed both his parents and put him into a coma since he was seven. Now adult and sole inheritor of his family''s considerable fortune, Bobby wastes no time in getting back to the West Coast to investigate. In between looking into the case of his own murder, finding out what really happened at the Persikov''s house and following up the leads from his contacts among the homeless of San Francisco, Bobby becomes increasingly concerned over his own identity. Changing identities at a whim&nbsp;— an FBI agent, a CIA investigator, a special forces agent direct from the White House&nbsp;— he questions his old acquaintances about Sergeant Zha, finding out more about himself than he ever knew. The novel is set "a few years in the future", and frequently references Soviet author Mikhail Bulgakov. Grimwood notes in the Acknowledgments that "the choice of Persikov for Dr Misha''s surname is entirely intentional."

Top Books

Code of the Lifemaker

By James P. Hogan

Pig Island

By Mo Hayder

A Game of Thrones

By George R. R. Martin

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

By J. K. Rowling

The Emigrants

By W. G. Sebald

The Emigrants

By Vilhelm Moberg

The 4-Hour Workweek

By Timothy Ferriss

Starlight

By Erin Hunter

Inferno

By Jerry Pournelle

9tail Fox

By Jon Courtenay Grimwood