Rock band No Vacancy performs at a nightclub three weeks before auditioning for the Battle of the Bands. Guitarist Dewey Finn creates on-stage antics, including a stage dive that abruptly ends the performance. The next morning, Dewey's roommate Ned Schneebly and Ned's domineering girlfriend, Patty Di Marco, inform Dewey he must either pay his overdue share of the rent or move out. When Dewey meets No Vacancy at a rehearsal session, he is informed that he has been fired from the band and replaced by another guitarist, Spider. Later, while trying to sell some of his equipment, Dewey answers a phone call from Rosalie Mullins, the principal of the Horace Green prep school, inquiring for Ned about a short-term position as a substitute teacher. Desperate for money, Dewey impersonates Ned and is hired. On his first day at the school, Dewey, who does not know how to spell "Schneebly", adopts the name "Mr. S" and spends the day behaving erratically, much to the students' confusion.

The next day, after observing the students' talent in music class, Dewey devises a plan to form a new band to audition for Battle of the Bands. He casts Zack Mooneyham as lead guitarist, Freddy Jones as drummer, cello player Katie on bass, pianist Lawrence on keyboards, and himself as lead vocalist and guitarist. He assigns the rest of the class to various roles of co-lead and backup singers, groupies, and roadies, with overachiever Summer Hathaway as band manager. The project takes over normal lessons, but helps the students to embrace their talents and overcome their insecurities. He reassures Lawrence, who is worried about not being cool enough for the band, Zack, whose overbearing father disapproves of rock, and Tomika, an overweight girl who is too self-conscious to audition for co-lead and backup singer despite having a powerful voice. During one lesson, he assures the kids that rock and roll can help them stand up for themselves. Band "groupies" Michelle and Eleni, with Summer's approval, pitch the band name "The School of Rock".

Two weeks into his hiring, Dewey sneaks the key band members out of school to audition for Battle of the Bands while the rest of the class stay behind to maintain cover. The group is rejected because the bill is full, but are accepted after Summer tricks the staff into thinking that the kids are terminally ill. The next day, Rosalie decides to check on Dewey's teaching progress, forcing Dewey to teach the students actual academic material. The day before Battle of the Bands, a parents' night takes place at the school, during which the parents question Dewey's teaching methods. That same night, Ned receives a paycheck from the school via mail and realizes that Dewey impersonated him. He, Patty, and the police arrive at the school and confront him. When Rosalie arrives, Dewey reveals his true identity, admits he is not a licensed teacher and then flees. Back at home, disappointed with Dewey for impersonating him, Ned tells Dewey that he should move out.

The next morning, the parents angrily confront Rosalie at her office. Not wanting their hard work to go to waste, the kids sneak out of the school. When the new substitute discovers that the kids are missing, Rosalie and the parents race to Battle of the Bands, but are forced to buy tickets in order to enter. A school bus comes to pick up Dewey, who leads the kids to the competition and decides that they should play a song Zack had written earlier. Meanwhile, having had enough of being constantly pushed around, Ned finally stands up to Patty, and goes to see the School of Rock perform. Initially dismissed as a gimmick, the band wins over the entire crowd. Much to Dewey's disappointment, No Vacancy wins, but the audience chants for School of Rock and demands an encore. While upset at the deception, the parents admit to being impressed by the kids' talent and confidence on stage, alongside Rosalie becoming ecstatic.

Some time later, an after-school program known as the School of Rock opens. Dewey continues to coach the students he played with before, while Ned, who has rediscovered his passion for rock music, teaches beginners.

Nine years after meeting Céline in Vienna, Jesse has written a bestselling novel, ''This Time'', based on their time together. During a book tour in Europe, he does a reading at Shakespeare and Company, where three journalists interview him: one is convinced the novel's characters meet again, another that they do not, and a third who wants them to but is doubtful that will occur. Céline also attends the reading.

Required to leave for the airport in an hour, Jesse and Céline use the time to roam Paris. Their conversations soon become deeply personal, and they passionately discuss work, politics and lament their failure to meet again in Vienna or exchange contact details. Céline informs she did not return as her grandmother died, and Jesse claims that he did not return either; after Céline asks him why he did not, he confesses that he did return.

They reveal how their lives have changed in the nine years apart: Jesse is married and has a son named Hank, while Céline has become an environmental activist and is in a relationship with a photojournalist. They each express dissatisfaction with their lives as they walk around Paris, and their old romantic feelings are slowly rekindled. Jesse says his novel was inspired by the hope of seeing Céline again, and she says that reading it caused painful memories.

Céline and Jesse arrive at her apartment, even after continuous insistence that Jesse should not miss his flight. Jesse persuades her to play a waltz on her guitar, which she wrote about their encounter in Vienna. Jesse plays Nina Simone's "Just in Time" on her stereo, which Céline dances to as he watches, the pair acknowledging he will miss his flight.

Volume 1: ''Tetsuo''

On December 6, 1982, an apparent nuclear explosion destroys Tokyo and starts World War III. By 2019, a new city called Neo-Tokyo has been built on artificial islands in Tokyo Bay. Although Neo-Tokyo is set to host the XXXII Olympic Games, the city is gripped by anti-government terrorism and gang violence. While exploring the ruins of old Tokyo, Tetsuo Shima, a member of the bōsōzoku gang led by Shōtarō Kaneda, is accidentally injured when his bike crashes after Takashi — a child Esper with wizened features — blocks his path. This incident awakens psychic powers in Tetsuo, attracting the attention of a secret government project directed by JSDF Colonel Shikishima. These increasing powers unhinge Tetsuo's mind, exacerbating his inferiority complex about Kaneda and leading him to assume leadership of the rival Clown Gang through violence.

Meanwhile, Kaneda becomes involved with Kei, a member of a terrorist organization that stage attacks against the government. The terrorists, led by Ryusaku and opposition Diet leader Nezu, get wind of the Colonel's project and a mysterious figure connected with it known as "Akira". They hope to use this leaked information and try to restrict Kaneda's movements because of his involvement with their activities. However, when Tetsuo and the Clowns begin a violent citywide turf war, Kaneda instigates a counter-attack that unites all of Neo-Tokyo's biker gangs against Tetsuo. While the Clown Gang is easily defeated, Tetsuo's psionic powers make him virtually invincible. Tetsuo kills Yamagata, Kaneda's second-in-command, and astonishingly survives after being shot by Kaneda. The Colonel arrives with the powerful drugs needed to suppress Tetsuo's violent headaches, extending Tetsuo an offer to join the project.

Volume 2: ''Akira I''

After their confrontation with the JSDF, Kaneda, Kei, and Tetsuo are taken into military custody and held in a highly secure skyscraper in Neo-Tokyo. Kei soon escapes after becoming possessed as a medium by another Esper, Kiyoko. Kei/Kiyoko briefly does battle with Tetsuo and frees Kaneda. After rapidly healing from his wounds, Tetsuo inquires about Akira, and forces Doctor Onishi, a project scientist, to take him to the other espers: Takashi, Kiyoko, and Masaru. There, a violent confrontation unfolds between Tetsuo, Kaneda, Kei, and the Espers. The Doctor decides to try to let Tetsuo harness Akira — the project's test subject that destroyed Tokyo — despite Tetsuo's disturbed personality. Upon learning that Akira is being stored in a cryogenic chamber beneath Neo-Tokyo's new Olympic Stadium, Tetsuo escapes the skyscraper with the intent of releasing Akira.

The following day, Tetsuo enters the secret military base at the Olympic site, killing many soldiers. The Colonel comes to the base and tries to talk Tetsuo out of his plan; Kaneda and Kei enter the base through the sewers and witness the unfolding situation. Tetsuo breaks open the underground cryogenic chamber and frees Akira, who turns out to be an ordinary-looking little boy. The terror of seeing Akira causes one of the Colonel's men to declare a state of emergency that causes massive panic in Neo-Tokyo. The Colonel himself tries to use SOL, a laser satellite, to kill Tetsuo and Akira, but only succeeds in severing Tetsuo's arm.

Volume 3: ''Akira II''

Tetsuo disappears in the subsequent explosion, and Kaneda and Kei come across Akira outside of the base. Vaguely aware of who he is, they take him back into Neo-Tokyo. Both the Colonel's soldiers and the followers of an Esper named Lady Miyako begin scouring Neo-Tokyo in search for him. Kaneda, Kei, and a third terrorist, Chiyoko, attempt to find refuge with Akira on Nezu's yacht. However, Nezu betrays them and kidnaps Akira for his use, attempting to have them killed. They survive the attempt and manage to snatch Akira from Nezu's mansion. The Colonel, desperate to find Akira and fed up with the government's tepid response to the crisis, mounts a coup d'état and puts the city under martial law. The Colonel's men join Lady Miyako's acolytes and Nezu's private army in chasing Kaneda, Kei, Chiyoko, and Akira through the city.

The pursuit ends at a canal, with Kaneda's group surrounded by the Colonel's troops. As Akira is being taken into the Colonel's custody, Nezu attempts to shoot Akira rather than have him be put into government hands; he is immediately fired upon and killed by the Colonel's men. However, Nezu's shot misses Akira and hits Takashi in the head, killing him instantly. The trauma of Takashi's death causes Akira to trigger a second psychic explosion that destroys Neo-Tokyo. Kei, Ryu, Chiyoko, the Colonel, and the other two Espers survive the catastrophe; Kaneda, however, disappears as he is surrounded by the blast. After the city's destruction, Tetsuo reappears and meets Akira.

Volume 4: ''Kei I''

Some time later, an American reconnaissance team led by Lieutenant George Yamada covertly arrives in the ruined Neo-Tokyo. Yamada learns that the city has been divided into two factions: the cult of Lady Miyako, which provides food and medicine for the destitute refugees, and the Great Tokyo Empire, a group of zealots led by Tetsuo with Akira as a figurehead, both worshiped as deities for performing "miracles". The Empire constantly harasses Lady Miyako's group and kills any intruders with Tetsuo's psychic shock troops. Kiyoko and Masaru become targets for the Empire's fanatical soldiers: Kei, Chiyoko, the Colonel, and Kai, a former member of Kaneda's gang, ally themselves with Lady Miyako to protect them.

Yamada eventually becomes affiliated with Ryu, and updates him on how the world has reacted to the events in Neo-Tokyo; they later learn that an American naval fleet lingers nearby. Tetsuo becomes heavily dependent on government-issued pills to quell his headaches. Seeking answers, he visits Lady Miyako at her temple and is given a comprehensive history of the government project that unleashed Akira. Miyako advises Tetsuo to quit the pills to become more powerful; Tetsuo begins a withdrawal. Meanwhile, Tetsuo's aide, the Captain, stages an unsuccessful Empire assault on Miyako's temple. After the Colonel uses SOL to attack the Empire's army, a mysterious event opens a rift in the sky dumping massive debris from Akira's second explosion, as well as Kaneda.

Volume 5: ''Kei II''

Kaneda is reunited with Kei and joins Kai and Joker, the former Clown leader, in planning an assault on the Great Tokyo Empire. Meanwhile, an international team of scientists meets up on an American aircraft carrier to study the recent psychic events in Neo-Tokyo, forming Project Juvenile A. Ryu has a falling out with Yamada after learning that he plans to use biological weapons to assassinate Tetsuo and Akira; Yamada later meets up with his arriving commando team. Akira and Tetsuo hold a rally at the Olympic Stadium to demonstrate their powers to the Empire, which culminates with Tetsuo tearing a massive hole in the Moon's surface and encircling it with a ring of the debris.

Following the rally, Tetsuo's power begins to contort his physical body, causing it to absorb surrounding objects; he later learns that his abuse of his powers has caused them to expand beyond the confines of his body, giving him the ability to transmute inert matter into flesh and integrate it into his physical form. Tetsuo makes a series of visits on board the aircraft carrier to attack the scientists and do battle with American fighter jets. Eventually, Tetsuo takes over the ship and launches a nuclear weapon over the ocean. Kei—accepting the role of a medium controlled by Lady Miyako and the Espers—arrives and battles Tetsuo. Meanwhile, Kaneda, Kai, Joker, and their small army of bikers arrive at the Olympic Stadium to begin their all-out assault on the Great Tokyo Empire.

Volume 6: ''Kaneda''

As Kaneda and the bikers launch their assault on the stadium, Tetsuo returns from his battle with Kei. As his powers continue to grow, Tetsuo's body begins involuntarily morphing, and his cybernetic arm is destroyed as his original arm regrows. He then faces Yamada's team, but absorbs their biological attacks and temporarily regains control of his powers. Tetsuo kills Yamada and the commandos; he also eludes the Colonel's attempts to kill him by guiding SOL with a laser designator. Kaneda confronts Tetsuo, and the two begin to fight; they are joined by Kei. However, the brawl is interrupted when the Americans try to carpet bomb Neo-Tokyo and destroy the city outright with their laser satellite, FLOYD. Tetsuo flies into space and brings down FLOYD, causing it to crash down upon the aircraft carrier, killing the fleet admiral and one of the scientists.

After the battle, Tetsuo tries to resurrect Kaori, a girl he loved who was killed in the battle. He succeeds to a small degree but is unable to maintain focus. He retreats to Akira's cryogenic chamber beneath the stadium, carrying her body. Kaneda and his friends appear to fight Tetsuo once more, but his powers transform him into a monstrous, amoeba-like mass resembling a fetus, absorbing everything near him. Tetsuo pulls the cryogenic chamber above-ground and drops it onto Lady Miyako's temple. Lady Miyako dies while defying Tetsuo, after guiding Kei into space to fire upon him with SOL. Kei's attack awakens Tetsuo's full powers, triggering a psychic reaction similar to Akira's. With the help of Kiyoko, Masaru, and the spirit of Takashi, Akira can cancel out Tetsuo's explosion with one of his own. They are also able to free Kaneda, who was trapped in Tetsuo's mass, and he witnesses the truth about the Espers' power as they, alongside Akira and Tetsuo, ascend to a higher plane of existence.

The United Nations sends forces to help the surviving parties of Neo-Tokyo. Kaneda and his friends confront them, declaring the city's sovereignty as the Great Tokyo Empire and warning them that Akira still lives. Kaneda and Kei meet up with the Colonel and part ways as friends. As Kaneda and Kei ride through Neo-Tokyo with their followers, they are joined by ghostly visions of Tetsuo and Yamagata. They also see the city shedding its ruined façade, returning to its former splendor.

Nearly six months have passed since the events of the first film; the Towani family's star cruiser is almost completely fixed and Jeremitt is putting the final touches on the craft. While the family is preparing to leave the forest moon of Endor, the Ewok village is attacked by a Marauder group led by Terak and his witch-like sorceress Charal. Many Ewoks are captured, while Jeremitt, Catarine, and Mace are killed helping to defend the Ewok village. The marauders steal a power cell from the Towani's star cruiser believing it to have some sort of magic power over the stars.

While running away from the marauders, Cindel and Wicket meet Teek, a small, fast native of Endor. Teek takes them to the home of Noa Briqualon, a human male who is angered by their uninvited presence and throws them out. Eventually he proves himself to be kindhearted, letting Teek steal food for Cindel and Wicket, and inviting the two in when they attempt to build a fire for warmth outside.

At the Marauders' castle, Terak orders Charal to find Cindel, assuming she knows how to use "the power" in the energy cell stolen from Jeremitt's star cruiser. Meanwhile, Noa, Cindel, Wicket, and Teek are becoming friends. It is revealed that Noa is rebuilding his own wrecked star cruiser, only missing the energy cell, originally landing with a friend of his named Salak who disappeared while searching for another cell. Cindel is awakened one morning by a song her mother used to sing. She follows the voice to find a woman singing, who transforms into Charal and takes her to Terak. He orders Cindel to activate "the power", but she cannot, and is imprisoned with the Ewoks where it is revealed Salak was killed after telling Terak about "the power". Outside, Noa, Wicket, and Teek sneak into the castle, free Cindel and the Ewoks, and escape with the energy cell.

Terak, Charal, and the Marauders pursue them back to the ship, where Wicket leads the Ewoks in defense of the cruiser as Noa installs the energy cell. The Ewoks put up a valiant effort, and are nearly beaten by the time Noa powers up the ship and uses its laser cannons to fend off the Marauders. Cindel goes to save Wicket and is captured by Terak, as the other Marauders retreat. Terak and Noa face off, with Wicket finally coming to the rescue, killing Terak and simultaneously leaving Charal trapped in bird form. Shortly thereafter, goodbyes are said, and Cindel leaves Endor with Noa on his starship.

In the land of Prydain, Taran, a teenage boy and "assistant pig-keeper" on the small farm of Caer Dallben, home of Dallben the Enchanter, dreams of becoming a famous warrior. Dallben learns that the evil Horned King is searching for a mystical relic known as the Black Cauldron, which can create an invincible army of undead warriors: the "Cauldron-Born". Dallben fears that the Horned King might use his pig, Hen Wen, who has oracular powers, to locate the cauldron. Dallben directs Taran to take Hen Wen to safety; unfortunately, Taran's foolish daydreaming causes Hen Wen to be captured by Gwythaints, the Horned King's dragon-like creatures.

Taran follows them to the Horned King's castle and meets the pestering dog-like creature, Gurgi, who wants to be his friend. Frustrated by Gurgi's antics and cowardice, Taran leaves him. Taran sneaks into the castle and helps Hen Wen escape but is captured and thrown into the dungeon. Another captive named Princess Eilonwy frees him as she tries to escape. In the catacombs underneath the castle, Taran and Eilonwy discover the ancient burial chamber of a king. Taran arms himself with the king's sword which contains magic that allows him to effectively fight the Horned King's minions, thus fulfilling his dream. Along with a third prisoner, the comical middle-aged bard Fflewddur Fflam, they escape from the castle and are found by Gurgi. Upon learning that Taran has escaped, the Horned King orders his goblin and chief henchman, Creeper, to send the Gwythaints to follow and capture Taran along with his friends.

Following Hen Wen's trail, the four companions stumble into the underground kingdom of the Fair Folk who have Hen Wen under their protection. When the kindly King Eidilleg reveals the cauldron's location, Taran decides to destroy it. Eilonwy, Gurgi and Fflewddur agree to join him and Eidilleg's obnoxious right-hand man Doli is assigned to lead them to the Marshes of Morva while the Fair Folk escort Hen Wen back to Caer Dallben. At Morva, they learn the cauldron is held by three witches—the crafty leader Orddu, the greedy Orgoch, and the more benevolent Orwen (who falls in love with Fflewddur at first sight). Orddu agrees to trade the cauldron for Taran's sword and he reluctantly agrees, knowing that it will cost his chance for heroism. Before vanishing, the witches reveal the cauldron is indestructible, and its power can only be broken when someone willingly climbs into it, which will kill them. Doli angrily abandons the group. Although Taran feels foolish for trading the sword for nothing, his companions show their belief in him. Eilonwy and Taran almost kiss as Fflewddur and Gurgi happily watch. Suddenly they are found by the Horned King's minions who had followed them. Gurgi runs away before they take the cauldron and the three companions back to the castle. The Horned King uses the cauldron to raise the dead and his Cauldron-born army begins to pour out into the world while holding the trio prisoners in view of the cauldron.

Gurgi, deciding not to abandon his friends this time, sneaks into the castle and rescues them. Taran decides to jump into the cauldron to save everyone, but Gurgi stops him and jumps in instead, killing the Cauldron-born as well as himself. When the Horned King spots Taran, he blames him, saying that Taran has interfered for the last time, and throws the youth toward the cauldron. But the cauldron is out of control and consumes the Horned King in a tunnel of fire, killing him and destroying the castle, using up all its powers forever, as the companions escape.

The three witches come to recover the now-inert Black Cauldron. Taran has finally realized Gurgi's true friendship while hailing him as a hero, and asks them to revive his friend in exchange for the cauldron, choosing to give up his magical sword permanently. Upon hearing Fflewddur's challenging remarks to demonstrate their powers, the reluctant witches honor the request, returning Gurgi to them. At first, Gurgi appears to be dead but is resurrected; much to everyone's joy. After they reunite, he pushes Taran and Eilonwy into a kiss. The four friends then journey back home to Caer Dallben where Dallben and Doli watch them in a vision created by Hen Wen, and Dallben finally praises Taran for his heroism.

Jonnie and his bandmates work as waiters on a travelling ferry. Through a pyrotechnics accident, the power cuts on the ferry and the group are fired on the spot, stranded on a tiny boat with nothing but their instruments. They float around in the Atlantic Ocean until they reach the Canary Islands.

The group ends up in a sand dune, miserable and confused, wondering what to do next. They are briefly confused by a mirage of a ferry but then decide to set off again in the direction they were originally heading. Jonnie spots a figure on an out-of-control camel and rushes to save her, but discovers that he had accidentally ruined a scene being filmed for a movie. Despite the disruption, director Lloyd Davis offers him a job as a stunt double and gives the rest of Jonnie's group jobs as runners.

Later that evening, Jonnie spots a blonde woman sitting at his opposite table reading from a script. Her name is Jenny and she doesn't believe that she is a good enough actress to be the leading lady. Jonnie tells her to ignore the cameras and the crew watching her, and imagine that she isn't acting. The advice does not help her and Lloyd regrets hiring her.

Jonnie's band realise they could cheer everyone up by making the movie a musical, disguising their spare camera behind various objects. The group race through the filming under Lloyd and Jenny's noses, filming a musical number by telling Jenny to sing her script along with the music secretly played by Jonnie's band hiding behind a wall. They are caught by an eavesdropping Lloyd who threatens to fire them, but Jonnie convinces him not to. Lloyd smugly tells him that he will allow them to continue but not with any of his equipment. Jonnie and his friends decide to film when the actual team is not around to witness, and borrow a camera, but worry about filming the finale without Jenny's knowledge. In a restaurant, they discuss their plans and make jokes at Lloyd's expense, unaware that Lloyd and Jenny are on an adjacent table. Lloyd, who is revealed as Jenny's father, vows to stop them and orders Jenny not to go on set the next day.

Jonnie finds Jenny at the nearest swimming pool and begs her to help them. She agrees, snapping that she never wants to see him again. When filming is over, Lloyd is disappointed that his final cut for the film isn't up to his standard and Jonnie isn't happy about the musical adaptation either. They decide to join forces and combine their movies, rewriting the tale as a story about two brothers and a princess. It is shown at the movie premiere and the audience's reception is positive. Lloyd expresses his gratitude to Jonnie during the applause and tells him that Jenny wants to marry him.

A writer named Wrigley (Richard Hearne) creates a comic strip character named ''Miss Robin Hood'' for a children's story paper. It is a modernized retelling of the Robin Hood legend in which the heroine robs banks with the assistance of a gang of teenage girls and then redistributes the money.

Unfortunately the cartoon is dropped from the paper, and Wrigley leaves his job. However, Miss Honey (Margaret Rutherford), who is director of a home for the orphans of London in Hampstead, recruits Wrigley to carry out a little light safebreaking, believing that he has such skills because he created ''Miss Robin Hood''. Difficulties arise when Scotland Yard becomes involved.

The Fourth Doctor has a precognitive vision about the President of the Time Lords being assassinated. The Doctor goes to Gallifrey to stop the assassination. At the Panopticon, a Gallifreyan ceremonial chamber, he notes a camera stationed on an unguarded catwalk. He also spots a sniper rifle next to the camera. The Doctor fights his way to the catwalk, warning that the President is about to be killed. Unbeknownst to the Doctor, the assassin is among the delegates and shoots the President dead. However, the crowd sees the Doctor on the catwalk with the rifle and assumes he is the killer.

Under interrogation, the Doctor maintains that he has been framed. Eventually, Castellan Spandrell starts to believe him and orders Engin to assist him in an independent investigation. To delay his possible execution, the Doctor invokes Article 17 and announces that he will run for President, which guarantees liberty for those running for office during the course of an election.

During the course of the investigation, the Doctor realises that it was the Master who had sent the Doctor the premonition of the assassination through the Matrix, a vast electronic neural network which can turn thought patterns into virtual reality. He decides to enter the Matrix to track the Master. In the Matrix, the Doctor confronts an assassin who eventually reveals himself as Chancellor Goth. The Master, realising that Goth has been effectively defeated, tries to trap the Doctor in the Matrix by overloading the neuron fields. Engin gets the Doctor out of the Matrix, but Goth is fatally burnt.

The Doctor and Spandrell, accompanied by soldiers, make their way to the chamber where the Master and Goth were accessing the Matrix. They find the Master without a pulse and Goth dying. Goth reveals that he found the Master, near death, on Tersurus. The Master was nearing the end of his final regeneration. Goth went along with his schemes mainly for power: he knew the President had no intention of naming him as a successor, but if a new election was held, Goth would be the front-runner. Before he dies, Goth warns that the Master has a doomsday plan.

Attempting to piece together what the Master and Goth were planning, the Doctor inquires as to what becoming the President entails. He is told that the President has access to the symbols of office: the Sash and Great Key of Rassilon. As Engin plays records that describe how Rassilon found the Eye of Harmony within the "black void," the Doctor realises these objects are not merely ceremonial. He also realises that the Master injected himself with a neural inhibitor that mimics a deathlike state and is still alive.

The Doctor, Spandrell, and Engin arrive at the morgue to find that the Master has revived. The Master seizes the Sash from the President's corpse and traps the three in the morgue. The Doctor explains that the Eye is actually the nucleus of a black hole, an inexhaustible energy source that Rassilon captured to power Gallifrey; the Sash and Key are its control devices. The Doctor deduces that the Master was planning to steal this energy to gain a new cycle of regenerations; however, if the Eye is disrupted, Gallifrey will be destroyed and a hundred other worlds will be consumed in a chain reaction.

Inside the Panopticon, the Master makes his way to the obelisk containing the Eye. He unhooks the coils that connect it to Gallifrey and is prepared to access the energy. The Doctor makes his way to the Panopticon via a service shaft. The Citadel begins to quake, and cracks appear in the floor. The Doctor and the Master fight, until the Master loses his footing and falls into a chasm. The Doctor reconnects the coils and saves Gallifrey, although half the city is in ruins and many lives have been lost.

The Doctor is now free to return to his TARDIS. He bids farewell but also warns that the Master may not be dead as he had harvested energy from the obelisk before he was stopped and may have been able to channel it. As the Doctor's TARDIS dematerialises, Spandrell and Engin witness the Master sneak into his own TARDIS and escape.

Jane, a musician who recently broke-up with her girlfriend and her band, decides to move from New York City to Los Angeles. She answers a newspaper ad for a co-driver to Los Angeles posted by Robin, a real estate agent who is also moving to California. Jane initially declines to join her on the road, but agrees after her car gets towed. Jane and Robin begin their journey and make a stop in Pittsburgh to see Jane's friend, Holly.

Jane and Robin witness a fight between Holly and her abusive boyfriend Nick about missing drugs. The three fight Nick when he assaults Holly in an argument over drugs. Holly hits Nick in the head with a bat to stop him from attacking Jane and knocks him out. They tape Nick to a chair with duct tape, put three hours worth of loud music on his stereo to give themselves a head start. Holly snaps a Polaroid of herself with the tied and bound Nick before they leave.

Hours later, Nick frees himself but falls, hits his head on the bat again and dies from his injuries. Robin sees a newspaper with the report of his death the next day. They debate what to do. When Holly confesses she’s also pregnant, and afraid of being arrested for murder, everyone decides to continue on to California together.

During a stop in Tucson, Arizona, Robin collapses at a local diner and is rushed to hospital for pneumonia. A doctor informs Jane and Holly that Robin has HIV as well as pneumonia. They decide to stay in Tucson and start new lives there.

Robin’s health improves, Jane gets a job singing in a bar and Holly falls in love with a local police officer named Abe Lincoln.

Robin, Holly, and their new friends throw a surprise birthday party for Jane. Robin surprises Jane afterward with a new piano. Jane plays The Carpenters “Superstar”, unaware that Robin is watching from the shadows. Robin realizes Jane is in love with her.

Their idyllic life is short-lived. Jane and Robin's friendship crumbles when Jane, with the best of intentions, tells a friendly bartender who’s interested in Robin that she has HIV. Feeling betrayed, Robin asks Jane to move out. When Abe proposes to Holly, Holly confesses about Nick. Abe finds the photo Holly took and arrests her, despite his vow that he still intends to marry her. Holly is returned to Pittsburgh to stand trial for murder. Jane and Robin follow her to Pittsburgh and make peace with each other in the courthouse. Holly accepts a plea bargain offer of involuntary manslaughter with one to two years in prison. Robin collapses after the trial from a lung infection, and in the hospital, Jane and Robin pledge love for each other.

Holly gives birth to a daughter named Mary Todd and finishes serving her sentence. She and Abe marry and return to the house in Tucson for a welcome home party. Holly is shocked to find Robin weakened by the advanced stage of AIDS and in a wheelchair. At the party, Robin weakly tries to sing the Roy Orbison song "You Got It" to Jane, and Jane gently finishes the song.

In the final scene, Robin has died from AIDS, Holly and Abe plan to stay in Arizona and raise a family, and Jane hits the road to seek a new life in Los Angeles.

Beverly Hills Police Captain Andrew Bogomil, Detective Billy Rosewood, and Sergeant John Taggart are trying to figure out who is behind the "Alphabet Crimes", a series of mostly high-end-store robberies distinguished by their monogrammed envelopes with an alphabetical sequence the assailants leave behind. Complicating matters is the new "political" state of the Beverly Hills Police Department, headed by incompetent, egotistical and verbally abusive new police chief Harold Lutz, who is doing everything he can to stay on Mayor Ted Egan's good side. Furious when Rosewood calls the FBI to help solve the case, Lutz holds Bogomil responsible as commanding officer and suspends him, despite Bogomil's efforts to convince the chief that Rosewood was only following a hunch. Lutz also punishes Taggart and Rosewood by placing them on traffic duty. On the way home, Bogomil is shot at and injured by Karla Fry, the chief enforcer of Maxwell Dent, who is secretly the mastermind behind the Alphabet Crimes. After hearing about the shooting on a news report, Axel Foley secretly abandons his current undercover duties and immediately flies out to Beverly Hills to help find out who shot Bogomil, finding Taggart and Rosewood all too happy to assist him.

Posing as an undercover FBI agent to get past Lutz with the aid of Detective Jeffrey Friedman, Axel soon makes the connection between the robberies and Dent. He first finds out that the ammunition fired at one of the robberies was made by a gunsmith for Charles Cain, the manager of a gun club owned by Dent. Axel has Bogomil's daughter Jan use her connections as an insurance agent to find out about Dent's financial dealings. Dent is robbing his own businesses on purpose in order to finance firearms transactions with an arms dealer named Nikos Thomopolis and is discreetly using Cain as the front man for his operations. Bogomil was shot because his investigation was on the correct track into the case.

Having foiled a robbery attempt at a bank depot, Axel tricks Dent's accountant Sidney Bernstein into letting him use his computer, discovering that Dent and Karla are planning to leave the country. Axel also learns from Jan that all of Dent's businesses have had their insurance coverage canceled and are about to go bankrupt except his racetrack. Hurrying to the racetrack, Axel solves the latest riddle sent to the police, and is convinced that this riddle was made easily solvable in order to implicate Cain as the Alphabet Bandit and throw the authorities off Dent's trail.

The trio arrive but are unble to prevent the robbery and find Cain, shot by Karla, among those killed. While Lutz announces publicly that the Alphabet Crimes have been solved, Axel notices some red mud at the stables, which leads him, Taggart and Rosewood to Dent's oil field, where Dent is making his final arms deal with Thomopolis. The three get into a shootout with everyone involved in the deal. Rosewood destroys one shipment with a rocket-propelled grenade as the truck is leaving the scene, while Axel destroys another truck shipment with grenades. Dent confronts Axel in the warehouse, but Axel gets distracted by one of Dent's henchmen on the roof above him and Dent gets away. Dent then crashes through the wall in his car and Axel shoots Dent through the windshield. The car hits Axel and goes down a hill, erupting in flames. Karla appears and is about to kill Axel, but Taggart makes it in time to save Axel and Karla is shot dead by Taggart.

Just as the last criminals are about to flee, the police arrive on time and made it to the scene and arrest the remainder of Dent's goons and Thomopolis. Lutz and Mayor Egan come as well. Lutz is furious at Rosewood and Taggart for their insubordination and attempts to arrest Axel. However, both Taggart and Rosewood, frustrated, stand up to an infuriated Lutz and prove that Dent was the real Alphabet Bandit and the rest of the alphabet crimes were about the arms deal. They are also able to convince Mayor Egan of Lutz's incompetence, and the mayor fires Lutz for his abusive attitude towards his own men and for jeopardizing the investigation.

Mayor Egan chooses Bogomil to replace Lutz as the new Police Chief. Axel returns to Detroit, but only after he is told off by Inspector Todd over the phone, after Egan called Todd to congratulate him on allowing Axel to assist them on this case.

Will has surprisingly come into a large amount of money, around $32,000. His photograph screwing in a light bulb has been made into a silhouette and is being used as a picture for a lighting company's light bulb boxes. He is uncomfortable having this money, since he feels he did nothing to earn it, and is left with a sense of guilt and purposelessness. Shortly after receiving the sum, Will and Hand's mutual childhood friend, Jack, was involved in a car accident. The pair had delusional ambitions to use the money to save his life but to no avail. After Jack's death, Will and Hand are asked to help go through Jack's possessions in a storage facility, where Hand decides to wander around and leaves Will.

During Hand's absence, Will is brutally beaten by three men. Will and Hand agree that it is best not to go to the hospital, lest the attackers attempt to track them. As a result of his confusion due to a conglomerate of issues, such as the large sum of money, Jack's death, Will's beating, and other personal issues, Will and Hand plan to travel around the world visiting obscure countries and giving away all the money, bit by bit, to people they arbitrarily decide are most deserving. According to Hand, they gave to people for the benefit of both parties, as a sacrament with the purpose of restoring faith in humanity.

The two devise many creative ways of distributing the unwanted money. One plan involves taping money to a donkey in a graph paper pouch that reads "HERE I AM ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRICANE" and another creating a treasure map for Estonian children. While on the journey, the two friends do many wild and spontaneous things, including practicing rolling over cars and jumping from tree to tree while 20 feet in the air. However, without a solid set of criteria, or a definitive direction in their plan, their quest proves surprisingly difficult, and they experience much awkward confusion and moral uncertainty, and they often fear being robbed and killed. Will becomes unstable and begins to lose his composure.

The plot is both a log of the journey and a look into the mind of the narrator, Will.

A pseudo-sequel, titled ''The Only Meaning of the Oil-Wet Water'', follows Hand and the minor character Pilar in Central America. This short story is featured in the collection ''How We Are Hungry: Stories'' (2004).

A Swiss family from Bern—Father, Mother, and their three sons—are relocating to a colony in New Guinea to escape the Napoleonic Wars when their ship is attacked by pirates and flees into a storm. The crew abandons ship, leaving the family on board, and the ship grounds on rocks off of an uninhabited island. The family makes their way ashore along with the captain's two Great Danes. Father, eldest son Fritz, and middle son Ernst salvage supplies and livestock from the shipwreck. The pirates locate the ship, but Father scares them off by putting up a quarantine flag, signaling disease aboard.

The family soon discovers that the island contains a diversity of wildlife, including a dangerous tiger. To provide safety and comfort, Father, Fritz, and Ernst construct an elaborate tree house complete with a water wheel. Youngest son Francis collects various animals including a young Asian elephant, a monkey, and an ostrich. Ernst theorizes that the island may once have been part of a land bridge between Africa and Asia. As the family settles in, Father opines that, by going back to nature, they have found everything they need in life. Mother, however, worries that her sons will never marry or have families if they are not rescued, and consents to allow Fritz and Ernst to circumnavigate the island in a homemade outrigger boat and search for other settlements.

During their expedition, the brothers come across the pirates, who have captured another ship and taken its captain and cabin boy captive. They rescue the cabin boy, but the pirates spot them before they can free the captain, who insists they leave him since the pirates intend to ransom him. The brothers and the boy flee the pirates through the jungle, the brothers later learning that the "boy" is really a girl named Roberta. The captain (her grandfather) cut her hair and dressed her as a boy to disguise her gender from the pirates. They survive an attack by an anaconda, but become lost and fight over what to do. Fritz's strong personality wins in the end, and they decide to press on. They rescue a zebra from hyenas and a quicksand trap; using it as a mount, they arrive back at the tree house just in time for Christmas.

Anticipating that the pirates will come looking for Roberta, the family scuttles their wrecked ship to hide their location. They fortify a rocky clifftop, building defenses and booby traps. Fritz and Ernst become rivals for Roberta's affections. Believing that her grandfather will return for her once ransomed, she intends to return to London; Ernst is interested in going to school there, while Fritz would rather go on to New Guinea to build a home of his own. Despite this, a romance develops between Fritz and Roberta, and the brothers come to blows over her. To relieve tension, Father declares a holiday to be held. That night, Francis manages to catch the tiger in one of the pits that they have dug.

The holiday begins with a race, the boys and Roberta riding on various animals. The pirates, sailing nearby, hear the sound of the starting pistol and come ashore. The family retreats to their fort, and the attackers fall victim to their traps and defenses. The pirate captain demands that they hand over Roberta, while his men sneak up the cliff side and attack from the rear. As the family is about to be overwhelmed, a ship captained by Roberta's grandfather appears, destroying the pirates and their ship with cannon fire.

The captain offers to help Ernst get into a London university, and to take the rest of the family back to Europe or on to New Guinea. Father and Mother, however, decide that they would rather stay on the island and keep Francis with them for a few more years. The captain speculates that the island will become a new colony, and that Father will be nominated to be its governor. Fritz and Roberta also decide to stay on the island, and the family waves goodbye to Ernst as he, the captain, and the ship's crew set out for England.

The second season, ''2nd GIG'', set two years after the events of the first season, explores the political and social ramifications of the two world wars that took place prior to the events of the series. At the time of the Third and the Fourth World Wars, about three million Asians became refugees and were invited into Japan as a source of cheap labor. These "invited refugees", based on the reclaimed island of Dejima, soon became unemployed in the post-war period, and their social unrest borders on outright war.

Section 9's involvement in the refugee issue begins after they successfully stop a hostage crisis caused by a domestic terrorist group known as the Individual Eleven, after which newly elected Prime Minister Yoko Kayabuki officially reinstates the organization. The group seems to be modeling themselves after the May 15 Incident, where a group of naval officers assassinated the Prime Minister and then gained the support of the public, and hope to stir up the refugees' spirits by fighting for them against the Japanese government.

The group also comes into contact with Kazundo Gōda, head of the Cabinet Intelligence Service, who gets assistance from the group in defusing several instances between the refugees as well as assisting him in transporting plutonium through Dejima, result in several failures and refugee deaths, further straining relations.

Section 9 ultimately discovers that Gōda has been manipulating both events behind the scenes, leaking the social virus that creates the Individual Eleven ideology and creating a new Stand Alone Complex, as well as the intentional failures with the refugees. However, he cannot account for the charismatic Hideo Kuze who genuinely believes in the best for the refugees and helps rally for their independence from Japan. Throughout the investigation, Kusanagi discovers she may know Kuze from her childhood. Ultimately, Gōda is found guilty of his part in the refugee incidents and killed before he can defect to the American Empire, but not before his ministrations also result in the death of Kuze.

History

''The Sword of Shannara'' s events take place 2000 years after the "Great Wars": a nuclear holocaust that has wiped out most of the planet. These wars rearranged the planet's geography and wiped out most human life on Earth. Only traces of technological artifacts have been found; most advanced technology has been lost, but magic has been rediscovered. During this time, Mankind mutated into several distinct races: humans, dwarves, gnomes and trolls, all named after creatures from "age-old" myths. Also, elves begin to emerge after having been in seclusion and hiding for centuries.

A thousand years before ''The Sword of Shannara'', an Elf named Galaphile gathers all of the people who still had some knowledge of the old world to Paranor to try to bring peace and order to all of the races. They name themselves the First Druid Council. Brona, a rogue Druid, and his followers leave, taking the Ildatch with them; this magical tome controls their minds. Hundreds of years later, Brona begins the First War of the Races when he convinces all Men to attack the other races. He almost succeeds in seizing rule of the Four Lands, but the tide turns, and the war ends with his defeat and disappearance. The Druids divide the Four Lands among the races and become reclusive, withdrawing to Paranor because of their shame at the betrayal by one of their own members.

Several centuries after the First War of the Races, Brona returns as the Warlock Lord, now with Skull Bearers as his servants. Chronicled in the prequel novel ''First King of Shannara'', the Second War of the Races begins with the destruction of the Druid Order. A lone Druid, Bremen, forges a magical talisman to destroy the Warlock Lord; it is given to the Elven King, Jerle Shannara. As it takes the form of a blade, the talisman is named the ''Sword of Shannara''. It succeeds in banishing the Warlock Lord. He is not killed, but his army is defeated by the combined armies of the Elves and Dwarves. Peace comes at a high price, interracial tension is renewed and the Druids have vanished.

Present

From Shady Vale to Paranor

Five centuries later, the Ohmsford family of Shady Vale in the Southland takes in the half-Elven child Shea. He takes the name Ohmsford and is raised as a brother to the family's son Flick. Becoming inseparable, the brothers run the family inn.

Some time later, the last Druid Allanon arrives in Shady Vale. Allanon warns the Ohmsford brothers that the Warlock Lord has returned to the Skull Kingdom in the Northland and is coming for Shea. As the last descendant of Jerle Shannara, Shea is the only one capable of wielding the Sword of Shannara against the Warlock Lord.

Allanon departs, leaving Shea three Blue Elfstones for protection. He tells Shea to flee at the sign of the Skull. A few weeks later, a creature bearing a symbol of a skull shows up: a Skull Bearer, one of the Warlock Lord's "winged black destroyers",''Young Adult Fantasy Fiction'', 74. has arrived to search for Shea. The brothers are forced to flee with the Skull Bearer on their heels. They take refuge in the nearby city of Leah where they find Shea's friend Menion, the son of the city's lord. Menion decides to accompany the two, and he travels with them to Culhaven, to meet with Allanon. While at Culhaven, they are joined by a prince of Callahorn, Balinor Buckhannah, two elven brothers, Durin and Dayel Elessedil, and the dwarf Hendel.

The party sets out for Paranor. But along the way, Shea falls over a waterfall and becomes separated from the group. Allanon spurs the group to continue to Paranor. Once there, the party gets into a battle with minions of the Warlock Lord and find that the Sword of Shannara has already been removed. The party then learns of the Warlock Lord's invasion of the Southland, and decide to split up to do what they can to stop it.

In the Southland

Disguised by Allanon, Flick infiltrates the enemy camp and rescues the captive Elven King, Eventine Elessedil; at the same time, in Kern, Menion saves a woman named Shirl Ravenlock and falls in love with her. They organize an evacuation of Kern before the Northland army reaches the city.

Balinor returns to Tyrsis to activate the Border Legion only to find that it has been disbanded. Balinor is then imprisoned by his insane brother Palance Buckhannah, who has taken control of Callahorn's rule. His advisor, Stenmin, has driven Palance insane with drugs, making him his pawn. With help from Menion, Balinor escapes and confronts both Palance and Stenmin. Practically cornered, Stenmin stabs Palance as a distraction and flees.

Now commanded by Balinor, Callahorn's reformed Border Legion marches out of Tyrsis and engages the Northland army at the Mermiddon River, killing many Northlanders before being forced to pull back; the Border Legion retreats to Tyrsis and make preparations for defense. During the siege of Tyrsis, Hendel and Menion come upon Stenmin and some of his supporters. Hendel is killed, but Menion kills Stenmin. After three days, the Border Legion is beaten back from the Outer Wall of Tyrsis as a result of treachery—the wall falls when the traitors destroy the locks on the main gate, jamming it open. At the defenders' last stand on the Bridge of Sendic, the Northlanders abruptly break and run.

In the Northland

After being captured by gnomes, Shea is rescued by the one-handed thief Panamon Creel and his mute Troll companion Keltset Mallicos. Journeying to the Northland, they reach the Skull Kingdom, where the insane Gnome deserter Orl Fane has carried the Sword of Shannara.

Infiltrating the Warlock Lord's fortress in the Skull Mountain, Shea reaches the sword and unsheathes it. He learns about its true power, the ability to confront those with the truth about their lives. The Warlock Lord materializes and tries to destroy Shea, but the youth stands his ground and confronts his enemy with the sword. Although immune to physical weapons, the Warlock Lord vanishes after being forced to confront the truth about himself: he had deluded himself into believing that he is immortal, but this is impossible. The Sword forces him to confront this paradox, and it kills him.

Keltset sacrifices himself to save his companions during the Skull Kingdom's destruction. In the south, the Northland army retreats after the Warlock Lord's downfall. Allanon saves Shea's life and reveals himself as Bremen's centuries-old son, before disappearing to the Druid Sleep. Peace returns to the Four Lands. Balinor takes up his country's rule, while Dayel and Durin return to the Westland, and Menion returns to Leah with Shirl. Shea and Flick reunite and return to Shady Vale.

The mockumentary begins with the premise that NASA loaned a unique and secret lens to Kubrick for the purpose of creating a faked Moon landing in a studio. In reality, the Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm f/0.7 lens was designed by Zeiss in 1966 on special request for NASA for the Apollo program, and a batch of ten were made. Kubrick bought three left over lenses from this batch for the filming of ''Barry Lyndon'' and had them extensively modified to make them usable on his 35 mm camera.

The first part tells of the inception of the NASA's lunar program, emphasizing the issues related to its funding and the necessary public support to the program. NASA regards Stanley Kubrick's ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' as the prototype of the show that the space program needs to be in order to gain this support, leading them to design the spacesuits and vessels in a "Hollywood" fashion and even to hire 700 Hollywood technicians, making all of Hollywood stop working on other projects. But the outcome of Apollo 11 is disappointing: although the landing is successful, Neil Armstrong makes a fool of himself and not a single shot of the moonwalk is usable.

The incapability of shooting images on the Moon had been anticipated by Richard Nixon and his staff who decided to fake the pictures on the Moon, using the set of ''2001'' that was still available in London. Kubrick had refused, then accepted and finally directed the fake footage himself, appalled by the lack of skills of the CIA crew. The KGB soon realized that "the whole thing was a hoax", that Apollo 11 had indeed landed but it was physically impossible to make pictures in the lunar environment. Besides, they had found a photo showing a portrait of Kubrick lying on the false lunar soil in the studio.

After the success of the fake footage, Nixon gets scared that the truth might be discovered, and in a drunken state asks CIA Colonel George Kaplan to dispose of the whole film crew. The next morning he tries to cancel the order, but it is too late: meanwhile Kaplan has gone mad, sent his killers and disappeared. The death squad goes to Vietnam where the film crew has sought refuge, but is immediately caught by the villagers: despite a perfect accent and disguise, their commanding officer was black. Nixon reacts by sending 150,000 men and a half of the 6th Fleet to find and kill the four members of the crew. They fail, and the CIA takes over and assassinates all but one of them, who takes shelter in a yeshiva in Brooklyn where he dies ten years later. Only Kubrick is spared.

Five years after Apollo 11, Kubrick calls NASA to borrow the top-secret wide-aperture Zeiss lens he needs to make ''Barry Lyndon''. As a result, Nixon's successor decides to get rid of him as the last witness of the conspiracy. Informed of the threat to his life, Kubrick locks himself up in his home and never leaves it until his death.

As a conclusion, General Vernon Walters agrees to reveal the secret of Kubrick's demise, but unexpectedly dies the next evening: he had agreed to break the CIA rule of silence and anonymity.

It is finally revealed that this is a mockumentary as the end credits roll over a montage of blooper reels, with the main participants laughing over their lines or over their inability to remember them.

Set in Elm Haven, Illinois, in 1960, ''Summer of Night'' recounts its five pre-teen protagonists' discovery that eerie, terrifying events are unfolding in the Old Central School. Operatives, including a dead soldier; giant worms with rows of sharp, serrated teeth; the animated corpse of a deceased teacher; schoolyard bullies; the driver of a rendering truck; their school teacher, and the principal of the school, serve a centuries-old evil that seeks to be reborn in their time — and in their town. It is only by banding together that the pre-teens can hope to defeat the monstrosity before it destroys them, their friends, their families — and, possibly, the world.

The sequel to ''Summer of Night'' is ''A Winter Haunting'', in which Dale Stewart, now grown, returns to Elm Haven. Another sequel is ''Children of the Night,'' which features Mike O'Rourke, now a Roman Catholic priest, who is sent on a mission to investigate bizarre events in a European city. Another ''Summer of Night'' character, Dale's younger brother, Lawrence Stewart, appears as a minor character in Simmons' thriller ''Darwin's Blade'', while the adult Cordie Cooke appears in ''Fires of Eden.''

The story imagines the difficulty of Averroës, the famed Islamic philosopher and translator, in translating Aristotle's Poetics because he was not able to understand what a play was, owing to the absence of live theatrical performances from Averroës' cultural milieu, in contrast to that of ancient Greece. In the story, Averroës casually observes some children play-acting, then later hears a traveler ineptly describe an actual theatrical performance he once saw in a distant land, but still fails to understand that the tragedies and comedies of which Aristotle writes are a kind of performance art, rather than merely literature.

The process of writing the story is meant to parallel the events in the story itself; Borges writes in an afterword to the story that his attempt to understand Averroës was as doomed as Averroës's attempt to understand drama. "I felt that the work mocked me, foiled me, thwarted me. I felt that Averroës, trying to imagine what a play is without ever having suspected what a theater is, was no more absurd than I, trying to imagine Averroës yet with no more material than a few snatches from Renan, Lane, and Asín Palacios."

History

Before the dawn of mankind was the age of Faerie, an era from which many powerful spirits (such as the King of the Silver River) came. The Elves, extremely long-lived and possessing great magic, created the Elfstones. As a necessary balance to the light, darkness was also created in the beginning of time; from this darkness the Demons were born. After years of battle between the light and the dark, the Elves summoned their greatest magic and created the Forbidding, a spell that imprisoned the Demons beyond the confines of the world. They also created the Ellcrys, a beautiful silver tree with crimson leaves to maintain the Forbidding. Unfortunately, this drained nearly all the strength of the Elves, leaving them with very little magic. Most of the creatures of Faerie died out in this period of waning magic; yet the Elves survived, though diminished in splendor. In time, they came to resemble more and more the human race that had recently evolved, both in strength and longevity. Afraid of the rapidly multiplying humans, Elves went into hiding, remaining one with nature, ever guarding the Ellcrys. Even when mankind nearly destroyed the world in the Great Wars, the Elves lived on, spending their last remaining magic to save the Ellcrys. In the aftermath of the destruction, as mankind split into "four" distinct races, the Elves took that opportunity to come out from hiding. Indeed, most believed that the Elves were just another offshoot of mankind, like the Dwarves, Gnomes and Trolls. The Elves emerged as leaders in the new world; it was the Elf Galaphile who summoned the first Druid council at Paranor.

Present

The magical Ellcrys tree was beginning to die, thus weakening the spell that held the Forbidding. The Ellcrys spoke to the Chosen, telling them of a rebirth, a process which enables a new tree to be born—but this can only be done at the fountain of the Bloodfire. The Chosen then inform their Prince Ander Elessedil and King '''Eventine Elessedil''' of the matter. However, no one knows of the location of the Bloodfire. A search in the ancient Elven library reveals one reference to the Bloodfire. It states that it lies in a place named "Safehold". At the same time, a powerful Demon, the Dagda Mor, escapes from the waning Forbidding, bringing with it two other demons named the Reaper and the Changeling. The Dagda Mor then sends the Reaper to kill all the Chosen, and the Changeling to act as a spy for the demons within the Elven city. Eventine finds himself at a loss, for only the Chosen can make the rebirth of the Ellcrys happen.

The Druid Allanon appeared, telling Eventine that his coming must remain a secret, and promising to find out the location of Safehold. He went to the ancient Druid keep, Paranor, in an attempt to locate Safehold. After learning its location, Allanon was ambushed by the Dagda Mor and a handful of Furies.

He retreated to Storlock for a time, and then went to Havenstead with '''Wil Ohmsford'''—who is a Healer, a descendant of Jerle Shannara and bearer of the Elfstones—to find '''Amberle Elessedil''', who is King Eventine's granddaughter and a Chosen, who abandoned her duty to the Ellcrys and fled the Elven capital, Arborlon. She eventually agreed to return to Arborlon with them, only giving in when Demon Wolves were closing in upon them.

En route, close to the Silver River, Allanon, Amberle and Wil were ambushed by Demon wolves. Allanon fended off the Demons while Wil and Amberle escaped to safety. The King of the Silver River took them in and sheltered them just before they would have been caught; after talking with him, the duo discover they have been transported miles away from where they started, and have no idea if Allanon survived or where he was. They decided to continue on to Arborlon and hoped to meet him there, but on the way their horse was stolen by Rovers, a group of people who travel in caravans and recognize no laws but their own. Wil insisted that they get the horse back, and ingratiated himself to the Rovers and their leader Cephelo by using his skills as healer to help some of the sick or mildly injured members of the family. He met Eretria, a beautiful Rover girl Cephelo said was his daughter; in reality, she was not his daughter at all and would be sold now that she was of an age to marry. She was immediately attracted to Wil and wanted to help him get the horse back, if he promised to take her with him when he escaped. A giant demon attacked the caravan and Wil was forced to use the Elfstones to defend the Rovers, finally destroying the demon, but damaging himself somehow in a way he did not understand. Cephelo was angry with him, but let him and Amberle leave with their horse. Eretria was left behind but promised to Wil that they would meet again. After being pursued by demons, Wil and Amberle managed to regroup with Allanon and return to Arborlon. Amberle received a seed from the dying Ellcrys and prepared to go to Safehold with Wil, six Elven companions and the Captain of the Home Guard, Crispin.

After they journeyed by boat to the Elven outpost at Drey Wood, the group found the entire garrison that had been stationed at the outpost dead—and the Reaper, who had killed all of them. They managed to escape by setting off down the river once more, but two of the Elven guards were run down and killed in the process. Wil realized that there must have been a spy in Arborlon, and that if the spy knew about Drey Wood, then it was likely their mission was known and they would be pursued the entire way. The party then goes to the Matted Brakes, where another two of the group are killed by an unknown massive creature. After escaping from the Brakes, the remaining group of five found themselves at an ancient Elven fortress named Pykon. The group made the decision to rest the night there, but the Reaper found them again and killed the final two Elven hunters. Wil and Amberle ran into the network of tunnels inside of the Pykon to try to find Crispin, who had gone into there to try to find a way out. Wil and Amberle finally lost the Reaper by destroying a bridge over a gorge, but they lost Crispin as well. During the battle, Wil failed to unlock the power of the Elfstones and believed that his human blood was blocking him from using them. He was resigned to not being able to use the stones anymore, and decided that they would just have to get along without them. The duo met the young Wing Rider Perk soon after, who agreed to take them into the Wilderun on his Roc, Genewen. He also agreed to fly over the Hollows every day for a week in case the duo had need of his help.

Meanwhile, Allanon and the Elves went to war with the Demons, beginning the '''War of the Forbidding'''. The Elven army took up two positions in two mountain passes named Halys Cut and Worl Run. Having no weapons, the Demons used human-wave tactics in the ensuing battles and literally ran over the Elven army, even managing to injure King Eventine. Ander's older brother, '''Arion Elessedil''', was killed as well in Worl Run. Defeated, the Elven force retreated first to Baen Draw, successfully defending it until it was discovered that they were being flanked. They then retreated to Arborlon, their last line of defense. In the process, they lost their commander, Kael Pindanon. Shortly after their return to Arborlon, Dwarf and Troll contingents joined them, uniting banners from all four of the Four Lands for the first time in history. Eventine was recovering in his room when the Changeling, disguised for months as Eventine's pet dog Manx, tried to kill the old king in his bed. Eventine killed the Demon, but was badly wounded and near death.

Amberle and Wil traveled to Grimpen Ward, a town of thieves and cutthroats in the Wilderun. Wil caused a stir by healing an old innkeeper woman and jokingly claiming he did it with magic. Thieves try to rob him and Amberle, but they were rescued by Cephelo and Eretria. Wil told Cephelo of his need to go to the Hollows, claiming it was for a rare medicine for Eventine's granddaughter. Cephelo takes them to Hebel, an old hermit who lives in the Wilderun. Hebel recognized the name Safehold and knew where it was; under a lonely mountain in the hollows, the domain of the Witch Sisters. Wil and Amberle went on despite Hebel's warnings, after parting ways with the Rovers. They soon found out that the Elfstones were stolen by Cephelo, and that he had wanted them ever since he had seen Wil use them on the demon that attacked the caravan. Wil left Amberle at the edge of the Hollows and pursued Cephelo. Eretria once again helped Wil to locate Cephelo, only to find that he and the rest of his followers were killed by the Reaper. Wil regained the Elfstones and traveled back to the rim of the Hollows with Eretria. He found Amberle missing. Hebel appeared and agreed to track Amberle for Wil. Together with Hebel's dog, Drifter, they tracked Amberle to the witch Mallenroh's tower. Mallenroh captured them and decided to keep the Elfstones for herself, locking up Wil and the rest as prisoners until Wil agreed to give her the stones.

Mallenroh's identical twin sister Morag arrived, and the Witch Sisters fought and killed each other. Wil, Eretria, Hebel, and Drifter escaped with Amberle, the Elfstones, and Mallenroh's servant, Wisp; who brought them to the Bloodfire. Amberle both absorbed the Bloodfire and bathed the seed of the Ellcrys in it. The Reaper attacked them and killed Wisp, but Wil destroyed it by realizing that it wasn't his human blood preventing the use of the Elfstones, but because he was afraid of them and had formed a mental block against using them. He broke the block, focusing the power of the Elfstones upon the Reaper's cloaked face and destroying it. Wil had Eretria call Perk, who brought Wil, Amberle and Eretria back to Arborlon while Hebel returned home.

By this point, the Demons had begun a full frontal assault upon Arborlon. Despite desperate attempts to blunt the attacks, the seven gates fell one by one to the superior numbers of the Demons. The Demons eventually broke through the last of the Elven capital's major defenses (the seventh gate). At this point, Allanon engaged and defeated the Dagda Mor in a titanic battle while the forces of "good", now severely depleted, regrouped at their last line of defense: the Gardens of Life, where the Ellcrys resided. The Demons tried to reach the Ellcrys to destroy her, but they were held back by those forces of "good" just long enough so that Wil and Amberle could fly in. Amberle touched the dead Ellcrys and was transformed into the new Ellcrys; and with this action, Amberle restored the Forbidding, banishing the Demons back to their alternate universe. It was revealed by Allanon to Wil that he knew all along that Amberle would become the new Ellcrys. Wil was angry and told Allanon he should have been honest, but Allanon claimed that she would not have believed him. He reminds Wil that Amberle knew what would happen and made the choice herself, and that no one forced her. She did what only she could do, and in so doing saved humanity from the Demons. Wil was still bitter about the deception, because he had loved Amberle and didn't want to lose her the way he had. It is then revealed that Allanon has aged, because he used too much of the magic in the fighting with the Demons. He said he was going to Paranor to sleep, and then left in the middle of the night without seeing or speaking with anyone else.

Eventine died, and Ander became the new King. With the Demons banished once again, the survivors of the war returned to their homes. Wil visited the Ellcrys and came to terms with Amberle's sacrifice. He then left Arborlon to continue his studies as a healer, taking Eretria with him.

The novel follows its six narrators from childhood through adulthood. Woolf is concerned with the individual consciousness and the ways in which multiple consciousnesses can weave together.

Bernard is a story-teller, always seeking some elusive and apt phrase. Some critics see Woolf's friend E. M. Forster as an inspiration for him.

Louis is an outsider who seeks acceptance and success. Some critics see in him aspects of T. S. Eliot, whom Woolf knew well.

Neville, who may be partly based on another of Woolf's friends, Lytton Strachey, seeks out a series of men, each of whom becomes the present object of his transcendent love.

Jinny is a socialite whose world view corresponds to her physical, corporeal beauty. There is evidence that she is based on Woolf's friend Mary Hutchinson.

Susan flees the city, preferring the countryside, where she grapples with the thrills and doubts of motherhood. Some aspects of Susan recall Woolf's sister Vanessa Bell.

Rhoda is riddled with self-doubt, anxiety and depression, always rejecting and indicting human compromise, always seeking out solitude. She echoes Shelley's poem "The Question". Rhoda resembles Virginia Woolf in some respects.

Percival, partly based on Woolf's brother, Thoby Stephen, is the esteemed hero of the other six. He dies midway through the novel, while engaged on an imperialist quest in India. Percival never speaks on his own in ''The Waves'', but readers learn about him in detail as the other six characters repeatedly describe and reflect on him.

Wing (Anita Yuen) is a sassy girl who deeply idolizes Rose (Carina Lau), a pop singer, and Rose's boyfriend, top record producer and songwriter Sam (Leslie Cheung). Rose has been groomed by Sam, achieving stardom and international acclaim. With her success, Sam decides to try his hand at bringing up a male singer. He decides to announce a country-wide, males-only talent search, much to his former protégé's chagrin.

Wing, desperate to meet her idols, seizes this opportunity and enters the contest disguised as a male. Her childhood friend (Jordan Chan) trains her to perfect this whimsical idea.

As fate would have it, Wing succeeds in the audition thanks to the poor quality of those auditioning and in part to Rose's taunts. Rose challenges Sam to see to the idea of him bringing up a (relatively) talentless Wing.

Wing is later invited to stay at Sam and Rose's home for her musical education. Wing tries unsuccessfully to reconcile the two lovers' difference. Trouble and comedy ensue as she finds herself falling for Sam and vice versa, despite him thinking she is a man.

During the American Civil War, five Northern prisoners of war escape during the Siege of Richmond, Virginia, by hijacking a hydrogen-filled observation balloon. The escapees are Cyrus Smith, a railroad engineer in the Union army (named Cyrus Harding in Kingston's version); his ex-slave and loyal follower Neb (short for Nebuchadnezzar); Bonadventure Pencroff, a sailor (who is addressed only by his surname; in Kingston's translation, he is named Pencroft); his protégé and adopted son Harbert Brown (called Herbert in some translations); and the journalist Gedéon Spilett (Gideon Spilett in English versions). The company is completed by Cyrus' dog "Top".

After flying in a great storm for several days, the group crash-lands on a cliff-bound, volcanic, unknown island, described as being located at (Southern Pacific Ocean/Asian:Oceanian side), about east of New Zealand. They name it "Lincoln Island" in honor of Abraham Lincoln. With the knowledge of the brilliant engineer Smith, the five are able to sustain themselves on the island, producing fire, pottery, bricks, nitroglycerin, iron, an electric telegraph, a cave home inside a stony cliff called "Granite House", and even a seaworthy ship, which they name the "Bonadventure".

During their stay on the island, the group endures bad weather and domesticates an orangutan, Jupiter, abbreviated to Jup (or Joop, in Jordan Stump's translation). There is a mystery on the island in the form of an unseen ''deus ex machina'', responsible for Cyrus' survival after falling from the balloon, the mysterious rescue of Top from a dugong, the appearance of a box of equipment (guns and ammunition, tools, etc.), and other seemingly inexplicable occurrences.

The group finds a message in a bottle directing them to rescue a castaway on nearby Tabor Island, who is none other than Tom Ayrton (from ''In Search of the Castaways''). On the return voyage to Lincoln Island, they lose their way in a tempest but are guided back to their course by a mysterious fire beacon.

Ayrton's former companions arrive by chance on Lincoln Island and try to make it into their lair. After some fighting with the protagonists, the pirate ship is mysteriously destroyed by an explosion. Six of the pirates survive and kidnap Ayrton. When the colonists go to look for him, the pirates shoot Harbert, seriously injuring him. Harbert survives, narrowly cheating death. The colonists at first assume Ayrton has been killed, but later they find evidence that he was not instantly killed, leaving his fate uncertain. When the colonists rashly attempt to return to Granite House before Harbert fully recovers, Harbert contracts malaria but is saved by a box of quinine sulfate, which mysteriously appears on the table in Granite House. After Harbert recovers, they attempt to rescue Ayrton and destroy the pirates. They discover Ayrton at the sheepfold, and the pirates dead, without any visible wounds except for a little red spot on each of them.

The island is revealed to be Captain Nemo's hideout, and home port of the ''Nautilus''. Having escaped the Maelstrom at the end of ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea'', the ''Nautilus'' sailed the oceans of the world until all its crew except Nemo had died. Now an old man, Nemo returned the ''Nautilus'' to its secret port within Lincoln Island. Nemo had been the mysterious benefactor of the settlers, providing them with the box of equipment, sending the message revealing Ayrton, planting the torpedo that destroyed the pirate ship, and killing the pirates with an "electric gun". On his death bed, Captain Nemo reveals his true identity as the lost Indian Prince Dakkar, son of a raja of the then-independent territory of Bundelkund and a nephew of the Indian hero Tippu-Sahib. After taking part in the failed Indian Rebellion of 1857, Prince Dakkar escaped to a desert island with twenty of his compatriots and commenced the building of the ''Nautilus'' and adopted the new name of "Captain Nemo". Before he dies, Nemo gives them a box of diamonds and pearls as a keepsake. Nemo's final words are "God and my country!" ("Independence!", in Verne's original manuscript). The ''Nautilus'' is scuttled and serves as Captain Nemo's tomb.

Afterward, the island's central volcano erupts, destroying the island. Jup the orangutan falls into a crack in the ground and dies. The colonists, forewarned of the eruption by Nemo, find shelter on the last remaining piece of the island above sea level. They are rescued by the ship ''Duncan'', which had come to rescue Ayrton, but was redirected by a message Nemo had previously left on Tabor Island. After they return to the United States they form a new colony in Iowa, financed with Nemo's gifts.

The core concept of ''100 Bullets'' is based on the question of people willing to act on the desire of violent revenge if given the means, opportunity, and a reasonable chance to succeed. Many of the first issues involve the mysterious Agent Graves approaching someone who has been a victim of a terrible wrong. Graves gives them the opportunity to take revenge by providing a handgun, 100 bullets, and documentation about the primary target responsible for their woes. He informs the candidate the bullets are completely untraceable by any law enforcement investigation, and as soon as they are found at any crime scene, investigations will immediately cease.

Although all the revenge murders enabled by Agent Graves are presented as justifiable, the candidates are neither rewarded nor punished for accepting the offer other than their own personal satisfaction. Several people decline, but others who accept find varied success or failure. The attaché and Graves' "games" are later revealed to be only a minor part of a much broader story.

Agent Graves is the leader of a group known as ''The Minutemen'', a group of seven men (plus one "Agent") who serve as the enforcers and police of a clandestine organization known as ''The Trust''. The Trust was originally formed by the heads of 13 powerful European families who controlled much of the Old World's combined wealth and industry. The Trust made an offer to the kings of Europe by which they would leave the continent and their considerable influence and holdings, in exchange for complete autonomy in the still unclaimed portion of the New World. When England ignored this proposition and colonized the Roanoke Island late in the 16th century, the Minutemen were formed. The original Minutemen, seven vicious killers, eradicated the colony and all of its inhabitants, leaving behind only the cryptic message "Croatoa" as a warning, reclaiming the land for the Trust. Since this time, the Minutemen's charge has been to protect the 13 Houses of the Trust, serving as their force against outside threats and more frequently as police of the internal conflicts between the Trust families themselves. The groups' interactions are often facilitated by a person holding the title "Warlord" for the Trust, who serves as the Houses' liaison to the Minutemen.

Sometime in the late 20th century, the Minutemen were betrayed by the Trust and disbanded after Agent Graves refused to reenact "The Greatest Crime in the History of Mankind" (a re-expansion of the borders of the Trust). The Minutemen retaliated with the assassination of a hooded figure in Atlantic City, and they were then sent into hiding. Most of the Minutemen of that time were "deactivated" by Graves. These former Minutemen had their memories repressed for their own protection and were returned to "normal" lives. These events occurred prior (presumably some years) to the beginning of ''100 Bullets''.

As the story plays out, many of those who are offered the chance for vengeance by Graves are revealed to have been people wronged by the Trust or its agents, and six are revealed to have been Minutemen at the time of the events of Atlantic City. With his planning, some luck, and the importance of his "game", Agent Graves seeks to reactivate several of his Minutemen and recruit potential new members during the course of the series. With the occasional aid of the Trust's current Warlord, the charismatic and secretive Mr. Shepherd, Graves sets into motion a complicated and deadly plot of revenge against the Trust, which divides into factions, with younger members plotting against the older ones.

The series culminates in the downfall of the Trust and its agents, eventually revealing that the attaché and its contents are a metaphor for the limitless power of the Trust.

The story is about three orphans and their two father figures. They are taken in by both a wealthy crime boss which leads to their close friendship, and a kind police officer. Nevertheless, the trio grows up learning high-tech methods of theft and specialise in stealing treasured paintings. After a heist in France goes awry, Red Bean Pudding is thought to be dead and James takes his place as Red Bean's lover. However, Pudding returns in a wheelchair, and the group begins planning their next heist for themselves, fall out of favour with Chow, and various complications and gun battles ensue.

''The Last Chronicle of Barset'' features the receipt of a cheque by the indigent but learned perpetual curate of Hogglestock, the Reverend Josiah Crawley. The novel then develops the attitudes and reactions of those around him, some of whom, not least Mrs Proudie, instantly conclude that Crawley stole the cheque.

The narrative is maintained by numerous sub-plots. One, which is continued from ''The Small House at Allington'', involves Lily Dale and Johnny Eames tenuously connected to the main thread. By contrast, Crawley's daughter, Grace, is courted by Henry Grantly, son of Archdeacon Grantly, which poses problems for the archdeacon who recoils from her lack of family rank or wealth. Initially therefore he joins the accusatory group led by Mrs Proudie; the Bishop does not agree but succumbs to Mrs Proudie's familiar dominance.

Almost broken by poverty and trouble, the Crawley hardly knows himself if he is guilty or not; fortunately, the mystery is resolved just as Major Grantly's determination and Grace Crawley's own merit force the Archdeacon to overcome his prejudice against her. As with Lucy Robarts in ''Framley Parsonage'', the objecting parent finally invites the young lady into the family; this new connection also inspires the Dean and Archdeacon to find a new, more prosperous, post for Grace's impoverished curate father.

Through death or marriage, this final volume manages to tie up more than one thread from the beginning of the series. One subplot deals with the death of Mrs. Proudie, the virago wife of the Bishop of Barchester, and his subsequent grief and collapse. Mrs. Proudie, upon her arrival in Barchester in ''Barchester Towers'', had increased the tribulations of the gentle Mr. Harding, title character of ''The Warden''; he dies of a peaceful old age, mourned by his family and the old men he loved and looked after as Warden.

In 1987 Hong Kong, newspaperman Yuen (Alex Man) and his girlfriend, Chor (Emily Chu) are drawn into a doomed 1930s romance when the ghost of courtesan Fleur (Anita Mui) places an advertisement, looking for her lost lover Chan Chen-Pang (Leslie Cheung). She has waited in the afterlife for Chan for 53 years and believes he has become lost.

Chan was the playboy son of a wealthy family, but longed to be an actor, who met and fell in love with talented, beautiful Fleur in one of Hong Kong's teahouses. Realising their romance would never be accepted, the couple committed suicide by opium overdose in order to be together in death.

Pragmatic Yuen and Chor become dazzled by the romance of Fleur's story and the ghost's glamorous beauty, but as their search for Chan reveals the truth - that Chan did not die with Fleur, frittered away his inheritance and now lives impoverished as a Chinese opera stand-in - they see the value of their own, honest relationship.

The title refers to a rouge case Chan gave to Fleur, which she returns to the now-elderly, guilt-wracked man, before leaving the living world.

Dixon "Dix" Steele is a down-on-his-luck Hollywood screenwriter who has not had a successful movie since before World War II. While driving to meet his agent, Mel Lippman, Dix’s explosive temper is revealed when, at a stoplight, he engages with another motorist in a confrontation that almost becomes violent. Meeting with Mel at a nightclub, Dix is cajoled into adapting a book for a movie. The hat-check girl, Mildred Atkinson, is engrossed in reading the copy meant for Dix; since she only has a few pages left to go, she asks to be allowed to finish it. Dix claims to be too tired to read the novel, so he asks Mildred to go home with him to explain the plot. As they enter the courtyard of his apartment, they pass a new tenant, Laurel Gray. Mildred describes the story, confirming what Dix had suspected—the book is no good. Rather than drive her home as promised, he gives her cab fare instead.

The next morning, Dix is awakened by his friend, police detective Brub Nicolai, who served under Dix during the war. Nicolai takes him downtown to be questioned by his superior, Captain Lochner, who reveals that Mildred was murdered and informs Dix that he is a suspect. Dix remembers that Laurel saw him letting Mildred out of his apartment, which Laurel confirms when brought in for questioning. Afterwards Dix strikes up conversation with Laurel and their mutual attraction is evident. When he gets home, Dix checks up on Laurel. He finds she is an aspiring actress with only a few low-budget films to her credit. They begin to fall in love and, with Laurel assisting him, Dix enthusiastically goes back to work, much to Mel’s delight.

At a dinner with Nicolai and his wife Sylvia, Dix has them re-enact the murder as he imagines it; his odd behavior leads Sylvia to doubt his innocence. Captain Lochner meets with Laurel again and sows seeds of doubt in her mind, pointing out Dix’s record of violent behavior. Laurel confides in Sylvia her growing doubts about Dix.

At a nightclub with Laurel, Dix spots Ted Barton, another detective, arriving with a female companion. Dix angrily leaves, believing that Barton is tailing him. Later, Laurel’s masseuse Martha warns her about Dix’s chequered romantic past, and Laurel grows irritated, kicking her out of the apartment. At a beach party with the Nicolais, Sylvia inadvertently reveals Laurel’s follow-up meeting with Lochner; Dix furiously storms off. Laurel follows and gets into Dix’s car; he drives erratically and at speed until they sideswipe another car. Nobody is hurt, but when the other driver accosts him, Dix beats him unconscious and is about to strike him with a large rock when Laurel stops him.

Dix goes to the police station and attempts to clear his name, inadvertently meeting Mildred’s boyfriend Henry Kesler, who works at a bank. Dix remarks to Nicolai that Kesler is a better suspect as he has a motive. At the Nicolai residence, Laurel asks Sylvia about Dix prompting the Nicolais to re-enact the murder, and tells her about Dix’s roadside assault.

Eventually, Laurel’s doubts about Dix’s innocence result in her being unable to sleep without taking pills. When he asks her to marry him, she accepts, but only because she is scared of how he might react if she refuses. Mel comes over to celebrate while Dix is away, only to find out that Laurel does not want to go through with the marriage and is making plans to escape to New York. She urges Mel to bring Dix’s completed script to a producer.

At a dinner to celebrate the engagement, Dix is annoyed to learn that Mel has submitted his script without his consent. Dix then intercepts a telephone call meant for Laurel at the table, angrily discovering it is Martha and slugging Mel when he tries to intervene.

Back at Laurel’s apartment, Dix flies into a rage when he sees that she has removed her engagement ring. After briefly calming down, Dix answers the phone, learning of Laurel’s intended flight to New York. He again becomes violent, almost strangling Laurel before regaining control of himself when the phone rings again. It is Nicolai, who informs Dix and Laurel that Kesler has confessed to Mildred’s murder. However, both Dix and Laurel realise that it is too late to salvage their relationship. Laurel watches in tears as Dix slowly walks away across the courtyard to his apartment.

The series was hosted by Dan Aykroyd, who presents dramatic stories inspired by the paranormal investigations of the "Office of Scientific Investigation and Research" (O.S.I.R.).

Season one

The first season introduces members of the O.S.I.R. team, including case managers Conner Doyle (Paul Miller) and Curtis Rollins (Maurice Dean Wint), senior data analyst Lindsay Donner (Nancy Anne Sakovich), physicist Peter Axon (Barclay Hope), Dr. Anton Hendricks (Colin Fox) as well as various other investigators that rotate with each new case. The first season uses elements that are later dropped in subsequent seasons, most notably featuring two unlinked cases per episode. The first season features more of a documentary-style look including hand-held cameras and on-screen interviews with the "experiencers". In the first-season finale, "Perestroika", case manager Conner Doyle is killed in an explosion in an attempt to save the team and to kill a deadly parasite.

Season two

Starting with the second season, actors Paul Miller and Maurice Dean Wint are removed from the opening credits and Matt Frewer joins the cast as the new case manager, Matt Praeger. Michael Moriarty joins the cast in the recurring role of Michael Kelly, a conspiracy theorist who is friends with Praeger. The series now focuses on one case per episode and is structured more like a one-hour drama series. The second season features more character development as well as story arcs. After a limited role in the first season, Director of Operations Frank Elsinger (Nigel Bennett) becomes a more prominent presence and is often believed to have a hidden agenda, mostly by Matt Praeger who questions many of his decisions. Michael Kelly causes problems for Elsinger, as he often involves himself in various O.S.I.R. cases and tries to expose the truth. In the second-season finale, "The Egress" (part one of a three-part story arc where the team discovers "The Egress", an arch in which you disappear if you step inside), Curtis Rollins returns after being absent since near the end of the first season. Dr. Anton Hendricks is lured into the arch at the sight of his missing wife and daughter, and he disappears. The team is in conflict at the end of the season, as Praeger learns Lindsay has betrayed him by leaking information, meant to expose Elsinger's questionable ethical activity. Praeger offers his resignation, and Elsinger offers Peter Axon the case manager position.

Season three

Starting with the third season, Nigel Bennett and Peter MacNeill as Frank Elsinger and Ray Donahue respectively are added to the opening credits, after having guest roles throughout the first two seasons. Peter Axon and Curtis Rollins continue investigating the Arch and try to get Anton back. As Peter convinces Lindsay to come back to the team, Praegar also returns to the team. Anton eventually comes back from the Arch and is in the hospital in critical condition. It's revealed that Anton's wife, believed to be dead, comes back from the Arch as well. The return of Nicole Hendricks solves a 12-year-old case in which Anton's wife and daughter disappeared after a car crash. In the two-part third-season finale, "Forever and a Day", Michael Kelley returns and informs the team of The Chairman, a mysterious figure who is believed to be evil and immortal and control a series of interlocking companies, including Veritec, Tessler Industries and the O.S.I.R. They then begin a secret case in which they discover the identity of The Chairman and exorcise the demon. The end of the third season marks the final appearances of many original characters, including Curtis Rollins, Frank Elsinger, Ray Donahue, Lennox Q. Cooper, and Michael Kelly.

Season four

Starting with the fourth season, Nigel Bennett and Peter MacNeill are removed from the opening credits, while Soo Garay as Dr. Claire Davison is added to the opening credits, after having guest roles throughout the first three seasons. Joanne Vannicola joins the main cast as Mia Stone. With Elsinger apparently gone, Anton Hendricks has taken over the role of Director of Operations and very rarely takes part in the investigations over the course of the season. Hendricks enforces rotating case manager, leading Peter, Lindsay and Mia to take on the case manager position for different cases. In the fifth episode of the season, "883", Matt Praeger is infected with a virus which will lead to his death. The team soon discovers a secret project where a doctor is planning on colonizing a new world. Praeger learns the only way he could live is if he goes to the new world. After agreeing, he shares a tearful goodbye with his daughter Dana as well as the rest of the O.S.I.R. team and leaves a goodbye tape. Beginning with the following episode, Matt Frewer is removed from the opening credits and Nancy Anne Sakovich receives first billing. In episode 18 of the season, "Regeneration", presumed dead Conner Doyle returns and reveals he was pulled out of the building before it exploded and then spent three years in Siberia where he was held prisoner in a research facility in order to study an alien parasite that he had contracted during the original mission. He returns to aid the team in which they investigate "Project Regeneration", where a genetically altered female has the ability to heal herself, but with alien DNA that will take over and make her violent. Lindsay finds out that her cells were used to create Lilith, and that she retains all of Lindsay's memories. Conner suggests a plasma transfusion where Lindsay's cells could be introduced into Lilith to enhance her human side. During the transfusion, it's revealed Lilith is pregnant, Conner has alien DNA, and he is trying to save their alien child. Peter and Anton release a toxic gas into the secured lab, killing Conner and Lilith. In the fourth season finale, "Stone Dreams", we learn Mia Stone has been subject to a secret experiment conducted by Anton Hendricks when she first arrived to the O.S.I.R. The experiment aims to determine the impact of paranormal investigation on the investigator. Anton tests the technology on Mia, which will enable them to access the images that are seen with the inner eye. During the test, Anton hypnotizes Mia and gets her to remember past events that then are reflected on the monitor. As the test gets more intense, her heart rate increases and her brainwave functions becomes erratic and all the glass in the lab explodes. The last scene of the episode shows Mia first meeting Anton and accepting to be a part of the experiment. It's unknown if Mia died or not as a result of the experiment.

A nuclear device explodes in Washington and destroys the White House. The Royalist Party and the National Rifle Association of America are nominally those responsible but Condon's target is Reaganism and its legacy, embodied in the character of an Army colonel, Caesare Appleton, who becomes Emperor Caesare I.

''Nana'' tells the story of Nana Coupeau's rise from streetwalker to high-class prostitute during the last three years of the French Second Empire. Nana first appeared near the end of Zola's earlier novel Rougon-Macquart series, ''L'Assommoir'' (1877), where she is the daughter of an abusive drunk. At the conclusion of that novel, she is living in the streets and just beginning a life of prostitution.

''Nana'' opens with a night at the Théâtre des Variétés in April 1867 just after the Exposition Universelle has opened. Nana is eighteen years old, though she would have been fifteen according to the family tree of the Rougon-Macquarts Zola had published years before starting work on this novel. Zola describes in detail the performance of ''La blonde Vénus'', a fictional operetta modeled after Offenbach's ''La belle Hélène'', in which Nana is cast as the lead. All of Paris is talking about her, though this is her first stage appearance. When asked to say something about her talents, Bordenave, the manager of the theatre, explains that a star does not need to know how to sing or act: "Nana has something else, dammit, and something that takes the place of everything else. I scented it out, and it smells damnably strong in her, or else I lost my sense of smell." Just as the crowd is about to dismiss her performance as terrible, young Georges Hugon shouts: "Très chic!" From then on, she owns the audience. Zola describes her appearance only thinly veiled in the third act: "All of a sudden, in the good-natured child the woman stood revealed, a disturbing woman with all the impulsive madness of her sex, opening the gates of the unknown world of desire. Nana was still smiling, but with the deadly smile of a man-eater."

In the course of the novel Nana destroys every man who pursues her: Philippe Hugon is imprisoned after stealing from the army to lend Nana money; the wealthy banker Steiner bankrupts himself trying to please her; Georges Hugon stabs himself with scissors in anguish over her; Vandeuvres incinerates himself after Nana ruins him financially; Fauchery, a journalist and publisher who falls for Nana early on, writes a scathing article about her later, and falls for her again and is ruined financially; and Count Muffat, whose faithfulness to Nana brings him back for humiliation after humiliation until he finds her in bed with his elderly father-in-law. In George Becker's words: "What emerges from ''[Nana]'' is the completeness of Nana's destructive force, brought to a culmination in the thirteenth chapter by a kind of roll call of the victims of her voracity".

Zola has Nana die a horrible death in July 1870 from smallpox. She disappears, her belongings are auctioned and no one knows where she is. It comes out that she has been living with a Russian prince, leaving her infant son in the care of an aunt near Paris, but when a smallpox epidemic breaks out she returns to nurse him; he dies, and she catches the disease. Zola suggests that her true nature, concealed by her physical beauty, has come to the surface. "What lay on the pillow was a charnel house, a heap of pus and blood, a shovelful of putrid flesh. The pustules had invaded the whole face, so that one pock touched the next". Outside her window the crowd is madly cheering "To Berlin! To Berlin!" to greet the start of the Franco-Prussian War, which will end in defeat for France and the end of the Second Empire.

In June 1808 Hornblower is in command of the 36-gun frigate HMS ''Lydia'', with secret orders to sail to the Pacific coast of Nicaragua (near modern Choluteca, Choluteca) and supply a local landowner, Don Julian Alvarado ("descendant" of Pedro de Alvarado by a fictional marriage to a daughter of Moctezuma), with muskets and powder. Don Julian is ready to revolt against the Spanish. Upon meeting Don Julian Hornblower discovers that he is a megalomaniac who calls himself "El Supremo" (which Forester translates as "the Almighty"), views himself as a deity, and has been killing those who he regards as "unenlightened" because they do not recognise El Supremo's divine status. El Supremo claims to be a descendant of Moctezuma, the holy god-made-man of the Aztecs, and also of Pedro de Alvarado, one of the Spanish invaders of Mexico.

While Hornblower replenishes his supplies the 50-gun Spanish ship ''Natividad'' is sighted off the coast. Unwilling to risk fighting the much more powerful ship in a sea battle, Hornblower hides nearby until it anchors and then captures it in a surprise nighttime boarding. El Supremo demands that it be turned over to him so that he may have a navy. After hiding the captured Spanish officers to save them from being murdered by El Supremo, Hornblower, needing his ally's cooperation, has no choice but to accede.

After offloading war supplies for El Supremo, Hornblower sails south. Off the coast of Panama he encounters a Spanish lugger, from which an envoy arrives to inform him of a new alliance between Spain and England against Napoleon.

When Hornblower visits Panama City to meet with the Spanish Viceroy, the Englishwoman Lady Barbara Wellesley, a (fictional) sister of Marquess Wellesley and Sir Arthur Wellesley (the future Duke of Wellington), comes aboard. The packet ship she was on in the Caribbean had been captured some time before. Freed by Spain's changing sides, and fleeing a yellow fever epidemic ashore, she requests passage back to England. Hornblower reluctantly takes Lady Barbara and her maid Hebe aboard, warning her that he must first hunt and destroy the ''Natividad'' before El Supremo can capture a Spanish ship carrying funds crucial to the Spanish war effort from Manila to Acapulco.

In the subsequent battle Hornblower uses masterful tactics to sink the ''Natividad'', though the ''Lydia'' herself is heavily damaged. Limping back to Panama to effect repairs, Hornblower is informed that, now that there is no further threat from the ''Natividad'', he is not welcome in any Spanish-American port. He manages to find a natural harbour on the island of Coiba, where he refits.

After completing repairs, Hornblower encounters the haughty Spanish envoy once again on the same lugger. He is invited aboard the lugger and finds El Supremo chained to the deck on his way to execution.

Hornblower sets sail for England. On the long voyage home he and Lady Barbara become strongly attracted to each other. She makes the first overt advances and they embrace passionately, but Barbara's maid Hebe walking in on them brings Hornblower to the realisation that a ship's captain must not indulge in sexual dalliance with a passenger. He tells Barbara, truthfully, that he is married. After her rejection Barbara avoids him as best she can. The ''Lydia'' arrives at Saint Helena soon afterwards and Lady Barbara transfers to a more spacious ship.

Prelude

Before the dawn of mankind, Demons created a book of dark magic, called the Ildatch. This book was so full of their dark essence that it became a living thing, with a will of its own. When the Druids gathered all knowledge and lore of the Old World to themselves in the aftermath of the Great Wars, the book of Ildatch was uncovered after countless millennia. It remained harmless until the Druid Brona found it in the halls of Paranor and began to read and unlock its terrible secrets. Brona was eventually subverted by the very power he sought to control and thus the Warlock Lord was born. Allanon thought that the dark book had been buried in the destruction of the Skull Kingdom after Shea triumphed over the Warlock Lord in ''The Sword of Shannara'', but it soon became apparent that the survivors of the calamity recovered the book, and delved into its arcane knowledge.

The Beginning

Allanon returned to the world due to the presence of a new evil, and once more he needed the aid of another generation of Ohmsfords. It is revealed that the Ildatch possessed a new generation of mortals, the Mord Wraiths, to pick up where the Warlock Lord left off. From their stronghold in the Eastland, the Mord Wraiths enslaved many Gnomes and sent them against the Dwarves. Allanon needed Brin's magic, the Wishsong, to enable him to enter the Maelmord, which is a living jungle that kills anyone who sets foot in it, and destroy the Ildatch. Helping her is Rone Leah, who is the great-grandson of Menion Leah. He wields the Sword of Leah, which is an "ordinary" sword until Allanon dips it into the waters of the Hadeshorn to help him to protect Brin. Jair was left at home, despite his pleas to go with his older sister, but he ran north when Gnomes begin searching Shady Vale itself. Allanon explains that Jair's command of the Wishsong only lies in illusion, where Brin's command of the Wishsong lies in reality.

Jair's Odyssey

Jair was left at home to watch over the Ohmsford house and to inform his parents of what had transpired during Allanon's visit. Not long after, however, he found himself in some trouble of his own when he stumbled across the gnome, Slanter, who was tracking the druid for the Mord Wraiths. After leaving Slanter unconscious and sneaking back into his house to retrieve the elfstones, hoping to defeat the Wraiths, he headed north to the Highlands. Slanter soon caught up with him, though. He was captured and was given over to the gnome patrol for whom Slanter was tracking. Later on when it seemed like there was no hope of escape and he was to be delivered to one of the Black Walkers, the gnome patrol stumbled on Garet Jax, a dark and mysterious warrior people knew as the Weapons Master. He freed Jair along with a little assistance from Slanter. The small company decided to head east to Culhaven, home of the dwarves, hoping to find word of Allanon and Brin's passing. Jair met the King of the Silver River here; the ancient faerie creature informed him that unless he went to the Eastland, Brin would die. He offered Jair his help. He gave Jair 3 magics (A one time real use of the Wishsong, a bag of Silver Dust to purify the Silver River, and a mirror that allowed Jair to view Brin through use of the Wishsong) for Jair's three Elfstones and then said to him that Garet Jax would protect him on his way to Brin. In exchange, he asked Jair to purify the Silver River at its source, as the Silver River was being poisoned by the Mord Wraiths. Jair went on his quest, joined by the Gnome Slanter and a group from Culhaven, including the "Weapons Master" Garet Jax.

The End of Ildatch

Meanwhile, Brin and Rone watched helplessly as Allanon was killed by an ancient Demon, a Jachyra, that had been summoned by the Mord Wraiths. The creature was destroyed, but Allanon, the last of the Druids, was mortally wounded and Rone is wounded when he attempts to aid Allanon with the Sword of Leah. The Jachyra throws the sword from the battle scene into a river. Before he died, Allanon marked Brin's line to succeed him. Rone and Brin pressed on, hopeless. They met Cogline, a partially insane old man who tamed a Moor Cat named Whisper, and his granddaughter, Kimber Boh, who was skilled in many techniques, and who helped them on their journey. First, Kimber Boh takes Rone and Brin to visit the Grimpond, an ancient being, much like the wraiths of Bremen and Allanon but much more maligned. The spirit informs Brin (who spoke to the being alone) that the quest will claim her life and those traveling with her. After the meeting with the Grimpond; Cogline, Kimber Boh, and Whisper aid Rone and Brin in retrieving the Sword of Leah from a tribe of Spider Gnomes. After another long trek, Brin left the others while they were in the sewers of the castle and finally reached the Ildatch. Brin found herself unable to destroy it because first, she became entranced, and then she was possessed by it. The tome coveted her power and wanted to use her body as a tool to wield its destruction. At the last moment, as he had just purified the Silver River, Jair uses the Wishsong (the given ability from the King of the Silver River) to appear in the chamber where Brin is being subverted by the Ildatch. He found Brin almost deformed by her power and was horrified by the skeletal appearance she had assumed. He tried to snap Brin out of her trance with his illusions but failed. Nevertheless, the love of her brother snapped Brin out of her trance. She finally destroyed the book, and the siblings returned home, but at a price: Allanon was dead, along with nearly all of Jair's companions (all but Slanter). At the end, the shade of Allanon came to Brin and told her never to use the wishsong again then reminded her of her trust, and informed her that magic would soon fade from the world again.

Horrified by the consequences of the First War of the Races, most of the Druids at Paranor stopped studying the arcane arts and turned to the sciences of the Old World.

Brona, now known as the Warlock Lord, had been behind the First War of the Races, and was thought to have died during it. But he had secretly survived, and now has come to make a new war upon the Races. He is now stronger than ever, gathering spirits from the netherworld and a massive Troll and Gnome army under his banner. Brona's first target is Paranor, the home of the Druids who defeated him during the First War of the Races. He easily wipes out the Druid order.

The only survivors are the followers of Bremen, an outcast Druid who continued to study the mystic arts and tried to warn the council before it was too late. Bremen had been cast from the Druid Council because he had an interest in magic, now forbidden since the disaster that turned the Druid Brona into the Warlock Lord. As a result, the council didn't trust him. Along with Tay Trefenwyd and Risca, who are the only Druids who believe Bremen and leave with him, Bremen leaves Paranor.

Later, the three are joined by Mareth, an apprentice Druid with innate magic, as well as empathic powers. After reaching the Hadeshorn and summoning the shade of Galaphile, Bremen is given four visions. Bremen learns that the Warlock Lord seeks the Black Elfstone, which would grant him tremendous power. Bremen sends Tay Trefenwyd to recover the Black Elfstone before the Warlock Lord can, and sends Risca to warn and aid the Dwarves from the army of the Warlock Lord.

Tay Trefenwyd, along with his best friend Jerle Shannara go to the king to seek his aid. However, the entire royal family is destroyed by the Warlock Lord's minions, all but for two young grandchildren. Tay starts to go and search for the Black Elfstone, believing action better than inaction, taking with him Jerle Shannara, as well as a small party of Elven Hunters, and Preia Starle, who loves Jerle Shannara, but whom Tay Trefenwyd loves. However, Tay never even speaks of his love for her, as his loyalty to Jerle is so strong.

Tay eventually comes upon where the Black Elfstone is hidden, with an ancient race called the Chew Magna, who have been subverted by the magic of the Black Elfstone. Cloaking himself in magic that makes him one of them, Tay manages to recover the Black Elfstone. However, upon leaving the Chew Magna, they are discovered by the Warlock Lord's minions, and Tay has no magic left, having spent it all recovering the elfstone.

Although he had been warned by Bremen on what would happen if the Black Elfstone is used, he uses it so that his friends can escape with the Black Elfstone. He destroys all the enemies, but is forced to sacrifice himself, drawing the air from his lungs rather than be subverted by the Black Elfstone. Meanwhile, Bremen, Kinson Ravenlock, and Mareth travel back to Paranor, fearing that the Druids are all already dead. On reaching Paranor, every Druid who remained is dead, and Bremen manages to recover the Eilt Druin, which he saw as pivotal in the creating of a weapon that can defeat the Warlock Lord.

Bremen knows that only magic can fight magic, so he devises a plan to create a magical weapon to destroy the Warlock Lord: the Sword of Shannara. Bremen learns how to make a metal stronger than iron from Cogline, and manages to create the sword by the mixing of science and magic. Upon finding a smith skilled enough to create the sword, the reader discovers that the smith is the ancestor of Panamon Creel. Bremen also discovers his successor as a Druid, the boy who is revealed to be Allanon, and possesses incredibly penetrating eyes, an immense intelligence, and a talent for magic.

The Sword is created by truth of existence, the only thing remaining to the shades of former Druids. The Warlock Lord could never face the truth that he had died centuries before, and the Sword would force that truth on him. Armed with truth, Bremen leads the battle in the Westland. He equips Jerle Shannara, the Elven King, with the Sword. After several battles, the Elves drive the Warlock Lord's armies from the Westland, and right into a trap set by the remains of the Dwarf army. During the final battle, Jerle confronts the Warlock Lord, and manages to defeat him but he fails to destroy him. To properly wield the talisman of truth, one must first be prepared to face the truth of his own life. Jerle simply could not reconcile the guilt he felt at his best friend's death, and so he lacked the ability to force truth on Brona. In this final battle, Risca is also killed.

Kinson Ravenlock and Mareth are married (with Mareth forsaking the Druid ways), as are Jerle Shannara and Preia Starle. Meanwhile, Bremen spends three years teaching Allanon what he needs to know in order to be a Druid. Afterwards, Bremen, in old age, succumbs to death, walking into the Hadeshorn, to be carried to the afterlife by the shade of Galaphile. Before he goes, he reveals to Allanon that the Warlock Lord was not destroyed, but simply forced into hiding, and that the task of destroying him will be given to Allanon.

The game opens on a text narration discussing the origins of the "Tsortean wars", and the disappearance of the Tsortese Falchion. There is then a cutscene of Lewton being chased through the streets pursued by an unseen attacker, eventually being stabbed through the chest with a sword. Lewton begins an off-screen narration on being dead, before recalling how it all started. The game flashes back to Lewton taking a case for a woman named Carlotta, who asks him to find a man named Mundy. As Lewton pursues the case he runs into an old flame, Ilsa, and is told to "find Therma" by a troll named Malachite who has escaped from prison. Lewton finds Mundy but is immediately knocked unconscious. He awakes to find a murdered Mundy and the City Watch, thus ending the game's first act.

Commander Vimes names Lewton as his prime suspect and a suspect for all the Counterweight Killings, a series of ritualistic murders, before letting him go. When Lewton grills the Parrot's owner, he reveals he cut Mundy down and looted his body, handing Lewton a small unusual coin. Once Lewton has the coin, he is ambushed by a dwarf named Al-Khali, who searches him, finds the coin, and takes him to troll criminal Horst. Horst believes Lewton has killed Mundy and found the "Golden Sword", and is willing to offer Lewton a large sum of money should Lewton deliver it to him. Lewton discovers the Parrot's singer, a troll named Sapphire, has suddenly run into a large amount of money. Lewton confronts Sapphire, and after Lewton exposes her cover story she reveals she has been blackmailing Therma. In exchange for Lewton keeping quiet she will arrange a meeting with her for him. At a casino, Lewton foils an assassination attempt on Ilsa and Two-Conkers, a man revealed to be Ilsa's husband from the Agatean Empire, and is allowed to continue looking for why Mundy was killed by Carlotta. After all these events have happened, a note from Sapphire arrives in Lewton's office, revealing the details of the meet-up with Therma and allowing the player to progress further in the game. Lewton decides to bring Malachite along and as they get there, Lewton is again knocked unconscious, and when he wakes up he is being interviewed in a Watch interrogation room and Malachite has been murdered.

Act III starts with Lewton being taught about his new werewolf abilities by Gaspode, a talking dog.

In the fourth and final act, Lewton stands in the middle of the temple after the rubble has settled, and aside from Carlotta, busy tending the wounds of Anu-Anu, all the cultists are either dead or have fled. Lewton begins hunting down the surviving members of the cult, discovering a cult-within-a-cult who deliberately sabotaged the ritual for Nylonathatep. He discovers he needs both the sword and the jewel to stop the creature, and obtains a star map from Two-Conkers leading him to the jewel. Lewton also retrieves the sword from the dead body of a cultist member. Horst ambushes Lewton after he finds the jewel, and uses Ilsa as a hostage to get Lewton to give him the sword. Lewton tracks down Horst and finds him in a heavy argument with Carlotta, about to kill her. Lewton saves Carlotta and kills Horst, but turns her over to the Watch before confronting and defeating Nylonathatep. At the end, Lewton convinces Ilsa to leave with Two-Conkers rather than stay with him.

At the beginning of the story, the mouse Hermux Tantamoq is a watchmaker in Pinchester, a Manhattan-like metropolis inhabited by rodents, birds, and mustelids. He is hired by aircraft-pilot Linka Perflinger (another mouse) to mend her wristwatch. When the watch is requested, without Linka's permission, by a criminal rat, Hermux refuses to hand it over, and later witnesses Linka's capture by similar rats, who are working on behalf of antagonist Dr. Hiril Mennus. Investigating this, Hermux learns that Mennus, in partnership with sub-antagonist Tucka Mertslin, seeks to patent a rejuvenation formula obtained by Linka's client, Dr. Turfip Dandiffer. Assisted by the mole journalist Pup Schoonagliffen (Mennus in disguise), Hermux infiltrates Mennus' clinic, but is himself captured; whereupon Mennus places Hermux and Linka in a mousetrap to die. To maintain control of Tucka Mertslin, Mennus memorizes and destroys the formula; but by an inept use thereof, reduces himself to infancy. Hermux and Linka are thereafter rescued by Dr. Dandiffer's sponsor, Ortolina Perriflot. Some days later, Hermux approaches Linka, intending to propose marriage, but finds her already engaged to Dandiffer. Later, he uses the remnant formula to restore the eyesight of his friend Mirrin Sentrill.

In 19th century France, the Brothers Grimm answer a summons from the Grand Dame at which she expresses her disappointment in their fantastic story of Cinderella. She produces a glass slipper and recounts Cinderella’s actual story.

In Renaissance-era France, eight-year old Danielle is the daughter of widower Auguste De Barbarac. Auguste marries Baroness Rodmilla De Ghent, who has two daughters from her previous marriage, Marguerite and Jacqueline. A fortnight later, Auguste dies of a heart attack.

Ten years later, the manor is in debt and Danielle works as a servant due to Rodmilla’s spoiling her daughters and paying a royal servant for gossip to help Marguerite marry Prince Henry. One morning, Danielle inadvertently meets Prince Henry as he tries to run away from his royal responsibilities, including an arranged marriage to Princess Gabriella of Spain. He gives Danielle some gold coins to keep their interlude secret and rides away, but is eventually caught by the Royal Guard after stopping a band of gypsies from robbing Leonardo da Vinci, who King Francis invited to be the French Court's artist in residence.

Meanwhile, Danielle, dressed as a courtier, takes the gold coins to the palace to buy back a family servant who Rodmilla sold. Henry witnesses Danielle arguing with a slave holder and, after Danielle’s convincing, orders the servant released. Henry, captivated by her intelligence, eagerly asks for her name. Danielle lies and gives her mother’s name Comtesse Nicole De Lancret.

Later that night, King Francis strikes a deal with Henry: he will hold a masquerade ball at which Henry will announce his engagement to the woman of his choosing or else marry Princess Gabriella. Rodmilla accelerates her efforts at getting Henry to notice Marguerite, leaving Jacqueline resentful.

While visiting a Franciscan monastery, Danielle confides in Henry about gaining a love of books from her late father and he admits that he envies her passion and strong convictions. On their way home, the gypsies accost them, but, amused at Danielle's cleverness, eventually agree to take them to their camp, where Henry and Danielle share their first kiss.

The next day, Danielle attacks Marguerite for planning to wear Danielle’s mother's wedding dress to the ball and Marguerite retaliates by destroying Danielle’s copy of ''Utopia'', the last book Auguste gave her before he died. After Rodmilla has Danielle whipped, Jacqueline treats her wounds and criticizes Marguerite for her cruelty.

A despondent Danielle tries to tell Henry the truth, but her resolve melts when he tells her she has changed him as a man, inspiring him to build a university. They kiss passionately, but Danielle runs away.

Rodmilla figures out that Danielle is Henry’s love interest and lies to the Queen that she is engaged. She confronts Danielle about her deception and the whereabouts of her mother’s dress and shoes, which Danielle has hidden. When she angrily refuses to produce the gown and shoes, Rodmilla locks her in the house’s pantry. Danielle escapes with Da Vinci’s help and arrives at the ball just before Henry’s engagement to another unnamed woman is announced. Before she can tell the truth, Rodmilla exposes Danielle and, furious at her dishonesty, Henry rejects her. As Danielle tearfully runs out of the castle, she leaves a glass slipper behind. Da Vinci gives it to Henry while reprimanding him.

Henry agrees to marry the Princess of Spain, but calls it off when he realizes she too loves someone else. Jacqueline tells Henry that Rodmilla had Danielle sold to the lecherous Pierre Le Pieu and he and Captain Laurent set off to rescue her, only to find that she has freed herself. Henry professes his love for her and proposes marriage by slipping the glass slipper on her foot. Danielle accepts.

Rodmilla is summoned by King Francis inquiring if she lied to Queen Marie about Danielle. Queen Marie has Rodmilla stripped of her title and will have her and Marguerite banished to the Americas unless someone speaks for her. Now a princess, Danielle speaks for her.

Rodmilla and Marguerite now work as laundry servants. As a wedding gift, Leonardo gives the royal newlyweds a painting of Danielle, while Jacqueline is spared from punishment as she has always been kind to Danielle.

The Grande Dame tells the Brothers Grimm that her great-great grandmother's portrait hung in Henry's university until the French Revolution. She concludes that while Henry and Danielle did live happily ever after, the point is that they indeed lived.

Gathered around the fire at the Maypole Inn, in the village of Chigwell, on an evening of foul weather in the year 1775, are John Willet, proprietor of the Maypole, and his three cronies. One of the three, Solomon Daisy, tells an ill-kempt stranger at the inn a well-known local tale of the murder of Reuben Haredale which had occurred 22 years earlier on that very day. Reuben had been the owner of the Warren, a local estate which is now the residence of Geoffrey, the deceased Reuben's brother, and Geoffrey's niece, Reuben's daughter Emma Haredale. After the murder, Reuben's gardener and steward went missing and were suspects in the crime. A body was later found and identified as that of the steward, so the gardener was assumed to be the murderer.

Joe Willet, son of the Maypole proprietor, quarrels with his father because John treats 20-year-old Joe as a child. Finally having had enough of this ill-treatment, Joe leaves the Maypole and goes for a soldier, stopping to say goodbye to the woman he loves, Dolly Varden, daughter of London locksmith Gabriel Varden.

Meanwhile, Edward Chester is in love with Emma Haredale. Both Edward's father, Sir John Chester, and Emma's uncle, the Catholic Geoffrey Haredale – these two are sworn enemies – oppose the union after Sir John untruthfully convinces Geoffrey that Edward's intentions are dishonourable. Sir John intends to marry Edward to a woman with a rich inheritance, to support John's expensive lifestyle and to pay off his debtors. Edward quarrels with his father and leaves home for the West Indies.

Barnaby Rudge, an “innocent”, wanders in and out of the story with his pet raven, Grip. Barnaby's mother begins to receive visits from the ill-kempt stranger, whom she feels compelled to protect. She later gives up the annuity she had been receiving from Geoffrey Haredale and, without explanation, takes Barnaby and leaves the city hoping to escape the unwanted visitor.

The story advances five years to a chilly evening in early 1780. On the 27th anniversary of Reuben Haredale's murder, Solomon Daisy, winding the bell tower clock, sees a ghost in the churchyard. He reports this hair-raising event to his friends at the Maypole, and John Willet decides that Geoffrey Haredale should hear the story. He departs in a winter storm taking Hugh, hostler of the Maypole, as a guide. On the way back to the Maypole, John and Hugh are met by three men seeking the way to London. Finding that London is still 13 miles off, the men seek refuge for the night. Beds are prepared for them at the Maypole.

These visitors prove to be Lord George Gordon; his secretary, Gashford; and a servant, John Grueby. Lord George makes an impassioned speech full of anti-papist sentiment, arguing (among other things) that Catholics in the military would, given a chance, join forces with their co-religionists on the Continent and attack Britain. Next day the three depart for London, inciting anti-Catholic sentiment along the way and recruiting Protestant volunteers, from whom Ned Dennis, the hangman of Tyburn, and Simon Tappertit, former apprentice to Gabriel Varden, are chosen as leaders. Hugh, finding a handbill left at the Maypole, joins the Protestant throng which Dickens describes as "sprinkled doubtless here and there with honest zealots, but composed for the most of the very scum and refuse of London, whose growth was fostered by bad criminal laws, bad prison regulations, and the worst conceivable police."

Barnaby and his mother have been living quietly in a country village, their whereabouts unknown despite Geoffrey Haredale's attempts to find them. The mysterious stranger finds them and sends Stagg, the blind man, to attempt to get money from them. Barnaby and his mother then flee to London, hoping to lose their pursuer again.

When Barnaby and his mother arrive at Westminster Bridge, they see an unruly crowd heading for a meeting on the Surrey side of the river. Barnaby is duped into joining them, despite his mother's pleas. The rioters then march on Parliament and burn several Catholic churches and the homes of Catholic families.

A detachment led by Hugh and Dennis head for Chigwell, intent on exacting revenge on Geoffrey Haredale, leaving Barnaby to guard The Boot, the tavern they use as their headquarters. The mob loots the Maypole on their way to the Warren, then they burn the Warren to the ground. Emma Haredale and Dolly Varden (now Emma's companion) are taken captive by the rioters. Soldiers take Barnaby prisoner; he is held in Newgate, which the mob plans to storm.

Haredale captures the mysterious stranger haunting Mrs. Rudge at the smoldering ruins of the Warren. He turns out to be Barnaby Rudge Sr., the steward who had murdered Reuben Haredale and his gardener years earlier. It is revealed that he had switched clothes with the dead gardener to divert suspicion from himself.

The rioters capture Gabriel Varden, with the help of his wife's maid Miggs, and attempt to have the locksmith help them break into Newgate to release prisoners. He refuses and is rescued by two men, one of whom has only one arm. The rioters then burn Newgate where Barnaby and his father are being held. All of the prisoners escape, but Barnaby, his father, and Hugh are betrayed by Dennis the hangman and captured by soldiers. Dennis has changed sides, believing he will obtain the bounty offered for them as well as numerous clients needing his special talents. With the military patrolling the streets, the rioters scatter, and many are killed.

The one-armed man turns out to be Joe Willet, who has returned from fighting against the American revolutionaries. Joe and Edward Chester turn out to be the rescuers of Gabriel Varden. The pair then rescue Dolly and Emma.

Dennis is arrested and sentenced to die with Hugh and Barnaby. Hugh and Dennis are hanged. Barnaby, through the efforts of Gabriel Varden, is pardoned.

Joe and Dolly are married and become proprietors of the rebuilt Maypole. Edward Chester and Emma are married and go to the West Indies. Miggs tries to get her position back at the Varden household, is rejected, and becomes a jailer at a women's prison. Simon Tappertit, his legs crushed in the riots, becomes a shoe-black. Gashford later commits suicide. Lord George Gordon is held in the Tower and is then judged to be innocent of inciting the riots. Sir John Chester, now a Member of Parliament, turns out to be the father of Hugh and is killed in a duel by Geoffrey Haredale. Haredale escapes to the continent where he ends his days in a monastery. Barnaby and his mother live out their years tending a farm at the Maypole Inn where Barnaby can work effectively due to his physical strength.

Federal Marshal William O'Niel is assigned to a tour of duty at the titanium ore mining outpost Con-Am 27, operated by the company Con-Amalgamate on the Jovian moon of Io. Conditions on Io are difficult; gravity is 1/6 that of Earth's with no breathable atmosphere, and the spacesuits are cumbersome with limited air. Shifts are long but significant bonuses are paid. The general manager, Mark Sheppard, boasts that productivity has broken all records since he took over. Carol, O'Niel's wife, feels she cannot raise their son Paul on Io and leaves with their child to the Jupiter space station to await a shuttle back to Earth. Tarlow, a miner, suffers an attack of stimulant psychosis he sees spiders and rips open his spacesuit resulting in death by explosive decompression. Cane, another miner, enters an elevator without his spacesuit during another psychotic episode and dies from decompression. With the reluctant assistance of Dr. Lazarus, O'Niel investigates the deaths.

Another incident involves a worker, Sagan, who takes a prostitute hostage and threatens to kill her with a knife. O'Niel attempts to calm the man while Montone, his sergeant, sneaks in via the air duct and kills Sagan with a shotgun. O'Niel and Lazarus discover that Sagan had traces of polydichloric euthimal, a powerful amphetamine-type drug in his bloodstream, which would allow the miners to work continuously for days at a time until they burn out and turn psychotic after approximately ten months of use. O'Niel uncovers a drug distribution ring run by a corrupt Sheppard and sanctioned by now repentant Montone.

Using surveillance cameras, O'Niel finds and captures Nicholas Spota, one of Sheppard's dealers, who is murdered before he can be questioned. Montone is found garrotted. In a meat locker, O'Niel finds the latest shipment of drugs, which was shipped from the space station. He is then attacked there by another dealer, Russell Yario. O'Niel knocks him out, then destroys the shipment of drugs. When Sheppard finds out, he threatens O'Niel and contacts his drug distributor, asking him to send in professional hitmen. O'Niel is prepared, having been monitoring Sheppard's communications.

O'Niel waits for the arrival of the hitmen on a supply shuttle from the other side of Jupiter. Realizing what is coming and with only Dr. Lazarus willing to help him, O'Niel sends a message to his family promising to return to Earth when his "job is done". O'Niel ambushes the hitmen one by one. Lazarus helps him kill the first by trapping him in a pressurized corridor; O'Niel activates a bomb, causing an explosive decompression that kills the hitman. The second is killed in a glass greenhouse structure of the outpost when O'Niel tricks him into shooting a window, causing it to break open and blow him out to his death by explosive decompression.

O'Niel is then confronted and attacked by Sheppard's inside man - one of his own deputies, Sgt. Ballard. The two fight outside the outpost near the satellite structure until O'Niel pulls Ballard's oxygen hose, suffocating him as he pushes him into an electrical generation station, vaporizing him on impact. O'Niel then confronts the surprised Sheppard inside the outpost's recreation bar, knocking him out with one punch. It is implied Sheppard will now be brought to justice or murdered by his own associates. O'Niel, however, has already contacted his superiors about Sheppard's associates, some of whom are Con-Am executives, and shortly before his departure receives a communication that warrants have been issued for their arrests. O'Niel bids farewell to Lazarus and leaves on the shuttle to join his wife and son on the journey back to Earth.

Background

The events of the book seem to take place around 1825. In Chapter 29, Miss Monflathers refers to the death of Lord Byron, who died on 19 April 1824. When the inquest rules (incorrectly) that Quilp committed suicide, his corpse is ordered to be buried at a crossroads with a stake through the heart, a practice banned in 1823. Nell's grandfather, after his breakdown, fears that he shall be sent to a madhouse, and there chained to a wall and whipped; these practices went out of use after about 1830. In Chapter 13, the lawyer Mr. Brass is described as "one of '''Her''' Majesty's attornies" , putting him in the reign of Queen Victoria, which began in 1837, but given all the other evidence, and the fact that Kit, at his trial, is charged with acting "against the peace of our Sovereign Lord the King" (referring to William IV), this must be a slip of the pen.

Synopsis

''The Old Curiosity Shop'' tells the story of Nell Trent, a beautiful and virtuous young girl of "not quite fourteen". An orphan, she lives with her maternal grandfather (whose name is never revealed) in his shop of odds and ends. Her grandfather loves her dearly, and Nell does not complain, but she lives a lonely existence with almost no friends her own age. Her only friend is Kit, an honest boy employed at the shop, whom she is teaching to write. Secretly obsessed with ensuring that Nell does not die in poverty as her parents did, her grandfather attempts to provide Nell with a good inheritance through gambling at cards. He keeps his nocturnal games a secret, but borrows heavily from the evil Daniel Quilp, a malicious, grotesquely deformed, hunchbacked dwarf moneylender. In the end, he gambles away what little money they have, and Quilp seizes the opportunity to take possession of the shop and evict Nell and her grandfather. Her grandfather suffers a breakdown that leaves him bereft of his wits, and Nell takes him away to the Midlands of England, to live as beggars.

Convinced that the old man has stored up a large and prosperous fortune for Nell, her wastrel older brother, Frederick, convinces the good-natured but easily led Dick Swiveller to help him track Nell down, so that Swiveller can marry Nell and share her supposed inheritance with Frederick. To this end, they join forces with Quilp, who knows full well that there is no fortune, but sadistically chooses to 'help' them to enjoy the misery it will inflict on all concerned. Quilp begins to try to track Nell down, but the fugitives are not easily discovered. To keep Dick Swiveller under his eye, Quilp arranges for him to be taken as a clerk by Quilp's lawyer, Mr. Brass. At the Brass firm, Dick befriends the mistreated maidservant and nicknames her 'the Marchioness'. Nell, having fallen in with a number of characters, some villainous and some kind, succeeds in leading her grandfather to safety in a far-off village (identified by Dickens as Tong, Shropshire), but this comes at a considerable cost to Nell's health.

Meanwhile, Kit, having lost his job at the curiosity shop, has found new employment with the kind Mr and Mrs Garland. Here he is contacted by a mysterious 'single gentleman' who is looking for news of Nell and her grandfather. The 'single gentleman' and Kit's mother go after them unsuccessfully, and encounter Quilp, who is also hunting for the runaways. Quilp forms a grudge against Kit and has him framed as a thief. Kit is sentenced to transportation. However, Dick Swiveller proves Kit's innocence with the help of his friend the Marchioness. Quilp is hunted down and dies trying to escape his pursuers. At the same time, a coincidence leads Mr Garland to knowledge of Nell's whereabouts, and he, Kit, and the single gentleman (who turns out to be the younger brother of Nell's grandfather) go to find her. Sadly, by the time they arrive, Nell has died as a result of her arduous journey. Her grandfather, already mentally infirm, refuses to admit she is dead and sits every day by her grave waiting for her to come back until, a few months later, he dies himself.

After seven years at college, Thomas R. "Tommy" Callahan III barely graduates from Marquette University and returns to his hometown of Sandusky, Ohio. His father, industrialist and widower Thomas R. "Big Tom" Callahan Jr., gives him an executive job at the family's auto parts plant, Callahan Auto. In addition to the new job and office, Big Tom reveals that he plans to marry Beverly Barrish-Burns, a woman he had met at a fat farm, and that her son, Paul, will become Tommy's new stepbrother. However, Big Tom dies from a sudden heart attack during the wedding reception. After the funeral, doubting the future of the company without Big Tom, the bank reneges on promises of a loan for a new brake pad division and seeks immediate payment of Callahan Auto's debts. Tommy suggests a deal: he will let the bank hold his few inherited shares and house in exchange for the bank giving time to sell enough brake pads to prove the new division's viability. If enough brake pads are sold by the deadline, the bank will grant the loan. Tommy then sets out on a cross-country sales trip with Big Tom's scornful assistant, Richard Hayden, a childhood acquaintance who is not only annoyed over Tommy's immaturity and poor work ethic, but believes it was he, Richard, who should have replaced Big Tom as corporate head.

At an airport, Beverly and Paul are shown kissing romantically. They are revealed to be not mother and son, but rather married con artists with criminal records. Instead of eventually suing for divorce and taking half of Big Tom's estate, Beverly has inherited controlling interest in the company. To turn that into cash, she seeks a quick sale to self-described "auto parts king" Ray Zalinsky. On the road, Tommy's social anxiety and hyperactivity alienate several potential buyers. The lack of any progress leads to tension between Tommy and Richard. When all hope seems lost, Tommy persuades a surly waitress to serve him after the kitchen has closed and Richard suggests he use his skill at reading people to make sales. The two make amends and quickly reach their sales goal. However, Paul sabotages the company's computers, causing sales posted by sales manager Michelle Brock to be either lost or rerouted. With half of the sales now canceled, the bank (now backed by Beverly and Paul) decides to sell Callahan Auto to Zalinsky. Hoping that they can persuade Zalinsky to reconsider, Tommy and Richard board a plane to Chicago posing as flight attendants. In Chicago, they get a brief meeting with Zalinsky, but he tells them he wants only the reputation connected with the Callahan brand and will close down the company and lay off its workers.

Tommy and Richard are denied entrance to the Zalinsky board room since Tommy has no standing. As they wallow on the curb in self-pity, Michelle arrives with Paul and Beverly's police records. Tommy devises a plan: dressed as a suicide bomber by using road flares, he attracts the attention of a live television news crew and then, along with Michelle and Richard, forces his way back into the board room. Back in Sandusky, Callahan workers watch the drama on television. In a final move of pure persuasion, Tommy quotes Zalinsky's own advertising slogan, that he is on the side of the "American working man." As the television audience watches, Zalinsky signs Tommy's purchase order for 500,000 brake pads. Although Zalinsky says that the purchase order is meaningless as he will soon own Callahan Auto, Michelle shows the police records, which includes Paul's outstanding warrants for fraud. Since Beverly is still married to Paul, her marriage to Big Tom was bigamous and therefore never legal. Thus, all of Big Tom's controlling shares actually belong to Tommy, the rightful heir. Since Tommy does not want to sell the shares, the deal with Zalinsky is off, and since Tommy still holds Zalinsky's purchase order, the company is saved. Paul attempts to escape but is arrested. Zalinsky admits that Tommy outplayed him and invites Beverly to dinner. Tommy is appointed the president of Callahan Auto, becomes friends with Richard, and starts a romance with Michelle.

A vast lake, known as Lake Agassiz, covered much of North Dakota, Manitoba and Minnesota during prehistoric times.

The story begins when farmer Tom Lasker and his son, Will, uncover a seemingly brand new yacht. Found on a landlocked farm, it draws tourists to the area. Max Collingswood, a friend of Tom's, tries to help discover the origins of the boat. Collingswood enlists April Cannon, a worker at a chemical lab who discovers that the yacht is made of an unknown material. In fact, it is a fiberglass-like material with an impossible atomic number (161).

Collingswood and Cannon discover something else on a nearby ridge which is part of a Sioux reservation. The Sioux assist in its excavation and examination. It turns out to be a green glassy roundhouse-like structure, made from the same material.

Eventually, they gain access to it, revealing a dock for the sailboat, but no entrance for it. The discovery that the structure contains the means to access other sites not on Earth sets off a struggle between the Government and the Reservation for control of it.

An elderly man at The Shady Rest Retirement Home in East Texas is known to the staff as Sebastian Haff, but claims to be the real Elvis Presley. He explains that during the 1970s, he grew tired of the demands of his fame and switched places with an Elvis impersonator named Sebastian Haff; he claims it was Haff who died in 1977, while he lived in quiet, happy anonymity and made a living pretending to be himself. After a propane explosion destroyed documentation which was the only proof that he was actually Elvis, he was unable to return to his old life. He also falls into a coma after injuring himself during a performance.

Twenty years later in the present, Elvis contemplates his age and dignity; his only friend is a man named Jack who insists he is President John F. Kennedy, claiming to have had his skin dyed black after an assassination attempt and abandoned by Lyndon Johnson in a nursing home. Initially skeptical of Jack's story, Elvis does spot a mysterious scar on the back of Jack's head, but is ultimately unsure of its origin.

Eventually, Elvis and Jack are forced to face off against a re-animated ancient Egyptian mummy that was stolen during a U.S. museum tour, and then lost during a severe storm in East Texas when the thieves' bus veered into a river near the nursing home. The mummy takes on the garb of a cowboy and feeds on the souls of the residents of the home. It is dubbed 'Bubba Ho-Tep' by Elvis, who has a telepathic flashback of the mummy's life and death when he looks into its eyes. Due to their age, Jack and Elvis lack mobility and use a motorized wheelchair and a walker to get around the grounds.

Elvis and Jack create an elaborate plan to destroy the mummy. Destruction of the mummy would release the trapped souls of the other inhabitants, and they would be able to go to their final resting place. Elvis and Jack battle the mummy in the middle of the night, with Jack in an electric wheelchair and Elvis wielding a makeshift flamethrower. Jack is knocked out of his wheelchair by the mummy and is about to have his soul devoured; Elvis commandeers the wheelchair and crashes into the mummy to save Jack, but damages the flamethrower and suffers a large gash in his abdomen in the process. Meanwhile, Jack dies from a heart attack. Elvis becomes committed to getting rid of the mummy, and douses it with gasoline before throwing a match at it, incinerating the mummy.

Elvis lies on a hill near the river bank, dying from the blood loss from the gash and broken ribs. He contemplates that he does not fear death, knowing he still has his soul and saved everyone at the Shady Rest Retirement Home. As he reflects upon this, the stars align into a message for Elvis, saying: "all is well". Elvis says "Thank you, thank you very much", and dies.

A New Wave fashion show is to be held in a crowded Manhattan nightclub. Among the models are bisexual, cocaine-addicted Margaret and her similarly cocaine-addicted nemesis Jimmy. Margaret's drug-dealing girlfriend, Adrian, is constantly hassled by Jimmy because he does not have the money to pay for more drugs.

A small UFO lands on the roof of the penthouse apartment occupied by Margaret and Adrian. Jimmy accompanies Margaret home before the show, but he's actually trying to find Adrian's drugs. Margaret is being watched by a tiny, shapeless alien from inside the UFO. Margaret and Jimmy return to the club to participate in the show. During preparations, both agree to a photo shoot the following night on Margaret's rooftop. They are assured that there will be plenty of cocaine available at the shoot.

Jimmy's mother, Sylvia, a television producer, lives in the building across from Margaret's penthouse. German scientist Johann Hoffman has been secretly observing the aliens from the Empire State Building. Johann needs somewhere to continue his surveillance when the observation deck closes. He seeks help from the only person he knows in the U.S., college drama teacher Owen, who is on his way to meet a former student. Seeking a vantage point on his own, Johann stumbles into Sylvia's building. Sylvia, who has a free evening, invites him to her apartment for dinner. Across town, Katherine states her objection to the heroin use of her boyfriend, failed writer and addict Paul.

Margaret is seduced by Owen, her former acting professor. Then she is raped by Paul, Adrian's client. Paul had returned to seduce Margaret after walking out on a party held by Katherine when she insisted he pull himself together and help greet her business clients. The people who have sexual relations and reach orgasm with Margaret promptly die, with a crystal protruding from their head. Margaret realizes she can kill people by having sex with them. When Paul tries to rape her again in a fit of homophobic rage after finding out about her bisexuality, she vengefully kills him by forcing him to climax.

From Sylvia's apartment, Johann continues his observation between dinner and dodging Sylvia's attempts to seduce him. Adrian arrives home and helps Margaret hide Owen's body. Later the crew arrives at the apartment for the fashion shoot. Dominating the scene a young Dean LaPadula, sporting a skin tight leather vest, quietly observes the goings on. During the shoot Margaret is taunted by Jimmy, so she agrees to have sex with him knowing it will kill him.

Johann reveals that the alien is extracting the endorphins produced by the brain when an orgasm occurs. Margaret survives because she never experiences an orgasm. Margaret finally learns of the aliens from Johann, whom she stabs to death, something Sylvia witnesses through a telescope. Seeing the alien craft leaving, Margaret injects herself with heroin to induce a wild autoerotic orgasm to ensure the aliens take her with them. Sylvia and Katherine arrive at the apartment together and reach the penthouse in time to see Margaret vaporized and taken aboard by the aliens.

Nick and Libby Parsons are wealthy residents of Whidbey Island, Washington. Libby's friend Angela Green offers to look after their four-year-old son Matty so they can spend a romantic weekend sailing. Libby awakens to find blood everywhere and her husband missing. The Coast Guard arrive and find Libby holding a bloody knife.

Although Nick's body is not found, Libby is arrested, tried, and convicted of murder. Her motive is assumed to be a $2 million life insurance policy and her alleged knowledge that Nick was under investigation for embezzlement. Not wanting Matty to become a ward of the state, she asks Angela to adopt him while she is in prison. At first, Angela regularly brings Matty to visit his mother, but when the visits cease, Libby tracks Angela to San Francisco and calls her. During their conversation, Nick enters and Matty yells, "Daddy!" Libby realizes that Nick faked his death and framed her. After failing to get investigative help, a fellow inmate and former lawyer tells Libby to get paroled for good behavior by falsely claiming remorse for "killing" Nick. Once free, Libby can kill Nick with impunity due to the Double Jeopardy Clause in the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

After six years in prison, Libby is paroled to a halfway house under the supervision of parole officer Travis Lehman, a former law professor whose wife and daughter left him due to his alcoholism. To search for Nick, Libby violates curfew and is caught breaking into Matty's old school on Whidbey Island to get Angela's records. As Lehman takes Libby back to prison via a car ferry, he handcuffs her to his car's door handle. Libby manages to start the car and rams another car into the water, but when Lehman tries to stop her, she drives his car off the ferry. As it sinks, he uncuffs her; she grabs his gun and swims away. She visits her mother who gives her cash and her truck.

Libby uses Angela's Social Security number to learn her address in Colorado. There she hears from Angela's former neighbor that Angela, under a different name, died three years earlier in a natural gas explosion. A picture in the paper reveals a painting by Wassily Kandinsky owned by Nick, which Libby is able to trace to New Orleans through an art gallery. At the gallery, Lehman almost catches her, but she rams his car and destroys it before driving away. She flies to New Orleans and finds Nick running a small luxury hotel under the alias Jonathan Devereaux.

Libby confronts Nick during a fund-raising auction at his hotel and demands he return Matty in exchange for her walking away. Nick claims that he faked his death to avoid prison and provide her and Matty with the insurance money, not believing she would be convicted, and that Angie's death was an accident. Libby scoffs at his lies. During their conversation she sees Lehman arrive at the hotel and walks out. Lehman tells "Jonathan" that Libby believes he is her dead ex-husband and informs the local police that she is in the area.

The next day Libby arranges to meet Nick at Lafayette Cemetery No. 3 (filmed at Lafayette Cemetery No. 1) to take Matty. Nick hires a boy to lure Libby to a mausoleum, where Nick knocks Libby out and locks her in a coffin with a corpse. She shoots the hinges off the coffin lid with Lehman's gun, pushes it off, and escapes. Meanwhile, Lehman is in the office of "Jonathan" and notices the Kandinsky artwork that Libby was searching for in the gallery. Now unsure of Libby's guilt, he tells his boss in Washington State to fax him the driver's license for "Nicholas Parsons".

Lehman intercepts Libby and she breaks down sobbing. He then goes to Nick's hotel, where he reveals to Nick that he knows his true identity. After Lehman agrees to take a bribe of $1 million, Nick admits to "murdering" Libby. Libby emerges with Lehman's gun and both she and Lehman tell Nick that she can kill him with impunity because of the double jeopardy rule. However, instead of shooting Nick, she puts a bullet through the Kandinsky. Nick tells her where Matty is, Lehman reveals that he has recorded Nick's confession, and Nick pulls a gun, shooting Lehman in the shoulder. In an ensuing struggle, Nick is about to shoot Lehman again, but Libby recovers her gun and shoots and kills Nick. Lehman insists they go back to Washington to win her pardon. They later find Matty at a boarding school in Georgia, where he immediately recognizes his mother.

Frank Wyatt, his brother John, their friends Mike Peterson and Ray Cochran drive in Ray's luxurious RV to watch a professional boxing match in Chicago for the night.

With the freeway gridlocked, Ray exits the expressway and cuts through a poor residential neighborhood. The four friends are alarmed when they accidentally hit a man named Teddy. Inspecting Teddy, they find that he has been shot and has a paper bag filled with money.

The RV is sideswiped by a car, leaving it lodged in a narrow alleyway. Three gangsters — Rhodes, Travis, and Sykes — force their way into the RV and drag Teddy outside. Fallon, a local crime lord, arrives and executes Teddy for stealing the money, then decides to kill the four witnesses. The friends are chased by Fallon's hoods into a rail yard. They hide in an old streetcar in which several homeless people are sheltering. They blackmail the four men into handing over their valuables but are heard by the hoods. The four friends flee as Fallon kills the homeless people, mistaking them for his quarry.

Taking refuge in an apartment building, the four friends convince a resident to call the police but the hoods arrive at the complex. The resident tells the four friends that there is an escape route to another building via the roof. They use a ladder to cross over to the other rooftop but are pursued by Fallon and his hoods. Ray stays behind and tries to bribe the gangsters into letting them go. Fallon, disgusted by Ray's tactics and privileged upbringing, throws Ray from the roof, killing him.

The trio are chased into the sewers by Fallon and his henchmen. Mike shoots and kills Sykes, allowing them to escape. Discovering Sykes' body, a comment made by Travis annoys Fallon and he drowns Travis.

The trio then break into a swap meet, hoping to summon the police by setting off the building's alarm and are arrested by two security guards. Fallon and Rhodes arrive and kill the guards as the trio hide in the store. Rhodes and Mike engage in a shootout that kills Rhodes but leaves Mike wounded. John retrieves Mike, but Fallon shoots John in the leg. The three friends make their way to a bathroom where Frank tends to their wounds. Frank leaves to try to get help but spots Fallon, who is about to discover John and Mike. A fight ensues and Frank overpowers Fallon and throws him off a ledge to his death.

Police and paramedics arrive, taking Mike and John to a hospital where they are expected to survive their wounds. Frank then exits the building to his waiting wife.

In the game, you decide the fate of the entire Galactic Federation. The aggressors from the planet Velian, having new weapons that make them almost invincible, are trying to destroy the Federation and capture all of its colonies. The Velians are ruthless to those who are trying to get in their way. They calmly burn entire planets if they show resistance. The player will have to go from the cadet of the Training Center of the Air Force of the Federation to one of the best Air Force aces, who is assigned the most difficult tasks.

Gex is a gecko who has a passion for television which makes him a target for the cybernetic being Emperor Rez. Emperor Rez is determined to overthrow The Media Dimension, the "world" of television.

A former nude model and prostitute, Ruth is manageress of a London drinking club frequented by racing drivers and lives in a flat above with her illegitimate son, Andy. Another child is in the custody of her estranged husband's family.

In the club she meets David, an immature young man from a well-off family who wants to succeed in motor racing but suffers from lack of money and overuse of alcohol. Ruth falls for his looks and charm, but it is a doomed relationship: without a job, he cannot afford to marry her and his family would never accept her. When he makes a drunken scene in the club, she is discharged from her job, which also means that she is made homeless.

Desmond, a wealthy admirer, secures a flat for her and her son but she still sees David. When she tells him she is pregnant, he does nothing about it and she miscarries. Distraught, she goes to a house in Hampstead where she believes David is at a party. He comes out and goes with a girl to a pub. Ruth waits outside the pub and, when he emerges, shoots him dead with four shots. She is arrested, tried and hanged.

An unexpected visitor called Mayerling comes in through Hercule Poirot's bedroom and collapses on the floor. The only clue to what he wants is his repeating Poirot's name and address and writing the number 4, many times. When Hastings jokingly calls it "The Mystery of the Big Four," the man begins speaking about an international crime cartel of that name. He describes the four leaders: Number 1 is a Chinese political mastermind named Li Chang Yen; Number 2 is probably American; Number 3 is a Frenchwoman; and Number 4 is known only as "the Destroyer." The man dies soon after and Poirot and Hastings go off on the trail of the Big Four.

From here, the novel becomes a series of loosely connected short stories.

• Poirot and Hastings visit an informant, John Ingles, to ask him about the Big Four. Ingles shows Poirot a note from a fisherman who asked him for a few hundred pounds to hide himself from the Big Four. Poirot, Hastings and Ingles discover that the man who wrote the note, a Mr Jonathan Whalley, has been murdered by Number 4.
• Poirot discovers that the Big Four have produced a form of wireless energy capable of focusing a beam of great intensity on any spot. A British scientist called Halliday was near success on this same concept when he was kidnapped while at a conference in France. Poirot and Hastings visit the notable French scientist Madame Olivier and discover she is Number 3.
• Poirot discovers that American millionaire Abe Ryland is Number 2 and sends Hastings to spy on him.
• Poirot investigates the death of a Mr Paynter in Worcestershire. Before his death, Paynter had written in ink "yellow jasmine" on his newspaper, and attempted to draw a number 4. Poirot reveals that Paynter's attending physician, a Doctor Quentin, was in fact Number 4, who gave Paynter an injection of yellow jasmine.
• A month later, Japp informs Poirot of another mysterious death—that of chess grandmaster Gilmour Wilson, who died from heart failure while participating in a match with Russian refugee Doctor Savaronoff. Poirot deduces that the real Savaronoff died in Russia and that Number Four impersonated him, killing Wilson in order to preserve his cover.
• Hastings is kidnapped by the Big Four and Poirot saves him.
• Poirot identifies Number 4 as an obscure character actor called Claude Darrell. A former girlfriend reveals Darrell's identifying quirks.
• In order to track the Big Four in secret, Poirot stages his own death. He and Hastings travel to the Big Four's mountain hideout in Italy and are taken captive. Poirot reveals that he is not Hercule Poirot, but his twin brother, Achille. He tells the Big Four that the mountain has been cordoned off and the police are on the scene. The Big Four escape just as the police raid the hideout. Back home, Poirot reveals Achille Poirot did not exist – it was Hercule Poirot in disguise all along. He laments that all his other cases will seem boring and tame compared to this case. The novel ends with Hastings returning to Argentina and Poirot considering retirement.

Austin Millbarge is a code breaker dwelling in the dark basement at the Pentagon who aspires to escape his under-respected job to become a secret agent. Emmett Fitz-Hume, a wisecracking, pencil-pushing son of an envoy, takes the foreign service exam under peer pressure. Millbarge and Fitz-Hume meet during the test, on which Fitz-Hume openly attempts to cheat after an attempt to bribe his immediate supervisor in exchange for the answers backfires. Millbarge, however, was not prepared to take the test, having had only one day to study after his supervisor deliberately withheld a notice for two weeks leaving him vulnerable to fail and having to remain in the bowels of the Pentagon.

Needing two expendable agents to act as decoys to draw attention away from a more capable team, the DIA decides to enlist Fitz-Hume and Millbarge, promote them to GLG-20 Foreign Service Operatives, rush them through minimal military survival training, and then send them on an undefined mission inside Pakistan and Soviet Central Asia. Meanwhile, two professional agents are well on their way to reaching the real objective: the seizure of a mobile SS-50 ICBM launcher in Soviet territory. A member of the main team is killed, while Millbarge and Fitz-Hume manage to escape multiple enemy attacks and eventually encounter Karen Boyer, the surviving operative from the main team.

In the Pamir Mountains of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic, the trio overpowers the mobile missile guard unit using hastily constructed extraterrestrial outfits and tranquilizer guns. Following orders in real-time from the intelligence agency (operating from the W.A.M.P. military bunker located deep under an abandoned drive-in theater), they begin to operate the launcher. At the end of their instructions, the vehicle launches the ICBM into space, targeting an unspecified area in the Continental United States. Thinking they have started a nuclear war, the American agents and their Soviet counterparts pair up to have sex before the world is destroyed.

Meanwhile, at the operations bunker, the military generals initiate the conversion of the drive-in theater to expose what is hidden beneath the screens and projection booth: a huge black-op SDI-esque laser and collector/emitter screen. The purpose of sending the agents to launch a Soviet ICBM is exposed as a means to test this anti-ballistic missile system, but the laser fails to intercept the nuclear missile. Despite this, the military commanders at W.A.M.P. choose not to inform President Ronald Reagan and the US Government that the missile launch was not initiated by the Soviet authorities, revealing a twisted contingency plan of letting the impending thermonuclear war commence to "preserve the American way of life".

Back in the Soviet Union, horrified at the thought of having launched a nuclear missile at their own country, the American spies and the Soviet missile technicians quickly use Millbarge's technical knowledge of Source Programmable Guidance to transmit instructions to the traveling missile, diverting it off into space where it detonates harmlessly. Immediately after, the underground W.A.M.P. bunker is located and stormed by U.S. Army Rangers, and the intelligence agents and rogue military officials involved in the covert operation are arrested. Millbarge, Fitz-Hume, and Boyer go on to become nuclear disarmament negotiators, playing a nuclear version of ''Risk''-meets-''Trivial Pursuit'' against their new Soviet friends.

To prepare for Sunnydale High's cultural exchange program, Buffy visits an Incan exhibit with her schoolmates. She is paired with an exchange student with whom her mom signed her up. Xander becomes jealous when he learns that she will room with a guy.

The students learn that the mummy in the museum is one of a beautiful Incan princess, sacrificed by her people to save them from destruction. Willow and Buffy express remorse for the princess; dying before she could really live her life. After everyone leaves the museum, a class clown breaks the seal on the mummy while trying to steal it. The princess wakes up, for the curse is broken, and pulls the student into her coffin. She mummifies him by a kiss on the lips. When the Scoobies rush to the museum, they encounter a sword-wielding guard and the remains of the missing student.

Buffy's exchange student arrives at the bus station, but the mummy girl sucks out his life too. The 500-year-old becomes a beautiful teenager, and poses as "Ampata", the boy who was supposed to stay with Buffy (everyone simply assumes that the information was wrong on her sex). Xander is smitten with her, and the two begin a relationship. Giles asks Ampata to decipher the seal from her tomb, and she explains (reluctantly) that it describes a girl chosen to die to save her people, and a bodyguard who will keep her from straying from that path. She also tells Giles to destroy the seal completely. The bodyguard appears again and again, trying to stop Ampata, until she finally manages to use her kiss on him in the bathroom, sucking out his life to keep herself from dying.

Buffy and Ampata bond over the tale of the Inca Princess, Ampata stating that the princess was forced into her destiny by her people, as they claimed she was the only girl of her generation who could save them; Buffy miserably notes that this parallels her own life. Xander asks Ampata to the dance to enliven her; she gladly accepts. Willow is downcast to see her crush with another girl. Meanwhile, Buffy and Giles open Ampata's trunk and discover the real Ampata's body. Giles tries to piece together the seal while Buffy tries to save Xander from Ampata's deadly kiss. But Ampata feels too much for Xander and leaves for the museum. She tries to stop Giles from reconstructing the seal. Buffy shows up to fight her but is tossed into Ampata's sarcophagus alongside Giles. When Ampata tries to feed off Willow, Xander shows up and insists that if she must feed on anyone to save her life, it should be him; despite Ampata's feelings for him, she reluctantly agrees to do so. However, Ampata hesitates and weakens to the point of returning to her dead form; Buffy pulls her off of Xander and she instantly breaks into pieces on the floor.

At school the next day, Buffy consoles Xander and tells him about the parallels between her and Ampata's lives and how they were both chosen to die. She then thanks him for saving her from that fate.

Caroline (Patricia Roc) invites her beautiful, green-eyed friend Barbara (Margaret Lockwood) to her wedding to wealthy landowner and local magistrate Sir Ralph Skelton (Griffith Jones). The scheming Barbara soon has Sir Ralph entranced. Caroline, wishing his happiness, stands aside, and even allows Barbara to persuade her to be her maid of honour so as to lessen the scandal of the abrupt change of brides. At the wedding reception, Barbara meets a handsome stranger, Kit Locksby (Michael Rennie). It is love at first sight for both, but too late.

Married life in the country does not provide the new Lady Skelton with the excitement she craves. A visit from her detested sister-in-law Henrietta, Lady Kingsclere (Enid Stamp-Taylor), and her husband (Francis Lister) does not lessen her boredom. In a game of Ombre, Henrietta wins Barbara's jewels, including her most-prized possession, her late mother's ruby brooch. A chance remark about the notorious highwayman Captain Jerry Jackson gives Barbara an idea. Masquerading as Jackson, Barbara stops Henrietta's coach and retrieves her brooch (as well as the rest of Henrietta's jewellery).

Intoxicated by the experience, she continues to waylay coaches until one night, she and the real Captain Jackson (James Mason) target the same one. After they relieve the passengers of their valuables and escape, Jackson is amused to find his competitor is a beautiful woman. They become lovers and partners in crime. She warns him never to be unfaithful to her with another woman.

Barbara learns of a planned gold shipment from a former tenant farmer of Skelton's, Ned Cotterill (Emrys Jones), who will be one of the guards. Jackson is against the idea of hijacking the gold, as the coach will have double the usual protection, but Barbara talks him into it. The robbery does not go smoothly. When Cotterill pursues them, Barbara shoots at his horse and kills Cotterill by accident. Her conscience is not disturbed for long.

Hogarth (Felix Aylmer), an aged family servant, discovers Barbara's double life. However, his religious fervour to save her and her convincing lies about repenting keep him from revealing what he knows. Barbara tries to silence him for good with doses of poison. When he realizes it, she smothers him.

Barbara runs to Jackson after an absence of many months, and finds him in bed with a woman. Infuriated, she betrays him to her husband, anonymously. Jackson is captured and sentenced to be hanged. In London, Barbara goes to view the execution with Caroline, terrified that he will name her as his accomplice in his address from the scaffold. However, he only talks of faithless women. When a riot breaks out afterward, the two ladies are rescued by none other than Kit, who turns out to be engaged to Caroline.

Jackson's accomplices cut him down and revive him. He breaks into Barbara's bedroom at the Skelton estate and rapes her. Fearful of what he may do next, she begs Kit to take her out of England to start a new life. He is tempted but decides to honour his obligation to Caroline. Barbara awaits her husband's coach with a loaded pistol. Jackson shows up to claim partnership in the caper, but when he learns what Barbara intends, it is too much even for him. He plans to warn Skelton, but Barbara shoots and kills him. When the coach with Caroline, Ralph and Kit arrives, she hijacks it and attempts to shoot her husband—not knowing that the three of them have agreed to find a way for both couples to be together. Kit shoots her first and she escapes on horseback.

Mortally wounded, Barbara flees to her home, where Caroline finds her and learns the truth. Caroline sends Kit in alone to see the dying woman. At first, Barbara lies about how she was shot; however, she cannot continue the deceit with her one true love. She confesses all and pleads with Kit to stay with her until the end, but he is repulsed by the magnitude of her crimes and leaves her to die alone. After her death, Caroline and Ralph reunite, determined to put the past behind them and live happily together.

The novel begins with a framing story in which a character named Lessingham travels from Earth to Mercury. Eddison's Mercury, though, is a fantasy world, with no effort made to conform to the scientific knowledge of Mercury at the time. Lessingham and the framing story are not seen again after the second chapter.

Having introduced the chief lords of Demonland—the brothers Juss, Spitfire, and Goldry Bluszco, and their cousin Brandoch Daha—the story begins in earnest with a dwarf ambassador from Witchland arriving in Demonland to demand that the Demons recognize King Gorice XI of Witchland as their overlord. Juss and his brothers reply that they and all of Demonland will submit if the king (a famous wrestler) can defeat Goldry Bluszco in a wrestling match.

The match is held in the neutral territory of the Foliot Isles, and Gorice is killed. His successor (or reincarnation) Gorice XII is a sorcerer who banishes Goldry to an enchanted mountain prison, by means of a perilous sorcery requiring the help of the devious Goblin traitor Lord Gro.

While Lord Spitfire is sent back to raise an army out of Demonland, Lord Juss and his cousin Brandoch Daha, aided by King Gaslark of Goblinland, attempt an assault on Carcë, the capital of the Witches, where they think Goldry is held. The rescue fails, the Goblins flee, and Juss and Brandoch Daha are both captured. They escape with the aid of La Fireez, the prince of Pixyland and vassal of King Gorice, who helps them at great personal cost because he owes them a debt of honor.

Juss and Brandoch Daha return home to Demonland and then start an expedition to rescue Goldry Bluszco from his terrible prison, somewhere past the mountains of Impland. Lord Spitfire again stays behind to lead Demonland's armies against an expected invasion from Witchland.

The expedition's fleet is smashed and its army destroyed. Juss and Brandoch Daha meet with three strange enchanted heroes of an earlier time, and Lord Juss is later nearly killed by a manticore. After a year of wandering they climb the mighty peak of Koshtra Pivrarcha and then attempt the even more difficult peak of Koshtra Belorn. Before reaching the summit of Koshtra Belorn they encounter Queen Sophonisba, a royal from that area to whom the gods had granted eternal youth when her realm was laid waste by the Witches.

From Sophonisba they learn that Goldry is held in prison on the top of Zora Rach Nam, a mountain which cannot be climbed and whose peak is surrounded by unceasing flames. There is only one way to free him: they must find a hippogriff's egg, and one of them must ride the newly hatched hippogriff. Queen Sophonisba gives Lord Juss one hippogriff egg. Alas, their lone companion, the Impland native Mivarsh Faz (fearing that he will have to walk back home alone, if the Demons get the hippogriff) steals the egg and tries to use it himself, causing his death. Lord Juss and Brandoch Daha set out for home, their quest defeated for the time being. But matters are not completely hopeless, as one of Queen Sophonisba's martlet scouts have told them of another hippogriff egg, lying at the bottom of a lake in Demonland.

Meanwhile, the armies of Witchland have attacked Demonland. Duke Corsus is the first commander of the Witchland army, and conquers part of Demonland, but is defeated by Spitfire. A new Witchland army, under the command of Lord Corinius, defeats Spitfire and captures most of Demonland. This includes Brandoch Daha's castle of Krothering, which had been watched over by his sister Lady Mevrian.

At this point, Lord Gro changes sides and helps Lady Mevrian escape from the grasp of Corinius, who wishes to marry her against her will. A few months later, Lord Juss and Brandoch Daha return and expel the Witches from Demonland.

Equipped with a new hippogriff egg, Lord Juss makes a second attempt to rescue his brother, and this time is successful. However, his forces are trapped in an inland sea by the Witchland navy; forced to engage in battle directly, they completely destroy that navy. La Fireez dies in this battle.

The Demons then sail to Carcë and face the remaining forces of Witchland in a climactic struggle. In the battle, Lord Gro is lambasted by Corund for switching sides; Gro responds by killing a Demon and is himself killed by Spitfire. Corund dies from wounds he suffers fighting with the heroes of Demonland.

His armies having failed, King Gorice attempts another terrible summoning; lacking the aid of Gro, he is unable to complete the spell and is destroyed. Duke Corsus poisons the remaining nobles of Witchland, and is killed himself by the dying Corinius.

Though triumphant, the Demon lords find that victory is bitter because there are no more enemies worthy of their heroism, no more great deeds to perform. Sophonisba, seeking to reward their heroism, prays to the gods who return the world to how it had been four years before. And so, with a blare of trumpets, an ambassador from Witchland arrives, "craving present audience" and the story starts anew.

Nakamoto Corporation is celebrating the grand opening of its new headquarters, the Nakamoto Tower, in Downtown Los Angeles; the 45th floor of the building is awash with celebrities, dignitaries and local politicians. On the 46th floor, Cheryl Lynn Austin, 23, is found dead. Lieutenant Peter J. Smith, the Special Services Liaison for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is assigned to the case. He is joined, on request, by retired Captain John Connor, who has lived in Japan and is well-acquainted with Japanese culture.

Upon arriving at Nakamoto Tower, the two policemen learn from officer-in-charge Tom Graham that the Japanese, led by Nakamoto employee Ishiguro, are stalling the investigation by demanding that the liaison be present. Although they have a valid pretense in that the virulently racist Graham is threatening to disrupt the celebration, it is obvious to Connor that a cover-up is underway. The detectives realize that the tapes from the security cameras on the 46th floor have mysteriously disappeared, and the security guards are deliberately unhelpful. Smith and Connor visit the apartment of the late Ms. Austin, realizing that she was a mistress for the Japanese Yakuza. It seems that Ms. Austin's home had been ransacked soon after her death. After several visits to friends and associates of Ms. Austin and Nakamoto, the two detectives find a suspect in Eddie Sakamura, a wealthy Japanese playboy from Kyoto. However, the two are inclined to release him, due to Eddie's previous associations with John Connor. Connor is still able to get Eddie to hand over his passport.

The two officers are summoned to witness Ms. Austin's autopsy; trace evidence strongly suggests a Japanese killer. Afterwards, Smith and Connor are approached by Ishiguro, who now presents them with seemingly authentic videos from the security cameras, which show Sakamura to be the murderer. Having solved the mystery, Connor returns home to rest, while Smith and Graham go to apprehend Sakamura. Upon arriving at Eddie's house, the two detectives are stalled by two naked women while Eddie escapes in a Ferrari. After a high-speed chase, Eddie's car crashes and bursts into flames, killing him.

The next day, the newspaper runs editorials criticizing Smith, Graham, and Connor's actions as racist and accuses them of police brutality. Soon afterward, Smith receives a phone call from the Chief of Police, declaring the investigation officially over. Smith isn't satisfied, and decides to take the tapes to the University of Southern California, in order to make copies. There, Smith meets Theresa Asakuma, a Japanese student who is an expert on computers and software manipulation. She is able to quickly point out that the tapes were indeed copies. After duplicating the tapes, Smith then picks up Connor after his golf game with several Japanese friends. On their way back to the USC labs, the two detectives are offered lucrative bribes from the Japanese, including a membership at an expensive golf club and extremely low-priced real estate offers. They visit and consult with companies and industries involved with Nakamoto, in order to learn more about the killer's motives. Along the way, they realize that they are only pawns in a much larger political and economic "war" between America and Japan, and how much the United States relies on Japan, which dominates the American electronics industry. Throughout the investigation, Connor educates Smith about the vast cultural differences between Japan and America, as well as the various underhanded business tactics Japan uses to maintain their technological edge over America.

Finally, they meet with U.S. Senator John Morton, a potential presidential candidate in the upcoming elections. They learn that Morton fiercely opposes the Japanese purchase of MicroCon, a small Silicon Valley company that manufactures machinery. At USC, Smith and Theresa deduce that Eddie had been set up by the Japanese who had altered the tapes and inserted Eddie's image in them. They undo the changes, discovering that Senator Morton was apparently the real killer and Eddie had been a witness. Connor and Smith return to Smith's apartment, where they discover Eddie Sakamura, alive; the man who had actually been killed was a Japanese security officer named Tanaka who had been in Eddie's garage, searching for the tapes, before panicking and fleeing in Eddie's car, which led to his death. The trio then confront Senator Morton, who confesses to his role in Cheryl Austin's death. The senator then shoots himself in a bathroom. Soon afterward, an angry Ishiguro arrives to confront Eddie and the two detectives, making subtle threats to their lives. Strangely, Eddie reacts calmly, leading Connor to conclude afterward that Eddie still possesses an original copy of the tape from the security cameras. Smith and Connor then travel to Eddie's home, where they find him tortured to death for the location of the stolen tape. Connor drops Smith off at his home.

Upon entering his apartment, Smith realizes that Eddie had left the tape there. Ishiguro's men arrive; he quickly orders his babysitter to hide his daughter and herself in the upstairs bedroom. Connor sneaks back to Smith's apartment, carrying a bulletproof vest. The two detectives then engage in a gun battle with the thugs, and Smith is shot in the back, although his vest saves his life.

The next day, the two watch the tape that Eddie had left behind; Austin was still alive after being strangled by Morton in an act of sexual pleasure, but deliberately murdered by Ishiguro after Morton and Eddie left. They go to the Nakamoto Tower to apprehend Ishiguro during an important meeting; Connor radios the police dispatcher knowing that the Japanese are monitoring the frequency and will be prepared for the arrest. The detectives show the tape of the murder to the meeting attendees; when Ishiguro sees that the senior Japanese executives have all left the meeting room he commits suicide by jumping off the building. Having solved the mystery, Connor answers Smith's questions before dropping him off at his apartment. The story then concludes with Smith's statements about America's future with Japan and the observation that no one seems to be taking the potential threats seriously.

The book starts with Jeff Wells, a cadet at a military academy on Mars in need of a teaching robot, for although he is not flunking, his substandard grades have caused concern for Commander Widlow, who has also pointed out that the Wells family has lost their fortune and his tuition is overdue, ergo termination is recommended. The more sympathetic commandant, Admiral Yobo, permits Jeff to remain in the academy, being well aware of the hardships of the Wellses, and gives Jeff a cashier's check to buy a robot. As the academy has ended for summer, Jeff returns to Earth, where he buys a small, fat robot only to discover that it has the only mini-anti-gravity device in existence. The robot reveals he is named Norby, and was owned many years ago by a man named MacGillicuddy who found him in a wrecked spaceship, then used his parts to repair a damaged robot of his own, hence his comical shape.

Norby and Jeff go to the park where the evil villain Ing's henchmen are after Fargo Wells, Jeff's brother. Norby and Jeff stop the henchmen who are captured by the police. The policewoman in charge of the squad identifies herself as Albany Jones, whom Fargo knew from his days at Neil Armstrong High School. Ing manages to take over Manhattan Island, renaming it the "Kingdom of Ing", but Norby and Jeff start a revolt against him with the aid of a dowdy woman whom they save from being arrested. However, as Ing's soldiers are about to capture Jeff, Norby absconds using a hyperdrive, never before done and creating a subplot for the second book in the series ''Norby's Other Secret'', as they end up in a jungle planet named Jamya. Norby uses the hyperdrive to return to Earth, where they enlist Admiral Yobo in their quest to stop Ing. The trio takes Admiral Yobo's ship, but Norby warns that his hyperspace ability does not guarantee a successful infiltration of the Kingdom of Ing, to which Jeff sternly orders Norby to push forward. The hyperdrive literally causes Yobo's ship to hover above Ing's head, forcing him to a humiliating surrender. After unmasking Ing, he is revealed to be Commander Widlow, who held a longtime grudge against Jeff and Fargo's family. The book ends with Fargo restoring the family fortune, and Albany Jones earning a promotion, as well as starting a relationship with Fargo. Jeff ends the story saying Norby is ''his'' Mixed-Up Robot.

Aging private detective Harry Ross, an ex-cop, is working on a case to return 17-year-old runaway Mel Ames to her parents' home. He tracks down Mel and her sleazy boyfriend, Jeff Willis, at a Mexican resort. During a struggle, Mel accidentally shoots Harry with his pistol, striking him in the upper thigh.

The plot picks up two years later, when Ross is living in Southern California in the guest quarters of Mel's wealthy parents, Jack and Catherine Ames. They are former movie stars, now in the twilight of their careers. Jack is dying of cancer, which is out of remission, and he and Ross pass time playing cards.

One day, Jack asks a favor of Harry: to deliver a package to an address in Los Angeles. It turns out to be the first development in a series of twists and turns in a 20-year-old case involving the disappearance of Catherine's ex-husband.

When Harry arrives at the address, he encounters a man named Ivar, who has just been fatally shot and shoots at Harry. Harry is detained by police, including former colleague Lt. Verna Hollander. At the police station, he runs into another (now retired) old pal and colleague, Raymond Hope.

Verna and Raymond are both sympathetic, as they had heard rumors that Harry suffered damage to his genitals when shot in Mexico. Harry explains that he was only shot in the thigh.

Harry likes Catherine, who flirts with him from time to time. He acts as an agent for Jack and Catherine, who are being blackmailed by Jeff, now out of prison, and his parole officer Gloria Lamar.

Harry and Catherine have sex for the first (and only) time. Jack angrily realizes this when he has a heart attack that same night, and Catherine responds to his call for help wearing Harry's shirt.

Harry, meanwhile, is forced to acknowledge that his friends have deceived and manipulated him.

Raymond tries to persuade Harry to get away from it all, but Harry has figured out that Raymond was a conspirator in the murder of Catherine's first husband 20 years before. Raymond shoots at Harry, but Harry kills him first. Following this shooting, Harry reconciles with Catherine and Jack. He leaves town with Verna.

Dolly and Beulah, two gossiping housewives, tell each other that Jabe Torrance has just had surgery in Memphis but is dying. Carol Cutrere comes in a little later and Val, a roaming singer and musician, comes into the general store. Carol flirts with Val, insisting she has met him before in New Orleans, but he denies any prior knowledge of her. Lady agrees to hire Val as a clerk.

After a few weeks, Val tells Lady about his wild past in New Orleans and admits that he once knew Carol. When David enters the store, Lady tells David that she aborted his child when he left her. Val and Vee are talking about her painting when Vee's husband, Talbot, catches him kissing her hand. Lady allows Val to stay at the store, but Val steals money from the cashbox when she leaves to get linens for the bed. Val returns the money and wants to leave, but Lady begs him to stay.

On Easter, Jabe tells Lady he was responsible for her father's death and has a hemorrhage. At sunset, Vee says she has been blinded by a vision of the risen Christ and Val is yelled at by Vee's husband for helping her up. Vee's husband, Sheriff Talbot, tells him he has until sunset to get out of town. Val is ready to leave but Lady tries to stop him. She tries to get the nurse to kill her husband with a lethal dose of morphine, but the nurse will not. Then Lady tells Val she is happily pregnant with his child, and tells Val she looks forward to a new life because of this.

Both walk about the newly decorated refreshment emporium adjoining the store, symbolizing the promise of a new start. As Val and Lady embrace, Val looks up to see that Jabe has torn a hole through his floor, and thus through the ceiling of the emporium, and is throwing coal oil into the place, setting it on fire while yelling out the upstairs window that Val has set the place on fire and is "robbing the place." Lady escapes through the door of the emporium and heads up the stairs towards Jabe's room yelling "No Jabe, no!" whereupon Jabe shoots Lady on the stairway. As Lady dies, the local sheriff and fire squad break through the front door, and seeing Val trying to get out of the emporium, open their water hoses full force in an ultimately successful attempt to push him back into the burning building, thus murdering him. Lady calls out for him while dying from her husband Jabe's gunshots.

In the final scene, Carol walks in the remains of the burnt-out emporium while another transient looks about and discovers Val's snakeskin jacket. Carol trades a gold ring for the jacket and offers a soliloquy on "the fugitive kind."

Three thousand years before the story starts, Lysos founds a human colony on the isolated planet of Stratos in an effort to radically re-engineer human life into a happier, more pastoral form. She developed a strain of human beings that conceives clones in winter (always female), while those conceived in summer (variants or "vars") obtain their genes through sexual reproduction just in case biological adaptation becomes necessary. Further, males and females have opposed seasons of sexual receptivity: men in summer and women in winter. This scheme is said to be stable over evolutionary time because women gain an advantage from self-cloning, while men only reproduce in summer. Finally, men have been made far less aggressive during the times that they are less sexually receptive and are much less numerous. The social result is that the vast majority of the population of Stratos consists of groups of female clones, each in its own social or economic niche. Over the centuries, these groups have come to dominate society. Men are confined to relatively few professions (such as sailing) and have a lower social status than clones, but higher than vars. In each generation, a few women vars become successful enough to found their own clan or "hive" of clones.

As is customary, clones are trained to carry on their clan's business, while vars leave as young adults to seek their fortune. It is time for identical twins Maia and Leie to enter the outside world. They plan to work as sailors to gain experience and explore Stratos, find their niche, and found a clan. Almost immediately, they hit a snag. The only two ship's captains willing to take them on at that time insist they split up, because they cannot have it appear to their clone passengers that clones are doing lowly ship's work. The ships are traveling together. Aboard, Maia meets Naroin, a highly competent female bosun's mate. Later, Leie's ship is lost in a storm. Maia is heartbroken and seriously injured, but eventually recuperates and finds a job on a railroad.

On the railroad, Maia discovers her var temporary assistant is actually a clone courier and courtesan running illegal drugs. The drugs are designed to shift a man's period of sexual interest. They are part of a plot by reactionary "Perkinites" (named after Charlotte Perkins Gilman, author of ''Herland'') to minimize the role of men in an isolated valley, and perhaps later all of Stratos.

Maia notifies the "Planetary Equilibrium Authority", but is kidnapped and imprisoned by the Perkinites. She discovers that Renna, a prisoner in another cell, is transmitting messages electrically. She talks with Renna by code and develops a friendship with her unseen fellow inmate. When she discovers that Renna is being transferred somewhere else, Maia engineers her escape, only to find that idealistic radicals ("rads") and their allies have already freed Renna, who is actually the "Visitor," a ''male'' envoy from the rest of humanity whose arrival has triggered great debate among the leaders of Stratos as to how to respond to the renewed - and unwanted - contact. She tags along with Renna and the rads.

A platonic friendship develops between Renna and Maia. Their group, which includes Naroin, is later overtaken at sea by pirates (pirating being a tolerated, legal activity). During the ensuing boarding fight, Maia is shocked when she encounters her sister, one of the pirates. The pirates win, with the help of traitors planted in the rads' group. They strand many of their female prisoners, including Maia and Naroin, and one young male sailor named Brod on a deserted island and take Renna, their prize, to a secret base.

After the castaways manage to ambush pirates sent to eliminate all witnesses, they sail off to alert the authorities, but Maia, accompanied only by Brod, sets out to try to rescue Renna. They inadvertently stumble upon the pirate base. While secretly reconnoitering it, Maia helps free more prisoners, including the rads and the crew of her ship. She also learns that Renna has somehow escaped. More fighting breaks out when their enemies learn the rest of their prisoners are loose. In the turmoil, Maia and her allies are cornered, but she finds a secret exit which leads to the long-lost "Jellicoe Former", an advanced manufacturing facility that can produce anything. Renna is killed when the spaceship he found and completed at Jellicoe Former explodes soon after its launch. Maia is severely injured in the battle. The police and other interested parties arrive to save the survivors of Maia's side.

While recuperating, Maia is dragged into politics and kept a prisoner discreetly by one clan because she has become a symbol. She tells her story to a group of male heads of sailing clans. One of them turns out to be the father she had never known. For her actions, they offer her "clan" an alliance. At the end, with Renna dead, Maia becomes an embarrassment to her captors, so she is allowed to walk away free. She decides that she will not found a clan of clones, but rather have offspring the old way.

''TimeSplitters 2'' occurs during the year 2401 throughout this midst of a war between humanity and the TimeSplitters, a sadistic alien race bent on the destruction of mankind. However, rather than use brute force to destroy humanity, they are using the special objects called Time Crystals to travel through time changing the course of history, bringing Earth to ruins.

Two space marines from Earth, Sergeant Cortez and Corporal Hart, are sent out to a space station overrun by TimeSplitters to retrieve the Time Crystals. However, when they reach the bridge, they are too late as they see the last few TimeSplitters take the Time Crystals into various time periods using the time portal. While Sergeant Cortez and Corporal Hart are preparing the time portal to follow the TimeSplitters, they are attacked by another squad of TimeSplitters. Corporal Hart decides to stay at the bridge to keep the TimeSplitters at bay while Cortez goes into different periods of time to retrieve the Time Crystals.

Upon arrival at each time period, Cortez takes the form of a person from that particular period of time, similar to ''Quantum Leap''. For example, when Cortez arrives in the Wild West, he takes the form of a bounty hunter. When he arrives in a 24th-century robot factory, he takes the form of a robot.

After Cortez retrieves all of the Time Crystals, he returns to the space station to rendezvous with Hart. The TimeSplitters outside finally manage to break into the bridge. Corporal Hart is killed in the ensuing battle. Cortez has little time to mourn, as the TimeSplitters become relentless to retrieve the Time Crystals from him. Cortez manages to set the station to self-destruct and escape before its destruction. This leads into the events of ''TimeSplitters: Future Perfect''.

The entire British Royal Family is electrocuted and killed in a freak accident outside Buckingham Palace while having a royal portrait taken. Sir Cedric Willingham leads a search for any surviving heirs to whom to pass the crown. After days of searching, a living heir is found, American Ralph Jones.

Shortly after being fired from his job as a lounge singer in Las Vegas, Ralph is informed by Cedric's assistant secretary Duncan Phipps that he has royal blood. His grandmother Constance had a brief encounter with the first Duke of Warren while a hotel waitress in the US. A ring is given as proof, a duplicate of the ring she used to wear that the Duke had given her.

Ralph is flown to London, where Cedric gives him a crash course on royal etiquette. On only his second day, he goes to a strip club and meets Miranda Greene, an out-of-luck exotic dancer and aspiring fashion designer. He dares her to go out on a date with him if the British press proves his claim to the monarchy. Meanwhile, Lord Percival Graves is opposed to having an American on the throne and proposes to declare the reigning House of Wyndham at an end and replace it with the House of Stuart, of which he is patriarch. Prime Minister Geoffrey Hale states that Ralph's succession is legitimate unless he commits a grievous error. With this in mind, Graves bribes Miranda to stir up controversy by having a public relationship with Ralph. Despite warnings by Cedric not to commit a mistake similar to that of King Edward VIII, Ralph sneaks out of the Palace to have a date with Miranda in Hyde Park. The next day, she returns Graves' money, but he already has photographs of her with Ralph. To preserve Ralph's reputation, Miranda breaks up with him.

Despite Ralph's reluctance to accept British culture and his ineptness in formal affairs, he makes a positive impression on King Mulambon of Zambezi during his state visit. They share concerns about the role of leadership they have assumed and the economic interests of their nations. Ralph accumulates a small but loyal following.

It is arranged for Ralph to marry Princess Anna of Finland to continue the royal bloodline and guarantee jobs for the UK in Finland's newly discovered oil reserves in the Baltic. On the night of the Finnish Royal Family's visit, Ralph is turned off by Princess Anna's unusually deep voice, her bizarre sexual preferences, and her nonchalant acceptance of arranged royal marriage. Miranda attends the royal ball as a set-up by Graves, and photos of her kiss with Ralph are shown to Anna's father King Gustav which, along with Ralph's wild musical number of "Good Golly, Miss Molly", results in Finland turning down the UK in favor of Japan for the offshore equipment contract.

Ralph accepts a stern rebuke from Cedric and endeavors to set things right. Miranda confesses her role in the scandal and he walks out on her. Becoming suspicious about his situation, Phipps tells Ralph that Cedric is also an heir to the throne (his great-grand-mother, a parlor maid, had a one night stand with a British prince) but had turned it down.

Ralph addresses Parliament, apologizing for his recent actions and informing the country he has organized with King Mulambon for Zambezi to purchase £200 million worth of British mining equipment and open three car engine plants in Britain, ensuring jobs for Miranda's family and thousands of other Britons. He then reveals Graves has been sabotaging his succession to the throne and has him arrested for violating the Treason Act of 1702. Finally, he announces he will abdicate and reveals Cedric as his successor.

Cedric accepts his duty as King, Ralph is created the Third Duke of Warren, with a lucrative annual stipend and his own recording studio in his country estate. Cedric warns Ralph that since he has no children, he may have to be king again after he (Cedric) dies. Ralph marries Miranda and raises his son Ralph II with her while fronting his own singing group Ralph and the Dukettes. They perform a cover of "Duke of Earl" as the credits roll.

After his defeat in the original ''Star Fox'', the antagonist, Andross, returns to the Lylat system and launches an all-out attack against Corneria, using his new fleet of battleships and giant missiles launched from hidden bases to destroy the planet. General Pepper again calls upon the Star Fox team for help. Armed with new custom Arwings, a Mothership, and two new recruits (Miyu and Fay), the Star Fox team sets out to defend Corneria by destroying Andross's forces before they can inflict critical damage on the planet. Along the way, Star Fox must also combat giant bosses, bases on planets throughout the Lylat system, members of the Star Wolf team and finally Andross himself.

''Star Fox 2'' features six playable characters, more than any game in the series until ''Star Fox Command'' (2006). These include Fox McCloud, fearless leader of the Star Fox team, Falco Lombardi, the ace pilot with a headstrong attitude, Peppy Hare, longtime mentor to Fox, and Slippy Toad, the team's young tech analyst and Fox's childhood friend. The two new playable characters are Miyu, a tomboyish lynx, and Fay, a white dog and part of an aristocratic family. ''Star Fox 2'' also introduces a team of rival mercenary pilots, Star Wolf, which includes Wolf O'Donnell, leader of Star Wolf and a despicable criminal, Leon Powalski, an inscrutable and sinister chameleon, Pigma Dengar, an arrogant and selfish pig, and Algy, a devious creature with incredible precision aim.

Nine people from around the world are kidnapped by the evil Black Ghost organization, led by the tyrant Skull, to undergo experiments that would allow him to use them as human weapons to promote the production of cyborg warfare. While he succeeds in converting the group of nine into cyborgs with superhuman powers, his most reputable scientist, Dr. Isaac Gilmore, helps the cyborgs escape to rebel against Skull and Black Ghost. The nine cyborgs – from which the name of the series is derived – band together in order to stop Black Ghost from achieving its goal of starting the next world war by supplying rich buyers with countless weapons of mass destruction. After the destruction of Black Ghost, the nine cyborgs go on to fight a variety of threats, such as mad scientists, supernatural beings, and ancient civilizations.

In suburban Chicago, teenagers Jade Butterfield and David Axelrod fall in love after being introduced by Jade's brother Keith.

The Butterfields' bohemian lifestyle, for which they're well known in their community, allows Jade and David to develop an all-consuming and passionate relationship, including allowing them to have sex in Jade's room. Where her family is open, David's home life is dull; his parents are wealthy liberal political activists who have little interest in his life.

One night, Jade's mother Ann sneaks downstairs, catching Jade and David making love by the fireplace. She starts living vicariously through them but her husband, Hugh, watches them with increasing unease. Jade's nightly trysts begin to negatively impact her grades and her ability to sleep. One night, she tries to steal a prescription sleeping pill from her father but he catches her. As a last straw, Hugh demands that David stop seeing Jade until the end of the school term. Although initially causing a scene, Ann gently coaxes David to agree, telling him not to let Hugh "do something he'll regret".

Back at school, one of David's friends, Billy, tells him that when he was eight, he tried to burn a pile of newspapers, got scared and put the fire out, and his parents thought he was a hero for saving the house from burning. Inspired by this story, David starts a fire on the Butterfields' front porch and walks away. But by the time he returns, the flame has spread too far. David evacuates the Butterfields from the burning house before he is subsequently apprehended.

Following trial, David is convicted of second-degree arson, sentenced to five years' probation, sent to a mental hospital for evaluation and forbidden to go anywhere near Jade or her family again. He continues to write her daily, but the letters aren't sent because of the no-contact order. His parents pull strings to have him released early, much to Hugh's chagrin. Meanwhile, David receives his many letters upon his exit, and after realizing why Jade never wrote back, he decides to pursue her although he knows it is a violation of his parole.

After the loss of their home, the Butterfields moved from Chicago to Manhattan where Ann and Hugh file for divorce. In Manhattan, Ann tries to seduce David but he refuses, leaving her confused. When she isn't looking, he thumbs through her address book, finding out where Jade is and discovers that she now attends the University of Vermont.

Intent on catching a bus to Vermont, David sees Hugh on the street. He starts chasing him, and Hugh is hit by a car and killed. Hugh's fiancée Ingrid arrives to the scene just in time to see David leaving. He comes close to boarding the bus to Vermont, but is overcome with grief and returns to Ann's apartment and consoles her.

Later, Jade goes to David's room to say goodbye but he pulls her back as she tries to leave, throwing her on the bed and holding her down until she admits she loves him. Keith goes to David's to find them together again and tells Jade that David is at fault for their father's death. She refuses to believe it at first but when he confirms that David was actually at the scene, she becomes horrified and hides behind Keith. Trying to explain, David shoves Keith out of the way in a desperate bid to get to her. Keith holds him off until the police arrive and arrest David for brawling, disturbing the peace and violating his parole.

David is sentenced to prison and despairs that he'll never see Jade again. At a lakeside, Jade tells Ann that nobody will ever love her like David does. From behind bars, David sees Jade approach him through his barred cell window.

Max Durocher (Jamie Foxx) is a meticulous Los Angeles cab driver trying to earn enough to start his own limousine business. One of the evening's fares is federal prosecutor Annie Farrell, who works for the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California. On the drive to her office, they strike up a conversation and Annie gives Max her business card.

Max's next fare is Vincent (Tom Cruise). Apparently impressed by Max's skill at navigating through traffic, Vincent tells Max that he is in Los Angeles for one night to complete a real estate deal, and offers Max $600 to drive him to several locations. Initially reluctant to violate regulations, Max is eventually persuaded. As Max waits at the first stop, a corpse falls onto his car. Vincent reveals himself as a hitman and the body is one of his five targets. He forces Max to hide the body in the trunk and continue driving, narrowly avoiding scrutiny from LAPD patrolmen due to the taxicab's cracked windshield. LAPD undercover narcotics detective Ray Fanning arrives at where Vincent made the kill, and reports that this was a police informant who is missing.

At the second stop, Vincent restrains Max's hands to the steering wheel. Max asks a group of young men for help, but two of them rob him and seize Vincent's briefcase. Seeing the men walk away with the briefcase, Vincent deftly shoots them both dead and retrieves the briefcase. Fanning arrives at the hospital morgue to see the bodies of criminal lawyer Sylvester Clark, Vincent's second target, and two dead robbers, and realizes that this is the work of a hitman.

After filling up, Vincent then "offers" to buy Max a drink at a jazz club. At the club, Vincent engages the owner Daniel in conversation. Vincent then reveals Daniel to have been his third target, as Daniel is testifying against Vincent's client in return for avoiding prison. Max pleads with Vincent to let Daniel go, causing Vincent to offer a compromise, betting Daniel cannot answer a question about where Miles Davis "learned music". Daniel states that Davis went to the Juilliard School, seemingly giving a correct answer. Vincent, suddenly, unexpectedly shoots Daniel, revealing that Miles Davis dropped out of Juilliard to be mentored by Charlie Parker.

Max's boss Lenny, who has been heckling him over the radio, tells Max his mother Ida called. Learning of Max's nightly visits to the hospital to see his mother, Vincent insists that Max proceed with the visit, where they inadvertently encounter Fanning in the hospital elevator but remain anonymous to each other. At the hospital, Ida is dismissive of her son's efforts but acts warmly around Vincent. She proudly tells Vincent that Max has his own limousine company, revealing Max has been lying to her for her approval.

Overwhelmed, Max leaves, steals Vincent's briefcase, and hurls it onto a freeway where it is destroyed by a passing truck. With the information on his last two targets destroyed, Vincent coerces Max to meet drug lord Felix Reyes-Torrena to re-obtain the information. Max, posing as Vincent, acquires the information but Reyes-Torrena orders his men to kill "Vincent" if he does not complete the job.

Max heads with Vincent to a nightclub, seeking the next target, Peter Lim. Fanning uncovers a connection between the three victims and reports his finding to FBI agent Frank Pedrosa. Pedrosa identifies the victims as witnesses in a federal grand jury indicting Reyes-Torrena the following day. Pedrosa thinks that Max is the hitman, based on FBI surveillance of Max entering and leaving Reyes-Torrena's bar, and orders the FBI agents to protect Lim. At the nightclub, Vincent kills Reyes-Torrena's hitmen, Lim, and his bodyguards. Fanning rescues Max and smuggles him outside, but Vincent fatally shoots Fanning and coerces Max back into the cab.

Following their getaway, the two trade insulting summaries of each other's personalities and choices in life. After a heated exchange, Max deliberately crashes the cab, but both survive, and Vincent escapes. A police officer arrives. Seeing the corpse in the trunk, he tries to arrest Max. However, Max notices Vincent's open laptop, revealing that his final target is Annie. Recovering Vincent's gun from the automobile wreckage, Max overpowers the police officer and rushes toward Annie's office building.

Stealing a bystander's phone, Max uses Annie's business card to call and warn her. She is incredulous until Max reveals details about Vincent's previous victims, urging her to call 911. Vincent, who has armed himself with a gun from a security guard, corners Annie but is shot and wounded by Max, who escapes with Annie on foot. Vincent pursues the pair onto a metro rail train. Cornered on the train, Max engages Vincent in a sudden shootout; both men empty their handguns at each other. Vincent, fatally wounded, slumps into a seat, repeating a story about a man dying unnoticed on a Metro train. Max and Annie get off at the next station in the dawn of a new day.

Paul Kersey has managed to recover from his shattered life and moved on, and is now dating a Los Angeles radio reporter, Geri Nichols. They go to pick up Paul's daughter, Carol, from the mental hospital. They spend the afternoon at a fairground, where Paul's wallet is stolen by a gang, consisting of Nirvana, Punkcut, Stomper, Cutter, and Jiver. The gang splits up when Paul chases them; he goes to pursue Jiver, whom he corners in an alley but lets the hood go after Jiver tells Paul that he does not have the wallet. The gang finds Paul's home address in his wallet and later breaks into his house. They gag and restrain Rosario, Paul's housekeeper, and begin taking turns raping her. When Paul arrives home with his daughter, he is beaten unconscious. Rosario tries to call the police, but Nirvana kills her with his crowbar. They kidnap Carol and take her to their hideout, where one of the gang members rapes her. Carol attempts to flee by running through a plate-glass window, falls onto an iron fence, and is fatally impaled. When the police arrive, Lieutenant Mankewicz asks for help identifying the muggers, but Paul refuses. After Carol's funeral, he takes his Beretta Model 84 handgun to a low-rent inner-city hotel as a base of operations. The next evening, he observes and follows Stomper into an abandoned building as a drug deal is about to be made. Paul shoots one of the dealers and orders the others out before he shoots Stomper twice. The following night, he hears screams from a couple being assaulted in a parking garage by four muggers, which includes Jiver, in a parking garage. Paul kills two rapists and wounds Jiver. Then Paul follows Jiver's blood trail into an abandoned warehouse and kills him.

The LAPD suspect that the murders are the work of a vigilante and ask the NYPD for guidance as they dealt with a vigilante spree years earlier. NYPD Detective Frank Ochoa suspects it may be Paul again and is sent to assist with the case. Ochoa fears that Paul, when caught, will reveal that he was released without being charged for killing the ten muggers in New York City. Ochoa meets with Mankewicz, who suspects that Ochoa is not telling him everything. Ochoa enters Geri's apartment and tells her about Paul's previous vigilante killing spree in New York City. After Paul returns to his house, Geri confronts him about Ochoa's revelation, but he denies it. Ochoa follows Paul to a local square, where Paul is tailing the three remaining gang members. He follows them to an abandoned park, where a major arms and drug deal is underway. A sniper scouts Paul and attempts to kill him, but Ochoa warns Paul and fatally shoots the sniper. Ochoa is mortally wounded by Nirvana, and Paul shoots Cutter in the head and another dealer and wounds Punkcut. The arms dealer tries to get away, but Paul shoots him and causes his car to drive off a cliff and explodes, but Nirvana escapes. Ochoa tells Paul to avenge him before he dies. Paul escapes, and Punkcut dies from his injuries after giving information about Nirvana to the police.

Paul learns from one of Geri's colleagues that the police are preparing a tactical unit to capture Nirvana. He obtains a police scanner and, by monitoring police radio traffic, finds out when and where the arrest is going to take place. He drives to the location to kill him, but Nirvana, under the influence of PCP, slashes his arm and stabs a few officers while he tries to escape. Tried and found criminally insane, he is sent to a mental institution. Geri is writing a story about the case and capital punishment and takes Paul to the hospital to meet the doctor treating Nirvana. While there, Paul steals another doctor's white lab coat and identification card and uses it to enter the asylum and confront Nirvana. After repeatedly stabbing Paul with a shiv, Nirvana ends up plunging his arm into a high-voltage panel, which Paul turns on, fatally electrocuting him. Donald Kay, a sympathetic orderly at the hospital, recognizes Paul from the newspaper coverage of Carol's murder, and gives him three minutes to escape before he rings the alarm. Geri goes to Paul's house, where she finds out that he made a fake doctor's ID. Upon hearing a news report of Nirvana's death on the radio, she realizes that Paul really is the vigilante that Ochoa claimed him to be. She takes off her engagement ring and leaves him, with Paul arriving home moments later.

A few months later, Paul speaks about a new architectural design. He is invited by his employer to a party to celebrate the new design. When Paul is asked if he is able to attend, he answers, "What else would I be doing?" The final scene shows Paul returning to the streets of Los Angeles at night and continuing his vigilante killing spree as the film finishes.

Twins Elliot and Beverly Mantle are gynecologists who jointly operate a highly successful clinical practice in Toronto that specializes in treating fertility problems. Elliot, the more confident and cynical of the two, seduces women who come to the Mantle Clinic. When he tires of them, the women are passed on to the shy and passive Beverly while the women remain unaware of the substitution.

Actress Claire Niveau comes to the clinic for her infertility where it turns out that she has a "trifurcated cervix", meaning she probably will be unable to have children. Elliot seduces Claire and then urges Beverly to sleep with her. Beverly becomes emotionally attached to Claire, and this upsets the equilibrium between the twins. Beverly also begins sharing Claire's abuse of prescription drugs which he abets through his doctor's authority. When Claire learns that Elliot has been taking sexual advantage of her by impersonating Beverly, she is angry and confronts them both in a restaurant but later decides to continue a relationship with Beverly exclusively.

Eventually, Claire leaves town to work on another film, sending Beverly into clinical depression, more prescription drug abuse and paranoid delusions about "mutant women" with abnormal genitalia. Beverly seeks out metallurgical artist Anders Wolleck and commissions a set of bizarre "gynecological instruments" for operating on these mutant women. Beverly prepares to operate on a patient during surgery with one of Wolleck's tools, while his shocked surgical team exchanges horrified glances. Before he can proceed, the drug-addled doctor drops one of the tools on the ground and then collapses atop the patient, and begins to inhale from her gas mask. Both brothers are immediately suspended from practice and put on administrative leave by the hospital board.

With their medical careers now ruined, Elliot locks Beverly inside the clinic and tries to clean him up, taking pills himself in order to "synchronize" with Beverly. When Claire returns, Beverly leaves the clinic to be with her. After recovering his sobriety, he returns to the clinic which he finds in shambles and Elliot despondent and intoxicated. Their positions have become reversed as Beverly cares for Elliot. Drugged and despairing, they celebrate their mock birthday and Elliot volunteers to be killed so as to “separate the Siamese twins" and allow Beverly to live his own life. Beverly disembowels Elliot on an examination table with the same claw-like instrument of Wolleck's that he planned to use on his patient in the operating room.

The next morning, Beverly awakens and sees that he killed Elliot during their drug-induced delirium. Devastated, he pulls himself together, leaves the clinic and calls Claire on a pay phone. When she asks "Who is this?", Beverly silently leaves the phone, walks back into the clinic and dies (implicitly from drug withdrawal) in Elliot's dead arms.

Title

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, one of the major characters, remembers reciting to his father a speech from ''Hamlet'': "What a piece of work is man...in action how like an angel!" Sgt. Buster Kilrain says: Well, if he's an angel, all right then... But he damn well must be a killer angel.

"And the old man, grinning, had scratched his head and then said stiffly, 'Well, boy, if he's an angel, he's sure a murderin' angel.' And Chamberlain had gone on to school to make an oration on the subject: Man, the Killer Angel."

Summary

In late June 1863, General Robert E. Lee leads his army into Pennsylvania. By threatening Washington, D.C., he hopes to draw the Union army into battle and inflict a crushing defeat, which will bring an end to the war. Harrison, a spy, tells General James Longstreet, Lee's friend, that the Union army is drawing near. They go to Lee, who is reluctant to trust a spy, but has to, because his usual source of intelligence, Jeb Stuart's cavalry, is out of touch. He sets out to meet the enemy.

At the road junction of Gettysburg, Confederate infantry encounters the Union cavalry of General John Buford who seizes the high ground and holds it against a Confederate attack at dawn on July 1. Troops of General John Reynolds come to support Buford. Reynolds is killed and the Union troops are pushed back, but at nightfall they entrench on high ground while the Confederates celebrate what appears to them to be another in a long line of victories for General Lee.

Longstreet is filled with foreboding. On July 2, he tries to persuade Lee that the Union position, entrenched on steep hills and behind stone walls is too strong. He urges Lee to march away and make the fight on more favorable ground. But Lee orders a flanking attack on the Union position. Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain of Maine is told by his superiors that he occupies the end of the Union line, and that he must hold at any cost. In a brilliant, costly action, Chamberlain succeeds in repulsing the Confederate attack.

On July 3, Lee, concluding that his flanking attack was repulsed due to the Union army's focus on them, concludes that "they are weak in the center" and orders a frontal assault on the center of the Union line. Knowing it is doomed, Longstreet argues against it, as his men will be forced to march across an open field under cannon fire to assault the well-entrenched Union center. But Lee is confident and Longstreet despairs. General George Pickett leads the charge, which is turned back with heavy losses. A shaken Lee orders retreat. Chamberlain is now confident of Union victory.

Layout

Beginning with the famous section about Longstreet's spy, Henry Thomas Harrison, gathering information about the movements and positions of the Federals, each day is told primarily from the perspectives of commanders of the two armies, including Robert E. Lee and James Longstreet for the Confederacy, and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and John Buford for the Union. Most chapters describe the emotion-laden decisions of these officers as they went into battle. Maps depicting the positioning of the troops as they went to battle, as they advanced, add to the sense of authenticity as decisions are made to advance and retreat with the armies. The author also uses the story of Gettysburg, the largest battle in the history of North America, to relate the causes of the Civil War and the motivations that led old friends to face each other on the battlefield.

:"Our planet is under threat - not from slimy aliens or evil wizards but from direct consequences of our own greed and stupidity. Every moment sees further demolition of the rainforest, more leaking nuclear waste, land floods caused by melting ice caps and much needed food rotting in locked warehouses. Your task is to combat those forces which are worlds tilts into oblivion you must redress the balance through positive action. To aid you in this task you are invested with a great power - that power is Love. Use this power to repel the agents of destruction. By spreading Love your enemies will vanish, or even begin to help you. You will be able to stem the tide of flood, neutralise the acid rain and release the hoarded fruits of the World's produce for all to share. If you succeed then you will have proved your skill and courage in the material world. Consequently, you will be offered the opportunity to seek ultimate wisdom in the Mind-Scape and achieve the status of Top Banana." ::- ''Top Banana'' Manual Amiga. Hex. Hex.

''Wishing Moon'' follows the tale of Aminah Barnes, a beggar orphan who is thrown Aladdin's magical lamp by an unwitting princess, Badr Al-Budur, after Aladdin has married her. As Aminah works out problems with the lamp and its demon, she eventually begins her own journey of emotions while trying to avoid the notice of the spoiled and ambitious princess who seeks to regain the lost lamp. After settling into a moderately prosperous life, Aminah decides to help other people in need, but selectively, only helping those who help others. Soon, however, her good deeds draw the unwanted eye of Badr Al-Budur.

Mystery writer Philip E. Marlow is suffering writer's block and is hospitalized because his psoriatic arthropathy, a chronic skin and joint disease, is at an acute stage, forming lesions and sores over his entire body and partially crippling his hands and feet. Dennis Potter suffered from this disease and he wrote with a pen tied to his fist in much the same fashion Marlow does in the last episode. (Although severe, Marlow's condition was intentionally understated compared to Potter's, whose skin would sometimes crack and bleed.''The Singing Detective'' (supplementary audio track by Jon Amiel and Kenith Trodd). DVD. Disc 1. Prod. BBC; dist. BBC Video, 2002.)

As a result of constant pain, a fever caused by the condition and his refusal to take medication, Marlow falls into a fantasy world involving his Chandleresque novel ''The Singing Detective'', an escapist adventure about a detective (also named "Philip Marlow") who sings at a dance hall and takes the jobs "the guys who don't sing" won't take. Marlow is "plot-dreaming", trying out various solutions to a working plot in his head, deciding as he goes what plot element works best with what character or situation, interspersed with bits of ideas that occur to him off the top of his head and discarding (with some afterthoughts) parts of his story that no longer work when other changes have been made.

The real Marlow also experiences flashbacks to his childhood in rural England and his mother's life in wartime London. The rural location is presumably the Forest of Dean, Potter's birthplace and the location for filming, but this is never stated explicitly (though the young Philip's references to his home in "the Forest" come close). The suicide of his mother is one of several recurring images in the series; Marlow uses it (whether subconsciously or not) in his murder mystery and sometimes replaces her face with different women in his life, real and imaginary. The noir mystery is never solved; all that is ultimately revealed is an intentionally vague plot involving smuggled Nazi war criminals being protected by the Allies and Soviet agents attempting to stop them. This perhaps reflects Marlow's view that fiction should be "all clues and no solutions".

The three worlds of the hospital, the noir thriller and wartime England often merge in Marlow's mind, resulting in a fourth layer, in which character relationships that would otherwise be impossible (e.g., fictional characters interacting with non-fictional characters) occur. This is evident in that characters in the novel represent many of Marlow's friends and enemies (perceived or otherwise), particularly Raymond, Marlow's mother's lover, appears as the antagonist in the "real" and noir worlds (although the "real" Binney/Finney is ultimately a fantasy as well). The use of Binney as a villain stems from the fact that Binney committed adultery with Marlow's mum and simultaneously (and perhaps publicly) cuckolded Marlow's dad, whom Marlow loved. Marlow's guilt at his apparent belief that he caused his parents' separation and even his mother's suicide is exacerbated by his early childhood memory when he framed young Mark Binney for defecating on the desk of a disciplinarian elementary teacher (Janet Henfrey). The innocent Binney is brutally beaten in front of the classroom and Marlow is lauded for telling the "truth". These events haunt Marlow and one of the shadowy villains who apparently is determined to kill Marlow looks very much like an adult version of the real child, Mark Binney. The real Mark Binney eventually ends up in a mental institution, as Marlow confesses later to the psychiatrist. The villainous Binney/Finney character is killed off in both realities. It is suggested that in each reality, the guilt of Binney/Finney/Mark is entirely the product of Marlow's imagination as, in one case, Finney, the wife's lover, does not exist. In the other, it is the name of the character Marlow chooses as the guilty party and the boy's guilt is a lie told by Marlow to his teacher. In the end, Marlow chooses a killer, who looks more like adult Binney, to live and himself to die, thus showing growth. Janet Henfrey has previously played the same character in Potter's earlier TV play ''Stand Up, Nigel Barton''.

Some members of the cast play several roles. Marlow and his alter-ego, the singing detective, are played by Gambon. Marlow, as a boy, is played by Lyndon Davies. William Speakman plays Mark Binney (schoolboy). Davies and Speakman were contemporaries at Chosen Hill School in Gloucestershire, close to Potter's birthplace of the Forest of Dean. Patrick Malahide plays three characters—the contemporary Finney, who Marlow thinks is having an affair with his ex-wife Nicola, played by Janet Suzman; the imaginary Binney, a central character in the murder plot; and Raymond, a friend of Marlow's father who has an affair with his mother (Alison Steadman). Steadman plays Marlow's mother and the mysterious "Lili", one of the murder victims. At the end of the serial, Marlow and Nicola appear to have repaired their relationship.

The book is set in Portland, Oregon, in the year 2002. Portland has three million inhabitants and continuous rain. It is deprived enough for the poorer inhabitants to have kwashiorkor, a protein deprivation from malnutrition. Although impoverished, the culture is similar to the 1970s in the United States. There is also a massive war in the Middle East. Climate change reduces quality of life.

George Orr, a draftsman and addict, abuses drugs to prevent "effective" dreams that change reality. After one of these dreams, the new reality is the only reality for everyone else, but George retains memory of the previous reality. Under threat of incarceration, Orr undergoes treatment for his addiction.

George attends therapy sessions with ambitious psychiatrist and sleep researcher William Haber. Orr claims he has the power to dream "effectively". Haber, gradually believing the evidence, seeks to use George's power to change the planet. His experiments with a biofeedback/EEG machine, nicknamed the Augmentor, enhance Orr's abilities while producing a series of increasingly intolerable alternative worlds based on an assortment of utopian (and dystopian) premises: * After Haber directs George to dream a world without racism, the skin of everyone on the planet becomes a uniform light gray. * Eliminating over-population is disastrous after George dreams a devastating plague eliminates most humans. * George dreams "peace on Earth", resulting in an alien invasion of the Moon and uniting everybody against the potential threat.

Each effective dream gives Haber more wealth and status until he is effectively ruler of the planet. Orr's finances also improve, but he is unhappy with Haber's meddling and just wants to let things be. Increasingly frightened by Haber's lust for power and delusions of divinity, Orr contacts lawyer Heather Lelache to represent him against Haber. He falls in love with Heather but is unsuccessful in getting released from therapy.

George tells Heather the "real world" was destroyed during nuclear war in April 1998. George dreamed it back into existence as he lay dying in the ruins. He doubts the reality of what now exists, hence his concern for Haber's efforts to improve it.

Heather is present for one of the sessions, allowing her to remember two realities: one where her husband died early in the Middle East War and another where he died just before the truce because of the aliens. She tries to help George but also tries to improve the planet; when she suggests to a dreaming George that the aliens should no longer be on the Moon, they invade the Earth instead. In the resultant fighting, Mount Hood is bombed and the 'dormant' volcano produces a spectacular eruption.

After that disaster, George dreams about peaceful aliens. For a time, everybody experiences stability, but Haber continues meddling. His suggestion George dream away racism results in everyone becoming gray; Heather's parents are different races, so she never existed in that alternative reality. George dreams a gray version of her with a milder personality, the two marry. Mount Hood continues to erupt, and he is concerned the planet is losing coherence.

After speaking with one of the aliens, Orr suddenly understands his situation and confronts Haber. In their final session, Haber "cures" George of his ability to dream effectively by suggesting George dream that his dreams no longer affect reality. Haber has become frustrated with Orr's resistance and used his research from studying George's brain during his sessions to give himself the same power. Haber's first effective dream represents a significant break with the various realities created by Orr, and threatens to destroy reality. Orr shuts off the Augmentor as coherent existence is dissolving into undifferentiated chaos. The world is saved, but exists now as a mix of random elements from several realities. In this version, George works at a kitchen store operated by one of the aliens. Haber survives, his mind shattered by his knowledge of unreality, and only exists because George's dreams restored him. Heather is also restored, though she is left with only a slight memory of George. George is resigned to the loss of the Heather he loved, but resolves to romance the one that exists now. The story ends as the two have coffee, while his inscrutable alien employer observes.

Joshua Rose (Dennis Quaid), a U.S. Department of State official on embassy duty in Paris, sees his wife (Nastassja Kinski) and son killed in a bombing by suspected Islamic terrorists. Immediately after the transfer ceremony he storms into a nearby mosque and shoots several worshipers. His friend Peter (Stellan Skarsgård) is forced to shoot one of the survivors when the man tries to kill Rose, and in order to avoid arrest they join the French Foreign Legion, with Joshua taking the name Guy.

Years later, Joshua, now going by the name of "Guy", and Peter are fighting for the Bosnian Serbs in the Bosnian War. They are stationed on a bridge separating them and the Bosniaks in a town. Guy mans a sniper post overlooking the bridge, and witnesses Peter's death when Peter drops his guard at a checkpoint and a young girl throws a grenade at him. Guy in turn shoots a boy crossing the bridge in pursuit of his runaway goat.

Guy is then seen searching the Bosniak side of the town following a ceasefire along with a Bosnian Serb soldier Goran (Sergej Trifunović). In one house they find an elderly Muslim woman who is confined to bed and shell-shocked and a dead woman. Guy also finds a sleeping baby who has been hidden in a wardrobe but does not inform Goran who hacks a finger off an old Bosniak woman in order to steal her ring.

After they leave the house, helicopters attack the town. As Goran takes cover Guy stays out in the open and returns to the house, but finds that both the child and the old lady have been killed by falling rubble. Later, Guy and Goran prepare for a prisoner exchange with the Bosniak forces. When they arrive at the exchange point one of the young Serb female prisoners being exchanged, Vera (Nataša Ninković), is visibly pregnant because she was raped by the Muslim forces. Guy and Goran take her in Goran's car and they head towards her village.

In the car Goran berates Vera for being impregnated by a Bosniak even though Guy points out that she was almost certainly raped. Goran eventually stops the car in a tunnel. He throws Vera out of the car and begins to kick her as she lies on the ground. The blows force Vera into premature labor. As Goran prepares to murder the soon-to-be-born child, Guy shoots and kills Goran and then helps deliver the baby. When he shows Vera the child, a girl, she rejects it and attempts to shoot herself before Guy manages to stop her.

They arrive at her house where she is rejected by her family due to the shame felt by her father. They leave her house with Guy intending to head for a refugee camp where Vera and the baby would be looked after. Vera continues to reject the child and does not talk to Guy. After being told by Goran's family that his corpse has been found and that he was last seen in the company of Guy and Vera, Vera's father and brother head off in pursuit of them. They eventually catch up with them when they stop to get milk for the child. Guy is shot and injured, but Vera places herself between him and her father as he goes to kill him, and her father backs off and allows them to leave when Guy tells him that Goran intended to kill both Vera and the baby.

They briefly return to Vera's village to find it has been attacked, and have to watch from a distance as her family and other villagers are rounded up and led away by Bosniak militiamen. Guy decides to head for the safety of the UN zone in Split on the Dalmatian Coast. On their way they stop and take refuge with an elderly Croat man and his Bosnian Serb wife. The old man tells Guy "before the war, no difference [between Serbs and Croats], and now, stupid", pointing to his head to show madness.

After moving on they reach what they think is a relatively safe area. Vera leaves Guy and the child to rest in an abandoned and half-sunk boat on the edge of a lake while she goes to find a bus that will take them to Split. Vera is captured along with other civilians by members of the Croatian Defense Council. The Croats take their prisoners to the waterfront where Guy is hiding in the boat. One Croat then proceeds to beat several to death with a sledgehammer, including Vera, as they stand in the water. The fighters shoot those that are left as Guy witnesses the slaughter from inside the boat but can do nothing without giving himself and the child away. He smothers the baby in order to keep her quiet as the soldiers prepare to leave. She stops breathing but is soon resuscitated by Guy.

Guy eventually makes his way onto a bus that takes him and the baby to Split where he leaves Vera's baby in an unattended Red Cross vehicle and writes the name "Vera" on a paper before walking to a pier, throwing his rifle and scope in the water and collapsing on a bench. A woman who was on the bus with him approaches him, carrying the girl and offering help. When she asks if the baby is his, Guy replies that she is and the woman promises to take them both to a hospital.

Alice is sitting by a brook, throwing rocks in the water. She is then in her sitting room, throwing rocks in a cup of tea. A creaking noise draws her attention to a taxidermic White Rabbit in a glass case. Alice hides beneath a writing desk while the Rabbit comes alive, dressing himself and retrieving a pair of scissors from a hidden drawer, which he uses to smash the case, freeing himself.

Alice follows the Rabbit into a writing desk on top of a hill; crawling into the drawer after him, she soon finds herself in an elevator that deposits her atop a pile of leaves. The leaves begin to stir on their own, revealing another desk in which Alice finds a tiny key. Alice uses the key to open a miniature door, through which she sees the Rabbit disappear into a painted garden; she herself is too large to fit through the door. She finds a bottle labelled "Drink Me". Drinking it transforms her into a small china doll in her likeness. She then finds a butter tart that causes her to grow large, again rendering her unable to fit through the door. Frustrated, Alice cries until the room floods with tears. The White Rabbit rows by, dropping a tray of tarts. Eating one returns Alice to her doll-size and she is able to retrieve the key and follow the Rabbit.

Once through the door, Alice finds herself at the banks of a brook and encounters the White Rabbit, who mistakes her for his maid and commands her to fetch scissors from his house. Inside, she drinks from another ink bottle and returns to her true size, trapping her inside the now too-small house. The Rabbit and his animal companions try to force her out by launching a skull-headed lizard through the window. Alice kicks him away, causing him to burst and spill his sawdust innards. The angry animals imprison Alice inside an Alice-shaped doll, which they lock inside a storage room filled with specimen jars.

Alice breaks free of the doll and discovers a key inside a sardine can. She uses the key to escape the storage room, stepping into a hall of doors. Behind one of them, she meets a stocking-Caterpillar in a room swarming with sock-worms that bore holes in the floor. The Caterpillar tells her that eating one piece of his darning mushroom causes things to grow, while the other piece causes things to shrink. Alice follows the sound of a crying baby to a tiny dollhouse, which she enlarges by eating a piece of the mushroom. She discovers the Rabbit inside tending a piglet in baby's clothes. The Rabbit escapes while Alice chases the piglet downstairs, where a mechanical tea party is being hosted by a wind-up March Hare and a marionette Hatter. The Rabbit flees to the attic and Alice follows.

Behind a curtain of clothes, Alice reaches the painted garden. The King and Queen of Hearts march into the garden with a troop of playing cards. The Queen commands the White Rabbit to behead two fencing Jacks, among others; he does so with his scissors. The Queen invites Alice to play croquet, but Alice storms off when the mallets and balls turn into chickens and hedgehogs. In a courtroom, she is put on trial for eating the Queen's tarts. Alice tries to explain herself but the King commands her to follow a script. Annoyed, Alice starts eating the tarts and the Queen demands Alice's head. Alice asks "Which one?", and her head morphs into the heads of the other characters. The Queen demands ''all'' her heads be severed, and the Rabbit advances with his scissors.

Alice wakes in her sitting room. Around the room are the various household objects that populated her dream: playing cards, china dolls, marionettes, an inkwell, and socks in a sewing basket. The case that formerly contained the taxidermic rabbit is still broken and empty. Opening the hidden drawer in the case, she finds the White Rabbit's scissors. Examining the scissors, Alice says to herself, "He's late, as usual. I think I'll cut ''his'' head off."

Ginei Studios, a prestigious but bankrupt film studio, goes out of business. Television interviewer Genya Tachibana and his cameraman Kyoji Ida prepare for a retrospective interview with Chiyoko Fujiwara, the studio's best known star, who thirty years prior retired from acting and became a recluse. When they meet, Tachibana gives Chiyoko a key he believes she lost at the studio, prompting her to reflect on her life.

As Chiyoko begins, the film becomes a surreal story within a story wherein events from Chiyoko's life are interwoven with scenes from films she has appeared in, while Tachibana and Ida appear within them as documentary filmmakers. As a teenager, she was given the key by an artist and political dissident opposing the Sino-Japanese War. She helped him escape from the authorities and after his departure, decided to become a film actress in the hope that he would recognize and find her. Her quest continues for decades and Chiyoko becomes famous, acting in films ranging from ''jidaigeki'' to ''kaiju''. Despite not hearing from the mysterious artist, she never loses hope.

Chiyoko loses the key one day during filming and resigns to marrying Junichi Ōtaki, a director at the studio. Years later, Chiyoko finds the key hidden in their home and confronts her husband about it; former lead actress Eiko Shimao reveals that she stole it out of jealousy and gave it to Junichi. One day, the former military policeman who had been pursuing the artist comes to Chiyoko to atone for his sins during the war, and gives her a letter from the artist. He tells Tachibana, who was working as a studio assistant at the time, that the artist was tortured and killed after his arrest. Though she does not receive this information, Chiyoko abandons her search for the artist, accepting that she is no longer the girl the artist once knew.

In the present, an earthquake strikes during the interview, upsetting Chiyoko's fragile health. On her hospital deathbed she reflects on her life, telling Tachibana that despite never seeing the man again, she realized that the search for him was what she loved most.

Naoki Kazumi is a boy whose parents died in an accident five years ago, and his memory went along with it. Since he had nowhere else to go, he lives with his cousin Matsuri Shibugaki and her parents. Every morning before school, he is awakened by his childhood friend, Honami Fujieda, who keeps telling him that he is not a child anymore, but still comes to wake him up. These usual, ordinary days seem to stretch on forever, until one day up on the school's rooftop, while Naoki is taking a peaceful nap, out of nowhere, a girl falls out of the sky. This girl, called Mikoto Amagasaki, comes from 100 years in the future, and she went back in time with the intention of finding her brother. When Mikoto sees Naoki, she mistakes him for her brother.

Ten years after ''A Darkness at Sethanon'', Seigneur Locklear is serving at a northern Kingdom garrison when he saves Gorath of the Ardanien from an assassin. Gorath has brought a warning of an invasion planned by Delekhan, leader of the moredhel, so Locklear agrees to take him to see Prince Arutha in Krondor. Injured from numerous attacks, they ask for help from Owyn Beleforte, a young magician from Tiburn. The game begins in their camp north of LaMut.

Chapter I: Into A Dark Night

Owyn is bandaging Gorath's and Locklear's injuries when they are attacked by a moredhel assassin whom Gorath dispatches before the three of them set out south. Surviving multiple assassination attempts, they eventually reach Krondor. Finding the palace gates sabotaged, they enter the palace via the sewers with Seigneur James' help. Upon meeting Prince Arutha, another moredhel assassin sneaks in and attempts to kill Gorath, only to be foiled by Pug.

Chapter II: Shadow Of The Nighthawks

Gorath informs Arutha of Delekhan's plans, but Arutha does not trust him because he does not know the location of the attack. Gorath thinks they can find out by intercepting Delekhan's Nighthawk spies in Romney. Arutha arranges for James to escort Gorath to Romney and meet with a group of the king's soldiers investigating recent Nighthawk activity in the east. Arutha will muster his army and await word of where the attack will occur. James, Owyn, and Gorath secretly slip out of the city through the sewers and head east. Arriving at the tavern in Romney, they discover that the king's soldiers have all been murdered.

Chapter III: The Spyglass And The Spider

Two clues were left behind at the murder scene: an enchanted spyglass and a silver spider. James, Owyn, and Gorath follow the trail of the spyglass and the spider north to Cavall Keep and uncover the leader of the Nighthawks, the merchant Navon du Sandau. After killing him, they enter the Nighthawks' hideout in the caverns beneath Cavall Keep, where they learn that Delekhan plans to attack Northwarden. Realizing that Nighthawks probably infiltrated the fortress, they split up. James heads to Northwarden while Owyn and Gorath head south to warn Arutha. Before they can reach Arutha though, Owyn and Gorath are captured by Narab, one of Delekhan's chieftains.

Chapter IV: Marked For Death

Gorath and Owyn are taken to Sar-Sargoth, where Narab presents them to Delekhan. Delekhan, enraged that Narab has ruined his plans, tells him his life is forfeit. Narab turns on Delekhan and, unbeknownst to them, frees Owyn and Gorath. They escape Sar-Sargoth and head south to the Inclindel Gap, where they meet a Kingdom patrol and are taken to Arutha's camp. Learning of the impending attack on Northwarden, Arutha readies his army and sends Owyn and Gorath to Krondor to seek Pug's help in case the moredhel employ magic.

Chapter V: When Rivers Run Blood

James and Locklear arrive at Northwarden and are sent by Baron Gabot to find his magical adviser Patrus. The three of them help Duke Martin prepare for the attack by poisoning moredhel food supplies, finding the minstrel Tamney, stealing the moredhel battle plans, and killing six moredhel magicians hiding behind Kingdom lines. Returning to Northwarden as the moredhel siege begins, they discover that Nighthawks have murdered Baron Gabot, leaving James in command. The battle goes badly and they are about to be overrun when Arutha arrives with his army in time to drive off the moredhel.

Chapter VI: Betrayal

Makala visits Pug in Krondor, telling him that Gamina is considered an abomination by the Assembly of Magicians and that he has imprisoned her until her fate can be decided. Pug is enraged at Makala's betrayal and vows to find her, blasting the words "The Book Of Macros" into the wall. When Katala is unable to find him or their daughter, she discovers his message and informs Owyn and Gorath. Following clues from the libraries at Sarth and the Abbaye Ishap, Owyn and Gorath head west to Elvandar, where Gorath completes his "Returning" and pledges his allegiance to Queen Aglaranna and Prince Consort Tomas. Tomas shows them the Book of Macros, a gift from Pug to find him should he leave the message to do so. Recently injured by a poisoned blade in a moredhel skirmish, Tomas asks Owyn and Gorath to go in his stead. Owyn and Gorath read the book, which teleports them into the unknown.

Chapter VII: The Long Ride

In Northwarden, the moredhel raiding leader is captured and reveals that they plan to use a rift machine in the Dimwood to bypass Arutha's army, enter Sethanon, and free Murmandamus, whom they believe is alive and imprisoned there. Realizing that the attack was a diversion engineered by Makala, Arutha orders his troops to Sethanon and instructs James, Locklear, and Patrus to find and destroy the rift machine. After learning that the machine can be disrupted by a Tsurani device called a Waani, they find the machine and disable it. However, as the rift collapses, it pulls in everything nearby before exploding. James and Locklear grab onto trees but Patrus is sucked into the collapsing rift and is apparently killed. At the same moment, three figures appear in a flash of purple light.

Chapter VIII: Of Lands Afar

Owyn and Gorath are teleported to Timirianya, where Owyn realizes that magic does not work and Pug would be powerless. Owyn and Gorath eventually find Pug, who has figured out that by abducting Gamina and manipulating Delekhan, Makala has lured Pug away from Midkemia and Arutha's army away from Sethanon and is free to enter Sethanon unopposed and seek out the Lifestone. Using the Cup of Rlnn Skrr, Owyn restores Pug's powers and they find Gamina imprisoned in a crystal cage in the underground ruins of the Temple of Dhatsavan. Gorath smashes the cage and, using a special pattern stone Pug has brought, the four of them return to Midkemia.

Chapter IX: Mad Gods Rage

In a flash of purple light, Pug, Owyn, and Gorath appear before James and Locklear in the Dimwood and tell them to wait for Arutha and let him know that there is no magical threat to his army; Makala will be waiting for Pug at Sethanon. Pug, Owyn, and Gorath travel to the caverns beneath Sethanon and kill the Tsurani Great Ones ("the Six") protecting the Lifestone Chamber. Gorath remains behind to protect the Oracle of Aal, which was incapacitated by Makala, while Pug and Owyn confront the magician. Makala believes that Pug was keeping the Lifestone hidden to use as a weapon and wants it destroyed, but Pug refuses because it would release the Valheru souls trapped inside. Engaging Makala in a magical battle, Pug and Owyn eventually kill him.

Afterward, Gorath enters the chamber locked in combat with Delekhan. When Delekhan reaches for the Lifestone, Gorath tries to stop him and they begin to transform as the Valheru within try to escape. Pug and Owyn are forced to kill them both with a blast of magic in order to prevent the Valheru from being released. Returning above ground, Pug creates magical illusions of Murmandamus and Delekhan which are then incinerated by the Oracle of Aal. Having seen their leaders killed, the moredhel retreat, during which Narab kills Delekhan's son Moraeulf, fulfilling his plans for taking over the moredhel. Owyn is left alone with Pug, who reveals that since Owyn now knows about the Lifestone, Pug must ensure that the secret is safe and suggests that Owyn become one of his students at Stardock. Owyn laughs and replies that he's never wanted anything else.

Nightclub manager Darnell Wright (Martin Lawrence) is a perpetual playboy and hopeless male chauvinist. He works for a nightclub called ''Chocolate City'' and aspires to be its owner. He trades VIP privileges at the club for favors from women. Though he is an expert at conning women, he sometimes worries about what his childhood sweetheart Mia (Regina King) thinks of his adventures.

When the beautiful and wealthy Brandi Webb (Lynn Whitfield) steps out of a limousine to enter the club, Darnell feels that he's met his ultimate prize. She initially rejects his come-ons, which only fuels his appetite. He pursues her, showing up with flowers at her office. He finally wins over Brandi, only to find out that he's really in love with Mia. One morning, Darnell wakes up to find Brandi in his kitchen making bacon and pancakes. She wants him to hold her, but he pushes her off aggressively. However, Brandi doesn't take kindly to rejection. She becomes an obsessed femme fatale stalking him, even taking all four wheels off his SUV to ground him from his rounds, shattering his windshield and setting his nightclub on fire. In one scene, she hits herself with a fruit hidden in a stocking to cause bruises without fingerprints, and repeatedly slams a door on her arm injuring herself. When Darnell goes to see her at the hospital, he is arrested for a false domestic violence charge. She also threatens Mia's life.

Ending his relationship with Mia is not enough to satisfy Brandi who finally administers Darnell's punishment for his misogyny. Darnell quickly learns the hard way that when you "play", you have to "pay." Darnell, now suffering from a gun wound attempts to take the gun off Brandi causing himself, Brandi and Mia to fall out of the window and land in the pool. Darnell wakes up in the hospital with all his friends and family as well as Mia standing over him, and decides to change his life for the better. Brandi ends up arrested and imprisoned.

During a surprise 42nd birthday party for the wealthy and famous composer George Webber thrown by his actress girlfriend Samantha Taylor, George finds that he is coping badly with his age. From his car, George glimpses a bride on her way to be married and is instantly obsessed with her beauty. Following her to the church, he crashes into a police cruiser, is stung by a bee and nearly disrupts the wedding ceremony.

Later that night, Sam and George argue over his treatment of women and his habit of spying on the intimate acts of a neighbor (which later turns out to be consensual).

George visits the reverend who performed the wedding and learns that the woman is Jenny Miles, daughter of a prominent Beverly Hills dentist.

The following day, while spying on his neighbor, George hits himself with the telescope and falls down an embankment, causing him to miss Sam's phone call. Still obsessed with Jenny, he schedules a dental appointment with her father and learns that Jenny and her husband David have gone to Mexico for their honeymoon. The effects of a comically implausible amount of treatment accompanied by a heavy dose of novocaine, aggravated by immediate heavy drinking, leave George completely incoherent. Sam finally reaches him on the phone, but mistakes him for an intruder and calls the police, who hold George at gunpoint while trying to understand his gibberish. George visits his neighbor's house to take part in an ongoing orgy, but Sam spots him through his telescope, widening the rift between them.

George impulsively boards a plane to follow the newlyweds to their exclusive resort in Mexico. In the bar, George encounters old acquaintance Mary Lewis, who lacks self-confidence. When they attempt a fling, Mary interprets George's inadequacy in bed as confirmation of her own insecurities.

At the beach, George sees Jenny in a swimsuit and is awestruck again by her beauty. Noticing that her husband has fallen asleep on a surfboard, George rents a catamaran and rescues David, making him a hero. Sam sees George on a TV newscast and tries to contact him unsuccessfully. David is hospitalized with sunburn, allowing Jenny and George to spend time alone together. Jenny smokes marijuana and seduces George, but he is horrified when Jenny takes a call from David and casually informs him of George's presence. George is even more confused with David's complete lack of concern. Jenny explains their open and honest relationship and reveals that she married David only because of pressure from her conservative father. George leaves after realizing that Jenny sees their tryst as nothing more than a casual fling.

After flying home, George reconciles with Sam by apologizing and demonstrating a new maturity. George takes an idea from Jenny when he starts ''Boléro'' on his phonograph (lasting minutes, an appropriate duration for lovemaking) and he makes love with Sam in full view of the neighbor's telescope, but the neighbor, frustrated that he provides erotic entertainment for George and gets nothing in return, is by now not watching.

Frank White, a drug lord, is riding into New York City in a limousine after being released from Sing Sing prison. Emilio El Zapa, a Colombian drug dealer, is shot dead and the killers leave a newspaper headline announcing Frank's release. Zapa's partner, King Tito, is in a hotel room with Jimmy Jump, who is Frank's trigger happy right-hand man and his crew, who are negotiating the purchase of cocaine. Jimmy and his crew shoot Tito and his bodyguards and steal the cocaine.

Later, in a suite at the Plaza Hotel, Frank is greeted by Jimmy and his gang, who welcome him home. Frank leaves to meet two of his lawyers, Joey Dalesio and Jennifer, for dinner. Frank expresses his desire to be Mayor of New York City and asks Dalesio to set up a meeting with Mafia boss Arty Clay. He and Jennifer leave to take a ride on the subway where they embrace passionately, kissing and groping each other. Confronted by muggers, Frank first brandishes his gun then throws to them a wad of money, telling them to ask for him at the Plaza if they want work.

Dalesio goes to Little Italy, to set up a meeting with Clay, but the Mafia don urinates on Dalesio's shoes and tells him it is a message for Frank. Frank, Jump and other members of the gang go to Clay's social club, where Frank tells Clay that he wants a percentage of all of Clay's profits. When Clay insults him, Frank shoots the Mafioso dead. As he leaves, Frank tells Clay's men that they can all find employment at the Plaza with him.

The next night, Frank is confronted by Detectives Bishop, Gilley and Flanigan of the New York Police Department (NYPD) narcotics squad. They drive him to an empty lot where they show him the body of El Zapa in the trunk in an attempt to get Frank to confess to his murder. Frank sends Dalesio to Chinatown to make contact with Triad leader Larry Wong, who has $3 million worth of cocaine. Frank tells him it will bring $15 million when he sells it on the street. Larry demands $3 million up front and another $500,000 after the drugs are sold. Frank counters that the two should team up, then split the profits evenly. Larry turns him down and demands that Frank decide immediately whether he wants to buy the drugs. Frank declines.

Jimmy Jump and several of Frank's lieutenants are arrested by Gilley and Flanigan, who reveal that one of King Tito's bodyguards survived the drug deal shooting and is willing to testify. When Frank learns of his men's arrest, he orders his lawyers to arrange their release. They head to Chinatown, where they kill Larry and his gang and take the cocaine.

Gilley, Flanigan and other officers pose as drug dealers and bribe Dalesio into leading them to the nightclub where Frank and his men are partying. They burst in shooting, killing several members of Frank's gang. Fleeing over the Queensboro Bridge, Frank and Jump trade shots with the police, killing all but Gilley and Flanigan. After evading their pursuers, the two men split up. Sneaking up on Flanigan, Jump shoots him in the chest, puncturing his vest. Seeing this, Gilley shoots Jump several times in the chest and stomach. Gilley tries CPR on his partner to no avail and he finishes Jump off with a gunshot to the head. A few days later at the cemetery during Flanigan's funeral, Frank kills Gilley in a brazen drive-by shooting.

After his men kill Dalesio for setting them up for the police ambush, Frank goes to Bishop's apartment, telling him that he has placed a $250,000 bounty on every detective involved in the case. Holding Bishop at gunpoint, Frank explains that he killed Tito, Larry, Arty Clay and Zapa because he disapproved of their involvement in human trafficking and child prostitution.

Frank forces Bishop to handcuff himself to a chair. As Frank heads to the subway, Bishop uses a hidden gun to free himself. Bishop corners Frank in a subway car. Frank shoots Bishop, killing him but the policeman is able to fire a last shot. Frank walks slowly out of the subway station in Times Square. He gets in a taxi and tells the driver to just drive but the taxi is caught in a traffic jam caused by the police search for Frank. Sitting in the back seat of the taxi, Frank puts his hand over his wound and watches the police surround his car. As police officers close in on the taxi, Frank closes his eyes, goes limp and dies.

Edward Malone, a young reporter for the ''Daily Gazette'', asks his editor for a dangerous assignment to impress the woman he loves, Gladys, who wishes for a great man capable of brave deeds and actions. His task is to approach the notorious Professor Challenger, who dislikes the popular press intensely and physically assaults intrusive journalists. The subject is to be his recent South American expedition which, surrounded by controversy, guarantees a hostile reaction. As a direct approach would be instantly rebuffed, Malone instead masquerades as an earnest student. On meeting the professor he is startled by his intimidating physique, but believes his ruse is succeeding. Seeing through the masquerade, then confirming Malone's scientific knowledge is non-existent, Challenger erupts in anger and forcibly throws him out. Malone earns his respect by refusing to press charges with a policeman who saw his violent ejection into the street. Challenger ushers him back inside and, extracting promises of confidentiality, eventually reveals he has discovered living dinosaurs in South America, following up an expedition by a now-deceased previous American explorer named Maple White. At a tumultuous public meeting in which Challenger experiences further ridicule (most notably from a professional rival, Professor Summerlee), Malone volunteers for an expedition to verify the discoveries. His companions are to be Professor Summerlee, and Lord John Roxton, an adventurer who helped end slavery on the Amazon; the notches on his rifle showing how many slavers he killed doing so.

Running the gauntlet of hostile tribes, the expedition finally reaches the lost world with the aid of Indian guides, who are superstitiously scared of the area. Summerlee retains his scepticism – although being delighted at making other scientific discoveries in the field of botany and entomology: even a glimpse of a pterodactyl at a distance fails to convince him, believing it is some species of stork (the sharper-eyed Roxton is inclined to agree it is not a stork but has no clue what it really is), until a night-time encounter when it flies down and is seen by all at close range, as it steals the companions' dinner. After this, Summerlee apologises to Challenger. The cliffs to the plateau itself prove to be apparently unscalable, but an adjacent pinnacle turns out to be climbable, and moreover, has a tall tree which can be cut down and used as a bridge, which allows the four explorers to cross to the plateau. However, they are almost immediately trapped on it, thanks to the treachery of one of their luggage-porters, Gomez: who, as it turns out, is a former slaver whose brother had previously been killed by Roxton during his anti-slavery activities. Gomez takes his revenge by dropping the tree off the cliff, stranding the explorers on the plateau. Gomez himself is subsequently killed by another porter, a black ex-slave named Zambo, who remains loyal to the party: but the latter is unable to do much more to help, other than send some of the company's supplies over by rope.

Whilst investigating the wonders of the lost world, discovering many plants and creatures thought to be extinct, they narrowly escape an attack from pterodactyls. Although barely escaping with their lives, Roxton takes great interest in nearby blue clay deposits. At night a ferocious dinosaur is about to break through the thorn bushes surrounding their camp; Roxton averts disaster by bravely dashing at it, thrusting a blazing torch at its face to scare it away. Later, all except Malone are captured by a race of ape-men. Whilst in captivity they discover that a tribe of natives, with whom the ape-men are at war, inhabit the other side of the plateau. Roxton escapes and together with Malone mounts a rescue, preventing many unpleasant deaths, including a young native who is a prince of his tribe. The rescued natives take the party to their village, then with the help of their firepower return to defeat the ape-men. After witnessing the power of their guns, the tribe wish to keep them on the plateau but, helped by the young prince they saved, they eventually discover a tunnel leading back to the outside world. During their time with the tribe, Roxton plans how to capture a pterodactyl chick, and succeeds in doing so.

Upon return to England, despite full reports from Malone many detractors continue to dismiss the expedition's account, much as they had Challenger's original story – although Summerlee, having been on the expedition, has now switched sides and is supporting Challenger. Anticipating this, at a public meeting Challenger produces the young pterodactyl as proof, transfixing the audience and leaving them in no doubt of the truth. The explorers are instantly feted as heroes, and on a wave of adulation find themselves carried shoulder-high from the hall by cheering crowds. The pterodactyl, in the confusion, makes its escape and is witnessed several times at different locations around London, causing consternation wherever it goes, but is last seen heading off to the southwest in the probable direction of its home.

At a private celebratory dinner, Roxton reveals to the others that the blue clay contained diamonds – he had been tipped off to the possibility, by the recollection of a similar feature in South Africa – and that he managed to extract about £200,000 worth (£23 million in 2021), which is to be split between them, Challenger plans to open a private museum with his share, Summerlee plans to retire and categorise fossils. Malone returns to his love, Gladys, hoping she will recognise his achievements. Instead, he finds she has now changed her mind and married a very ordinary man instead, an insignificant clerk. Astonished at this turn of events, and with nothing to keep him in London, he decides to accompany Roxton back to the lost world.

Professor Wilson arrives at the Alexanders' house in Boston, Bartley Alexander having persuaded him to attend a Congress of Psychologists in the city. He is greeted by Winifred Alexander. When her husband comes home the men talk; Winifred plays the piano for them. The next day, she tells Wilson how she met her husband through her aunt.

On Christmas Eve, the Alexanders prepare for Christmas dinner. Bartley tells Wilson he is having trouble with a bridge in Canada. Later he gives his wife pearl earrings. On New Year's Day, Alexander makes ready to leave for London. On the ship, he endures sharp gales and goes into a bar, where he gambles at bridge, the card game. In London, Bartley visits Hilda and tells her he cannot go on having two relationships; she must forget about him and leave him alone. She is distressed. The day before he is due to return to America however, he takes her out to dinner.

Later, Hugh MacConnell walks Hilda back to her house on a foggy day. She says she isn't attracted to him; they are just close friends. In her house, she receives a letter from Bartley, saying he is going mad away from her. This prompts her to visit him in America to tell him she will marry another man; Bartley doesn't like the idea. They spend one last evening together.

Soon afterward, Philip Horton calls Bartley to Canada to inspect the bridge. Bartley discovers that one of the lower chords is failing, compromising the structural integrity of the entire bridge. Horton, concerned not to halt construction, had attempted to contact Bartley earlier – the very day Bartley was with Hilda. As Bartley is on the bridge stopping the work crews, the bridge collapses, killing many of the workers. Bartley's body is recovered the next day and taken to Horton's house. Winifred comes back to make arrangements for her husband's corpse. Finally, Wilson visits Hilda. The latter expresses her envy of Winifred. Wilson reminds her that Winifred is now bereft and will be haunted by Bartley's death. Hilda concludes that she will be too.

The story mode of ''Dead or Alive Ultimate'' plays out as it did in the original. However, a new CG sequence is added further explaining the relationship and history of Ayane, Kasumi and Hayate leading into the first two ''Dead or Alive'' games.

An armored truck of the U.S. Treasury is robbed. The thieves ignore the millions of dollars in cash, taking only the engraving plates being transported in the truck, which are then delivered to an oddly-dressed man waiting on a nearby rooftop.

The daughter of mild-mannered Manhattan dentist Sheldon "Shelly" Kornpett and the son of businessman Vince Ricardo are engaged to be married. At an introductory dinner Shelly meets his new in-law, Vince, the man from the rooftop. Sheldon finds Vince suspicious for several reasons, including, during the dinner, when Vince tells a crazy story of a nine-month "consulting" trip to 1954 Guatemala. Vince's son and wife seem oblivious and used to his antics. At one point in the dinner Vince excuses himself to make a phone call and, when he is told something that worries him, he hides something in the basement of the Kornpett home. Later that night Shelly urges his daughter not to marry into the Ricardo clan, but he is talked into giving the marriage a chance.

The following day Vince appears at Sheldon's office and asks Shelly for help with a quick errand: breaking into Vince's office safe. Shelly reluctantly agrees. While retrieving a mysterious black bag from Vince's cramped office, two armed hit men surprise Sheldon. After a chase and shootout and flight to safety, Vince explains to the frightened Shelly that he works for the CIA and robbed the United States Mint of engraving plates to crack a worldwide hyperinflation plot based in Central America. However he says he robbed the U.S. Mint on his own initiative, that the CIA had turned him down, deeming the caper too risky. Vince claims that Sheldon need not be fearful of criminal prosecution, but says that if he himself is caught he will be jailed for 20 years. Vince further upsets Sheldon by telling him he left one of the engraving plates in Sheldon's basement the previous night.

During the wedding preparations, Mrs. Kornpett discovers the engraving and takes it to her local bank, where she is informed by the U.S. Treasury Department that it was stolen. Sheldon arrives home to find Treasury officials there and speeds out of the driveway, leading to a car chase through suburban New Jersey. Sheldon calls Vince and explains what happened; Vince tells Sheldon he wants him to accompany him to Scranton, Pennsylvania, and assures him the whole ordeal will be cleared up by the time they return. At a small airport near Lodi, New Jersey, Vince and Sheldon board a jet.

To Shelly's consternation, during the flight he notices they are flying over the Atlantic Ocean. He momentarily panics, but Vince calms him by saying they are still going to Scranton, but he says they first need to make a brief stop along the way in Tijata, a small island south of Honduras. When they arrive, Vince is supposed to meet a corrupt member of the small country's legislature, Senator Jesus Braunschweiger. However Jesus is shot and killed almost immediately after they land. Vince and Sheldon fall under sniper fire but, using the Senator's car, they escape and drive into town. At their hotel, Vince contacts the mastermind of the inflation plot, General Garcia.

Sheldon, tired of the ordeal, unbeknownst to Vince telephones the local United States Embassy and is told by the CIA agent-in-charge that Vince is a madman who was mentally discharged from the agency. Vince spots Sheldon at the telephone booth and guesses what Sheldon had been up to. When Sheldon tells him what the agent had told him Vince starts laughing and Sheldon tries to flee. Vince prevents Sheldon from escaping and tells him the embassy was following standard procedure in disavowing knowledge of agency activities. Sheldon thinks it possible that Vince may be telling the truth, but tells him that it does not matter, that he refuses to be shot at any more and will not go along with any more of Vince's plans. Vince accepts that.

Leaving the hotel, Vince hails a taxi and is driven off. Sheldon, looking on, notices the actual taxi driver tied up nearby and realizes Vince is in danger. Sheldon chases and leaps onto the roof of the taxi. Vince takes control of the car, crashing into a fruit market. After another shootout and car chase Vince and Shelly reach the General's estate. The eccentric general gives them $20 million for the plates and awards them medals, then marches them in front of a firing squad. Vince stalls while Sheldon rambles despairingly, and just in time dozens of CIA agents arrive to save them, led by Barry Lutz, the agent from the embassy. They overwhelm the general's army and take Garcia into custody. Lutz reveals that Vince was telling the truth the entire time. Vince retires on the spot, saying he has had enough of a spy's life. He gives Lutz $10 million he had received from the general. Vince and Sheldon take off with five million dollars apiece, which no-one else knows about, and on their return home give their children a wedding gift of one million dollars each.

Wishing to pursue a career as a jazz saxophonist, Pete Hammond Jr. takes a bus from his home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to New York City and optimistically begins looking for work. However, jobs are extremely hard to find. He crosses paths with Peggy Brown, a model and taxi dancer who has become jaded and cynical after years of struggling to survive in the city. She has just been evicted from an apartment rented to Pete, and because she is penniless and has no home to return to, he offers to let her stay with him. She is forced to rely on his generosity, and as the two of them work at various low-paying jobs, they stay together in the apartment as friends.

Peggy warns him that people cannot be trusted, but Pete is encouraged when a band auditions him for a job. When the other musicians send him out for beer, Pete returns to find that they have stolen his instruments and that he is the victim of a scam, thus proving Peggy right. Pete lands a job as an "alto man" on a cruise ship but has no instruments. Peggy goes to the abusive taxi dance hall owner she works for, Nelly Miller (Don Rickles), to whom she is already in debt, for another loan to give to Pete and agrees to prostitute herself with his patrons to pay back her debts. Maintaining a cynical front, Peggy convinces a suspicious Pete that she got the money with "no strings attached".

Pete writes Peggy daily throughout the next month while on the cruise. When she stalls at fulfilling her end of their deal, Nelly strips Peggy of her dress and shoes to make his point that he owns her. She runs out on their deal again the night Pete returns, and Nelly threatens to disfigure her. In love with Peggy and afraid for her, Pete gives up all his wages, his wristwatch and his new instruments to pay off Nelly. Later, Pete confesses to Peggy that ''he'' "mixed" with three women as part of his cruise job. Peggy agrees to stay with Pete but tells him that he should stop working on cruise ships.

Just after the conclusion of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, Nikolai Apollonovich Ableukov is given the task of assassinating his bureaucrat father, Apollon Apollonovich, using a time bomb supplied to him by a fellow radical, Alexander Ivanovich Dudkin. Nikolai Apollonovich spends much of his time dressing himself in a red domino costume with a black domino mask, making a fool of himself in front of Sofya Petrovna Likhutina, a woman who has rebuked his flirtations in the past. Instead of focusing on the immense task he has agreed to undertake he gets himself into the newspaper's gossip columns with his antics and attends a party. His father notices these exploits and decides that his son is a scoundrel. Dudkin himself answers to a higher power, a man named Lippanchenko who is the leader of their radical group. Eventually both Nikolai Apollonovich and Dudkin experience a change of heart about their mission, however there is much to detain Nikolai Apollonovich on his way to throw the bomb into the river.

In 1999, Seth Davis, a 19-year-old Queens College dropout, runs an unlicensed casino in his home near the campus, catering to college students. Although he earns a successful living, he is a disappointment to his father, Marty, a New York City federal judge. One night, his cousin Adam stops by the casino to play blackjack, bringing a rich associate named Greg Weinstein along with him. Greg recruits Seth to join J.T. Marlin, a brokerage firm based somewhere off the Long Island Expressway, promising him that he has the opportunity to get rich.

Arriving at J.T. Marlin, Seth attends a group interview and learns from Jim Young, one of the co-founders of the firm, what is expected of his work and also how he can become a millionaire, which he assures to the new applicants will happen within three years of their first day of employment at J.T. Marlin. The firm's techniques of selling are through cold calling investors to sell stock, and Seth joins as a stockbroker trainee, having to close 40 accounts and pass a Series 7 Exam to begin working independently. The brokers love to quote insider trader Gordon Gekko from ''Wall Street'', seeing him as a role model. He is soon making a good living, as well as winning his father's approval and embarking on a romance with Abbie Halpert, a secretary and Greg's ex-girlfriend.

Gradually, he learns that J.T. Marlin is a chop shop brokerage firm that runs a "pump and dump", using its brokers to create artificial demand in the stock of expired or fake companies, and speculative penny stocks. When the firm is done pumping the stock, the firm founders sell and trade for legitimate stocks for record profits. However, the investors then have no one to sell their shares to in the market when the price of the stock plummets, causing them to lose their investment. The FBI agents investigating the firm decide to pursue Seth, hoping to make him their informant.

Seth passes his Series 7 Exam and becomes a broker. He then contacts Harry Reynard, the purchasing manager of a gourmet foods company. Although Harry is reluctant, he gives in after Seth lies that the stock is guaranteed to go up in value; Seth sells him 100 shares at $8 each. When the stock's value drops, Harry calls back to ask why the stock has done so poorly, only to have Seth persuade him to buy more worthless shares. The stock eventually tanks, costing Harry his savings and his family.

Feeling guilty for scamming Harry, Seth resolves to shut the firm down. Marty then disowns him, accusing him of destroying peoples' lives. Seth investigates further, discovering that the firm's founders are already preparing to abandon J.T. Marlin, destroy the records, and cut ties with their employees to re-brand and start their scheme under a new name, leaving their victims to face a lengthy legal battle without much hope of recovering their money. Seth shows up at his father's office and tearfully explains that he shut down his casino and went along with a highly criminal line of work that he thought was legal to gain his family's approval. He then requests that his father help him on an IPO scheme to rob the firm of their money and bring them down, hoping that his actions, while illegal, will recover enough money to help J.T. Marlin's victims. Although Marty initially refuses due to the risk of losing his judgeship, he calls Seth the next day, reconciling with him and offering to help with the scheme.

Seth is eventually arrested by the FBI for the violation of 26 SEC and NASD regulations, and is brought into their custody along with his father, as the bureau had discovered their IPO scheme from a tape-recorded phone conversation. The FBI offer him federal immunity if he agrees to testify against J.T. Marlin once all the suspects are brought into court, and threaten to involve Marty in order to assure Seth's cooperation. Seth asserts that he will testify against the firm and provide strong evidence of their illegal practices only if his father is released. He and the agents come to an agreement on this, with Seth being kept overnight. After that, it is implied that he will be free to go as the FBI will proceed to raid the building and prosecute everybody else.

Seth returns to work the next day and goes along with the FBI's instructions to make copies of investment files onto a floppy disk to use as evidence. Before leaving, Seth attempts to get Harry's money back. He lies to Michael Brantley, the company's founder, by explaining that the firm can lose a lot of money by refusing to continue to do business with Harry Reynard, who Seth makes out to be an important prospect at a make-or-break point. Brantley agrees to proceed, offering him shares of the next IPO, with a caveat that he cannot sell the shares until the firm has sold off theirs. In order to sell the shares behind Michael's back, Seth needs a sell ticket signed by a senior broker, something that his direct supervisor, Greg, has explicitly said that he would never do. He seeks a signing from Chris Varick, explaining that he may as well "do one thing right" in helping a severely hit investor make his money back, now that the firm will be raided and, soon enough, there will be no future in continuing business at J.T. Marlin. Chris reluctantly agrees, and proceeds to escape the building in an attempt to flee federal enforcement. Seth walks out to his car, deciding what to do with his life now that his ties with J.T. Marlin are finished. As he departs in his car, several FBI cars, buses, and tow trucks enter the parking lot, with agents storming out ready to raid the building.

The film begins in 1813 after the phase of the Napoleonic Wars known in German as the ''Befreiungskriege'' (Wars of Liberation). The opening scenes show Prussian Landwehr and volunteers marching down the streets of Breslau through enthusiastic crowds. This is followed by a dialogue between King Frederick William III of Prussia and Count August von Gneisenau, in which Gneisenau explains that the siege of Kolberg taught the importance of citizen armies. Ending with the admonition that kings who cannot lead must abdicate, the scene switches to Vienna in 1806 to show the abdication of the last Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II of Austria, whom the script has Gneisenau call "an Emperor who abandoned the German people in their hour of need".

The scene set, the film moves to 1806 and a Kolberg not yet affected by war, where the inhabitants are shown enjoying life, and the town's leaders, Nettelbeck chief among them, discuss Napoleon's proclamations, and what it will mean to them. Some see the French victories as a good thing, some wonder whether to leave. Nettelbeck alone is set on resisting the French. The film continues in this vein, with Nettelbeck struggling against cowardice, lethargy and the old-fashioned ideas of the garrison commander, to defend his city against the approaching French. Nettelbeck creates a citizen militia, in spite of the best efforts of the regular Prussian Army, has supplies collected, and strongly opposes the idea of surrender.

Finally, having been threatened with execution, and convinced that Kolberg can only be saved if a great leader can be found, Nettelbeck sends Maria on the dangerous journey to Königsberg whither the Court of Prussia has retreated, to meet with the King and with Queen Louise, who was described by Napoleon as "the only man in Prussia". Maria's journey leads to the energetic and charismatic Gneisenau being sent to Kolberg. After an initial confrontation with Nettelbeck, in order to show that there is only one leader in Kolberg, and that Gneisenau is that leader, the two work together with the army and the citizens to save the city from the French. After Kolberg is (unhistorically) saved, the film returns to 1813 after the Convention of Tauroggen, a time when Napoleon was defeated in Russia, and Prussian leaders wonder whether it is time to turn openly against him. Frederick William is convinced by Gneisenau to do so, and sits down to write the proclamation ''An Mein Volk'' ("To my People") announcing the Wars of Liberation.

Taking place in 1830, ''Circle of the Moon'' is set in one of the fictional universes of the ''Castlevania'' series. The premise of the original series is the eternal conflict between the vampire hunters of the Belmont clan and the immortal vampire Dracula. ''Circle of the Moon'' s protagonist, however, is Nathan Graves, whose parents died a decade ago to banish Dracula. Morris Baldwin, who helped in Dracula's banishment, trained him to defeat Dracula and the monsters; Morris ultimately chose him as his successor and gave him the "Hunter Whip", to the displeasure of Hugh, Morris' son who trained alongside him.

At an old castle, Camilla, a minion of Dracula, revives him, only to be interrupted by the arrival of Morris, Nathan, and Hugh. Before they are able to banish him again, Dracula destroys the floor under Nathan and Hugh, causing them to plummet down a long tunnel. Surviving the fall and wishing to find his father, Hugh leaves Nathan behind. Nathan proceeds to search the castle for his mentor. Along the way, he learns that at the next full moon, Morris' soul will be used to return Dracula to full power. He also periodically encounters Hugh, who becomes more hostile as the game progresses. Eventually, Nathan encounters Camilla, who hints that she and Dracula are responsible for the changes in his personality. Nathan vanquishes Camilla in her true form and meets up with Hugh once more. Upon seeing him, Hugh immediately attacks him with the goal of proving himself to his father through Nathan's defeat; Nathan, however, realizes that Dracula is controlling Hugh. Nathan defeats him, and Dracula's control over Hugh breaks. Confessing that he doubted his self-worth when Nathan was chosen as successor, Hugh tasks him with Morris' rescue.

Arriving at the ceremonial room, Nathan confronts Dracula, who confirms that he had tampered with Hugh's soul to cause the changes in his personality. They begin to fight and halfway through, Dracula teleports away to gain his full power. Hugh then frees his father and tasks Nathan with Dracula's banishment. Nathan continues the battle and defeats Dracula; escaping the collapsing castle, he reunites with Morris and Hugh. Nathan is declared a master vampire hunter by Morris. Hugh vows to retrain under Morris due to his failure.

Ruth is an abnormally tall and ugly housewife whose husband, Bobbo, considers their relationship an open marriage based on convenience alone and he only married her because he got her pregnant when they were both teenagers. Bobbo only truly loves his mistress Mary Fisher, a famous, wealthy romance novelist. When Ruth passionately indicates her disapproval for Bobbo's extramarital affair, he calls her a "she-devil", causing her to reassess her life. She resolves to behave in accordance with the label he has given her.

Bobbo leaves Ruth and their two children and goes to live with Mary, to whom he soon proposes. Ruth plots her revenge on them, beginning by burning down her own house, therefore forcing the children to live with their father at Mary's mansion. Ruth engages in a string of meaningless sexual relationships in order to emotionally detach herself from sex. In the meantime, she works at the retirement home which houses Mary's mother, Pearl. Her actions there cause Pearl to be expelled from the home, thus inconveniencing Mary and Bobbo who must now care for her.

Ruth finds work at a psychiatric hospital while taking classes in accounting and bookkeeping. She uses this knowledge to discreetly steal money from Bobbo's corporate clientele in a way that will incriminate Bobbo later on. Ruth starts her own employment agency for female secretaries, under the alias of "Vesta Rose". Through her agency, she sends a secretary to Bobbo's office who begins another affair with him. When the police arrive to arrest Bobbo, Ruth has made it appear as though he and the secretary were going to take the stolen money to Switzerland and leave the country, though with the assistance of the same secretary, Ruth is in possession of the money herself, becoming rich as a result. She nonetheless feels slight sympathy for the secretary and arranges for her to take a new job in Australia so she can evade the police.

Under a new alias, Ruth works as a nanny for the children of the judge who presides over Bobbo's trial, satisfying his masochistic desires and successfully persuading him to extend Bobbo's prison sentence if he is convicted. Bobbo is found guilty and imprisoned. While a desperate Mary turns toward religion for guidance. Ruth manipulates the entire situation by seducing and corrupting a priest, Father Ferguson, and sending him to Mary. Ruth continues to recreate herself with a variety of aliases and love affairs.

Ruth uses her money to change her lifestyle and appearance, undergoing over several years, a series of surgeries to completely restructure her body to be identical to Mary. Mary continues to love Bobbo, spends her entire fortune on Bobbo's trial and finally wastes away, developing cancer and ultimately dying. Before her passing away the mansion is purchased by Ruth. Ruth even attends Mary's funeral, externally looking like her. She hires Mary's former manservant and lover Garcia. Ruth now lives a life of wealth, extravagance, and control, and plans to sexually dominate Bobbo once she secures his release from prison, causing him the misery that he once caused her.

Clay Carter is a poorly paid Washington, D.C. public defender who dreams of joining a large law firm. One day he reluctantly takes on the case of Tequila Watson, a man accused of a random street killing. Watson insists that he somehow was not in control of his body when he pulled the trigger, a story which Clay tries to dismiss but cannot get out of his mind. Clay tries his best to help his client, plunging into the capital's most dangerous slums in search of evidence. Clay finally gets a subpoena forcing drug rehabilitation centers to hand over Watson's medical records, as well as those of another man accused of a similar murder.

Meanwhile, Clay has been dating Rebecca Van Horn, a junior congressional aide. Clay and Rebecca are deeply in love, but he deeply loathes her father, Bennett Van Horn, an aggressive real estate mogul whose developments are destroying the countryside of Northern Virginia. When Clay refuses an offer to work for a senator who is closely involved with these deals, Bennett pressures Rebecca into cutting off relations with Clay and hastily marrying a rich corporate lawyer.

Clay is unexpectedly contacted by a mysterious man named Max Pace, who tells him that Watson's medical records are evidence of a potentially major scandal. It is revealed that Watson and other recovering drug addicts were illegally given an experimental drug called Tarvan, which caused some of the test subjects to commit random and senseless killings. Pace says he has been hired by the drug company responsible, and asks Clay to resign from his job as a public defender and arrange secret payoffs to the victims. While doing so would mean hiding exculpatory evidence from his client, Clay goes along with the scheme, partly to win back Rebecca's affections with his newfound wealth.

Clay opens a law firm specializing in mass torts, hiring several of his friends and colleagues: lawyer Paulette, paralegal Rodney and computer expert Jonah. He continues to work with Max, who provides insider information concerning Dyloft, a carcinogenic drug produced by Ackerman Laboratories. Advised by Pace, Clay orchestrates an intensive TV campaign which results in a $100 million settlement, being dubbed the "King of Torts" by the media. While Clay and his employees enjoy the millions of dollars in returns from the settlement, his clients are bitter at getting only a bit more than $50,000 each.

Max offers Clay information on yet another defective drug called Maxatil. Expecting to repeat his success, Clay recklessly incurs enormous expenses: launching a coast-to-coast TV campaign; signing up dozens of additional legal and medical staff; renting additional office space; and signing up thousands of "Maxatil clients." However, Clay finds that conclusively linking Maxatil to negative side effects is far from easy. Moreover, it is produced by Goffman, a company known for unwillingness to compromise on tort suits. The future of the Maxatil tort suit depends on the outcome of a single, long drawn out test case run by an aging maverick lawyer in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Meanwhile, the FBI questions Clay on suspicion of insider trading. A criminal lawyer tells Clay that, having sold Ackerman shares short while knowing he would sue the company and push down the value of its shares, he is indeed culpable and could face up to five years behind bars. Max turns out to be a con artist who is wanted by the FBI and has disappeared without a trace. Next, after Dyloft's effects are found to be deadlier than first thought, terminal patients who were kept from suing Ackerman for millions instead sue Clay for malpractice. Clay faces the prospect of being forced to consume all of his assets to pay his former clients.

Desperate for money, Clay turns to a mass tort against Hanna, a building supplies company which had produced batches of defective cement. The company's directors are willing to offer a fair compensation to disgruntled homeowners, but only if Clay agrees to cut his share of the compensations. Clay refuses to give up anything, resulting in Hanna's bankruptcy, the loss of thousands of jobs, and an economic disaster for the town where the company is based. When it becomes known that the collapse was caused by "a greedy lawyer," Clay is ambushed and beaten by some men from the town.

While Clay is slowly recovering in the hospital, Rebecca shows up to tend to him, having divorced her husband and estranged herself from her father. Regaining her love helps Clay take calmly the final blow to his career: the jury in Arizona has rejected the Maxatil tort suit, and all the millions which Clay invested in Maxatil goes down the drain. Clay is forced to declare bankruptcy, close down his firm, give up his assets, and surrender his license to practice law. The FBI stops pursuing their case against Clay due to the loyalty of an old friend who refuses to provide incriminating evidence.

Having nothing more to lose, Clay discloses his involvement in the Tarvan affair to an investigative journalist; a criminal lawyer will attempt to re-open the cases of the Tarvan test subjects, including Watson. Clay and Rebecca fly to London, where they would have a happy life without the opulence Clay no longer misses. It is, however, implied that Clay will still end up with a few million dollars in the end, because Paulette and Rodney—with whom Clay was extremely generous and loyal in distributing his initial lucrative settlements—both promise of their own accord to return some of the money to him, never forgetting that they owe their financial success to him.

The novel opens with a psychiatrist who is researching inmates at a women's prison. The prison doctor speaks of a woman, Firdaus, who is unlike any of the murderers in the prison: she rarely eats or sleeps, she never talks, she never accepts visitors. She feels certain the woman is incapable of murder, but she has refused to sign any appeals on her behalf. The psychiatrist makes several attempts to speak with her, but Firdaus declines. The rejections cause the psychiatrist to have a crisis of self-confidence. She becomes consumed with the idea that Firdaus is better than herself, and possibly better than even the president, whom she has refused to send an appeal to. As the psychiatrist is leaving the warder comes to her with an urgent message: Firdaus wants to speak to her. Upon meeting, Firdaus promptly tells her to close the window, sit down, and listen. She explains that she is going to be executed that evening and she wants to tell her life story.

Firdaus describes a poor childhood in a farming community. She recalls that she was confused by the disparity between her father's actions, such as beating her mother, and his dedication to the Islamic faith. Those days were relatively happy days, as she was sent out to the fields to work and tend the goats. She enjoys the friendship of a boy named Mohammadain, with whom she plays "bride and bridegroom", and describes her first encounters with clitoral stimulation. One day Firdaus's mother sends for a woman with a knife, who mutilates her genitals. From that point on Firdaus is assigned work in the home. Firdaus' uncle begins to take a sexual interest in her and she describes her new lack of clitoral sensitivity, noting, "He was doing to me what Mohammadain had done to me before. In fact, he was doing even more, but I no longer felt the strong sensation of pleasure that radiated from an unknown and yet familiar part of my body. ... It was as if I could not longer recall the exact spot from which it used to arise, or as though a part of me, of my being, was gone and would never return."

After the death of her parents, Firdaus is taken in by her uncle, who sends her to primary school, which she loves. She maintains a close relationship with her uncle, who continues to take an interest in her sexually. After Firdaus receives her primary school certificate a distance grows between uncle and niece, and her uncle marries and withdraws all affection and attention. Tensions between Firdaus and her aunt-in-law build until Firdaus is placed in boarding school, where Firdaus falls in love with a female teacher named Miss Iqbal, whom she feels a mutual connection to, but Iqbal keeps her at an arm's length and never allows her to get close.

Upon graduation, Firdaus' aunt convinces her uncle to arrange her marriage with Sheikh Mahmoud, a "virtuous man" who needs an obedient wife. Firdaus considers running away but ultimately submits to the marriage. Mahmoud repulses her — he is forty years older and has a sore on his chin that oozes pus. He stays home all day, micromanaging Firdaus' every action, and begins to physically abuse her.

Firdaus runs away and wanders the streets aimlessly until she stops to rest at a coffee shop. The owner, Bayoumi, offers her tea and a place to stay until she finds a job, which she accepts. After several months, Firdaus tells him she wants to find a job and her own place to live. Bayoumi immediately becomes violent and beats her savagely. He starts locking her up during the day and allows his friends to abuse, insult, and rape her. Eventually, Firdaus is able to enlist the aid of a female neighbor, who calls a carpenter to open the door, allowing her to escape.

While on the run, Firdaus meets the madame Sharifa Salah el Dine, who takes her into her brothel as a high-class prostitute. She tells Firdaus that all men are the same and that she must be harder than life if she wants to live. In exchange for working in Sharifa's brothel Firdaus is given beautiful clothes and delicious food, but she has no pleasure in life. One evening she overhears an argument between Sharifa and her pimp, Fawzy, who wants to take Firdaus as his own. They argue, and Fawzy overpowers Sharifa and rapes her. Firdaus realizes that even Sharifa does not have true power and she runs away.

Wandering in the rainy night, Firdaus is picked up by a stranger who takes her back to his home. He sleeps with her, but he is not as disgusting as the other men she has dealt with in her profession, and after they are done he gives her a 10 pound note. This is a moment of awakening for Firdaus, and she recalls that it, "solved the enigma in one swift, sweeping moment, tore away the shroud that covered up a truth I had in fact experienced when still a child, when for the first time my father gave me a coin to hold in my hand, and be mine". Firdaus realizes that she can exert her power over men by rejecting them, and can force men to yield to her will by naming her own price; she gains self-confidence and soon becomes a wealthy and highly sought prostitute. She employs a cook and an assistant, works whatever hours she wishes, and cultivates powerful friendships. One day, her friend Di'aa tells her she is not respectable. This insult has a jarring and immediate impact on Firdaus, who comes to realize that she can no longer work as a prostitute.

Firdaus takes a job at a local office and refuses to offer her body to the higher officials for promotions or raises. Although she believes that her new job will bring respect, she makes significantly less money than when working as a prostitute, and lives in squalid conditions. Furthermore, her office job gives her little autonomy or freedom which she values so highly. She eventually falls in love with Ibrahim, a coworker and revolutionary chairman, with whom she develops a deep emotional connection. But when Ibrahim announces his engagement to the chairman's daughter, which has clearly been engineered to help his career, Firdaus realizes he does not reciprocate her feelings and only used her for sex.

Crushed and disillusioned, Firdaus returns to prostitution, and once again amasses great wealth and becomes highly influential. Her success attracts the attention of the pimp Marzouk, who has many political connections and threatens her with police action. He repeatedly beats Firdaus and forces her to give him larger percentages of her earnings. Firdaus decides to leave and take up another job, but Marzouk blocks her way and tells her she can never leave. When he pulls a knife, Firdaus takes it and stabs him to death.

High with the sense of her new freedom, Firdaus walks the streets until she is picked up by a high-profile Arabian prince, who she refuses until he agrees to her price of 3,000 pounds. As soon as the transaction is over, she tells him that she killed a man. He does not believe her, but she scares him to the point that he is convinced. The prince has her arrested and Firdaus is sentenced to death. Firdaus says that she has been sentenced to death because they were afraid to let her live, for: "My life means their death. My death means their life. They want to live." As she is finishing her story, armed policemen come for her, and the psychiatrist sits, stunned, as Firdaus is taken to be executed, and realizes that Firdaus has more courage than her.

Michael Marcus (the father of Ben Marcus, the character) opens ''Notable American Women'' with several warnings – most notably, that his own offspring, Ben, may very well be mentally handicapped – and ponders reflectively, "How can one word from Ben Marcus's rotten, filthy heart be trusted?"

With that, Ben Marcus (the author) launches into a lengthy first-person narration with Ben Marcus as guide, allowing the reader to decide if, and how, any of the words can be trusted. Playing with the English language in such a manner that his work has drawn comparison's to Anthony Burgess's ''A Clockwork Orange'', among other novels, Marcus describes the cultish, recondite practises of his mother, her enigmatic mentor Jane Dark, and their legion of disciples as they attempt to create perfect stillness in the world by eliminating the "wind violence" of speech and, ultimately, physical movement. Dark, witty, and depressing in its ironic hilarity, ''Notable American Women'' allows the reader to delve into the mind of a well-meaning but obtuse young man, to glimpse into his turbulent upbringing full of radical experimentation and forced-breeding (among other things) and, possibly, to become attached.

In the end, the feminist Silentist group, to which Ben's mother Jane Marcus belongs, is facing issues of endangerment due to the largely unsuccessful breeding procedures involving Ben and the growing number of its member that are reaching a stillness level, which makes them obsolete. Jane Marcus, too, is nearing complete and utter emotional obliteration, using a complex system of body contortions, and takes the opportunity to address the reader. Like her estranged husband before her (whom she purportedly assisted in relegating to a hole in her backyard), Jane takes a turn at narration, providing for the novel's conclusion; addressing her husband with ultimatums and effrontery, the reader sees life from the last member of the core Marcus-family trinity, at which point the reader is left to draw her or his own conclusions.

Borges begins by quoting Francis Bacon's ''Essays'', LVIII. "Salomon saith, There is no new thing upon the earth. So that as Plato had an imagination, that all knowledge was but remembrance; so Salomon giveth his sentence, that all novelty is but oblivion."

The introduction takes place in London in the first part of June 1929. Herein the following five chapters are purported to have been found in the last of six volumes in small quarto (1715–20) of Alexander Pope's ''Iliad'', given to the Princess of Lucinge by a seller of rare books named Joseph Cartaphilus.

The story is an autobiographical tale told by a Roman soldier, Marcus Flaminius Rufus, during the reign of the emperor Diocletian. During a sleepless night in Thebes, Egypt, a mysterious man, exhausted and wounded, seeks refuge in his camp. Just before dying, he tells Rufus about a river whose waters bestow immortality on whoever drinks from it. The river is next to a place called the City of the Immortals. Determined to find it, Rufus sets out for Africa with his soldiers. The harsh conditions of the trip cause many of his men to desert. After hearing that the remaining soldiers are planning his death, Rufus flees and wanders through the desert.

Rufus wakes up from a nightmare to find himself tied up in a small recess on the side of a mountain inhabited by Troglodytes. Down below, he spots a polluted stream and jumps down to drink from it; wounded, he falls asleep. Over the next few days, he recovers and, seeing the City of the Immortals in the distance, is able to walk there, followed by a Troglodyte.

The City of the Immortals is an immense labyrinth with dead-end passages, inverted stairways, and many chaotic architectural structures. Rufus, horrified and repulsed by the city, describes it as "a chaos of heterogeneous words, the body of a tiger or a bull in which teeth, organs and heads monstrously pullulate in mutual conjunction and hatred". He eventually escapes the city and finds the Troglodyte who followed him there waiting outside; he names him Argos (after the dog of Odysseus), and decides to teach him language. Soon after, though, Argos reveals that he is Homer, and that the Troglodytes are the Immortals, having destroyed the original City of the Immortals and (on the advice of Homer) replaced it with the labyrinth Rufus encountered.

Rufus spends centuries living with the Immortals, mostly immersed in thought, until the notion of the existence of a river with the powers to "take away" immortality causes the group to scatter in search of it in the tenth century. Rufus wanders the world, fighting at Stamford Bridge, transcribing the voyages of Sindbad the Sailor, and buying the aforementioned edition of Pope's ''Iliad'' in 1714. In 1921, Rufus' ship runs aground in Eritrea while ''en route'' to Bombay, and he drinks from a spring, losing his immortality.

In the end, Rufus realizes that he has incorporated the experiences and words of Homer into his tale, but concludes that "I have been Homer; soon, like Ulysses, I shall be Nobody; soon, I shall be all men—I shall be dead." Rufus is, in fact, the bookseller Cartaphilus, who, we learn at the beginning of the story, dies in October 1929 while returning to Smyrna.

The story ends with a brief postscript which discusses the fictional book ''A Coat of Many Colours'' by Dr. Nahum Cordovero, which argues that the tale of Rufus/Cartaphilus is apocryphal, on the basis of its interpolations of texts by Pliny, Thomas De Quincey, René Descartes and George Bernard Shaw. The postscript ends with the unknown author of the postscript rejecting Cordovero's claim.

;Chapter 1 The Ismailov family is introduced: Boris, the father of Zinovy, the husband of Katerina for the past five years. Boris and Zinovy are merchants, ruling an estate with many serfs. Katerina is bored in their empty home, and tired of Boris' constant orders and scolding of her for not producing any children. She would actually welcome a child, and Zinovy's previous wife of twenty years fared no better.

;Chapter 2 A dam bursts at a mill owned by Boris, and Zinovy leaves town to oversee its repair. Aksinya, the female cook, and Sergei, a newly arrived farmhand, are introduced. Katerina flirts somewhat innocently with Sergei. Aksinya tells Katerina, who has become bored enough to venture out amongst the peasants, of Sergei's reputation as a womanizer.

;Chapter 3 Sergei comes into Katerina's room, and after some dialogue about romance, moves to kiss her roughly. She protests at first, but then gives in; after an implied sexual encounter, she tells Sergei to leave because Boris will be coming by to lock her door. He stays, saying he can use the window instead.

;Chapter 4 After a week of the continued affair, Boris catches Sergei and accuses him of adultery. Sergei will neither admit nor deny it, so Boris whips him until his own arm hurts from the exertion, and locks Sergei in a cellar. Katerina seems to come alive from her boredom, but Boris threatens to beat her as well when she asks for Sergei's release.

;Chapter 5 Katerina poisons Boris, and he is buried in the absence of his son and without suspicion. She then takes charge of the estate and begins to order people around, openly being around Sergei every day.

;Chapter 6 Katerina has a strange dream about a cat. Some dialogue occurs with Sergei, which by its end reveals his worry over Zinovy's return and desire to marry her.

;Chapter 7 Katerina again dreams of the cat, which this time has Boris's head rather than a cat's. Zinovy returns and takes some time to get around to confronting Katerina with what he has heard about her affair. Finally she calls Sergei in, kisses him in front of her husband, some violence occurs, and the two of them strangle Zinovy.

;Chapter 8 Zinovy dies, and Sergei buries him deep in the walls of the cellar where he himself had been kept.

;Chapter 9 Some convenient circumstances regarding Zinovy's return shroud his disappearance in mystery, and while there is an inquiry, nothing is found and no trouble comes to Sergei or Katerina. The latter becomes pregnant. Everything seems to be working out for them, until Boris's young nephew Fyodor shows up with his mother, preventing Katerina from inheriting the estate. She has no problem with this and actually makes an effort to be a good aunt, but Sergei complains repeatedly for a time about their misfortune.

;Chapter 10 Fyodor falls ill, and Katerina, while tending to him, has a change of heart because of Sergei's earlier complaints.

;Chapter 11 Katerina and Sergei suffocate the boy, but a crowd returning from church storms the house, one of its members having spied the act through the shutters of Fyodor's room. Sergei, hearing the windows clattering from the crowd's fists, thinks the ghosts of his murder victims have come back to haunt him, and breaks down.

;Chapter 12 Sergei admits to the crime publicly and, in repentance, also tells of where Zinovy is buried and admits to that crime as well. Katerina indifferently admits that she helped with the murders, saying it was all for Sergei. The two are sent to exile in Siberia. During their journey there, Katerina gives birth in a prison hospital, and wants nothing to do with their child.

;Chapter 13 The child is sent to be raised by Fyodor's mother and becomes heir to the Ismailov estate. Katerina continues to be obsessed with Sergei, who increasingly wants nothing to do with her. Fiona and "little Sonya," two members of the prison convoy with Katerina and Sergei, are introduced, the former being known for being sexually prolific, the latter the opposite.

;Chapter 14 Sergei is caught by Katerina being intimate with Fiona. Katerina is mortified, but seeing Fiona's indifference to the whole situation, reaches something approaching cordiality with Fiona by writing her off. Sergei then pursues little Sonya, who will not sleep with him unless he gives her a pair of stockings. He then complains to Katerina about his ankle-cuffs. She, being happy that he is talking to her again, readily gives him her last pair of new stockings to ease his pain, which he then gives to Sonya in return for sexual favours.

;Chapter 15 Katerina sees Sonya wearing her stockings; she spits in Sergei's eyes, and shoves him. He promises revenge, and later breaks into her cell with another man, giving her fifty lashes with a rope, while her cell-mate Sonya giggles in the background. Katerina, broken, lets Fiona console her, and realizes that she is no better than Fiona, which is her breaking-point: after that she is emotionless. On the road in the prison convoy, Sergei and Sonya together mock Katerina. Sonya offers her stockings to her for sale. Sergei reminisces about both their courtship and their murders in the same airy manner. Fiona and an old man in the convoy, Gordyushka, defend Katerina, but to no avail. The convoy arrives at a river and boards a ferry, and Katerina, repeating some phrases similar to Sergei's feigned nostalgia for their life at the estate, sets upon Sonya; they both end up in the river after Katerina has seen the faces of Boris, Zinovy, and Fyodor in the water. The two women briefly resurface, still alive, but Katerina grabs Sonya, and they both drown.

Cover of issue #4 of the original Epic Comic series The title character, Marshal Law, is the government-sanctioned "super hero hunter" (aka law enforcement officer, or "cape killer") with superpowers in the city of San Futuro, the near-future metropolis built from the ruins of San Francisco following a massive earthquake. Law's job is to take down other superheroes who have gone rogue, which he does with maximum force and great pleasure. Aided by the wheelchair-using "Danny" and his physically imposing (but extremely polite) partner "Kiloton", the Marshal operates from a secret police precinct hidden below the city, dispensing just enough brutal justice to keep the city's many super-powered gangs in a balanced détente while safeguarding the ordinary citizenry.

Marshal Law's secret identity is Joe Gilmore, a former supersoldier consumed with self-hatred about being a superhero. In this world, superheroes are commonplace thanks to genetic engineering, much of the United States' armed forces having undergone the process. However, while their bodies may become super-powered, their minds remain exactly as they were, and in many cases the inability to feel pain causes the subjects to compensate by inflicting pain on others. Psychosis of varying degrees is also a common side-effect, and some subjects develop wildly uncontrollable superpowers.

The plot of the original six-issue series revolved around the Marshal's attempts to unmask the Sleepman, a serial killer and rapist who preys on women dressed as Celeste, the current girlfriend of the beloved superhero, Public Spirit. Marshal Law's loathing of the Public Spirit as standing for everything that is fraudulent and hypocritical about superheroes leads him to suspect the Spirit himself of being responsible for the Sleepman's crimes; without any proof, though, the guilty party goes unpunished until a surprising revelation from a former superheroine reveals that the Marshal's suspicions may not be too far from the truth.

While in the first series, the Marshal's primary nemeses are the Public Spirit and the Sleepman, he later faces off against Private Eye and The Persecutor. A recurring secondary adversary (initially treated seriously, though later becoming comic relief) is Suicida, a psychopathic ex-soldier who leads the murderous Gangreen street gang.

The plot of "Secret Tribunal" revolved around an orbiting incubation center that created and mentally programmed superheroes. It was under attack by a monster called The Incubus, which was defeated by Growing Boy.

Kate Croy and Merton Densher are two betrothed Londoners who desperately want to marry but have very little money. Kate is constantly put upon by family troubles, and is now living with her domineering aunt, Maud Lowder. Into their world comes Milly Theale, an enormously rich young American woman who had previously met and fallen in love with Densher, although she has never revealed her feelings. Her travelling companion and confidante, Mrs. Stringham, is an old friend of Maud. Kate and Aunt Maud welcome Milly to London, and the American heiress enjoys great social success.

With Kate as a companion, Milly goes to see an eminent physician, Sir Luke Strett, because she worries that she is suffering from an incurable disease. The doctor is noncommittal but Milly fears the worst. Kate suspects that Milly is deathly ill. After the trip to America where he had met Milly, Densher returns to find the heiress in London. Kate wants Densher to pay as much attention as possible to Milly, though at first he doesn't quite know why. Kate has been careful to conceal from Milly (and everybody else) that she and Densher are engaged.

With the threat of serious illness hanging over her, Milly decides to travel to Venice with Mrs. Stringham. Aunt Maud, Kate and Densher follow her. At a party Milly gives in her Venice ''palazzo'' (the older Palazzo Barbaro, called "Palazzo Leporelli" in the novel), Kate finally reveals her complete plan to Densher: he is to marry Milly so that, after her presumably soon-to-occur death, he will inherit the money they can marry on. Densher had suspected this was Kate's idea, and he demands that she consummate their affair before he will go along with her plan.

Aunt Maud and Kate return to London while Densher remains with Milly. Unfortunately, the dying girl learns from a former suitor of Kate's about the plot to get her money. She withdraws from Densher and her condition deteriorates. Densher sees her one last time before he leaves for London, where he eventually receives news of Milly's death. Milly does leave him a large amount of money despite everything. But Densher does not accept the money, and he will not marry Kate unless she also refuses the bequest. Conversely, if Kate chooses the money instead of him, Densher offers to make the bequest over to her in full. The lovers part on the novel's final page with a cryptic exclamation from Kate: "We shall never be again as we were!"

'''Lewis Lambert Strether''', the protagonist of the novel, is a cultured man in his fifties from the fictional town of Woollett, Massachusetts, who is dispatched to Paris to find Chad, the wayward son of his fiancée Mrs Newsome. The book is entirely told from Strether's point of view and chronicles his change from an American to a European view of things.

Strether, a middle-aged American of insignificant means, is sent to Paris by Mrs. Newsome, his wealthy fiancée. The mission he has been given is to talk her son, Chad, into returning to the family business in Woollett, Massachusetts. The Newsome family believes that Chad might be overstaying his European tour because of an inappropriate romantic liaison, perhaps with a vulgar adventuress. The reader is given to understand, in indirect ways, that if Strether fails, his engagement to Mrs. Newsome is at risk.

Once Strether locates Chad, he is surprised to discover that Chad has improved from when he last knew him in America. Chad exhibits restrained urbanity, elegance and manners. This is not what Strether expected of someone in the grip of an inappropriate romantic entanglement. Strether wonders what has caused the transformation he sees in Chad. When Chad offers to introduce him to some of his close friends—Madame de Vionnet and her grown daughter—Strether eagerly accepts. When the introduction occurs, Strether finds the mother and the daughter to be refined, virtuous and thoroughly admirable. He wonders if the lovely daughter is what has brought about the improvements in Chad. He learns that Madame de Vionnet is married but has been separated from her husband for years.

Strether himself is introduced to Paris in a way that starts to open his own mind and heart to a larger vision of the world's possibilities. He feels alive and renewed. His own interest in returning to America wanes. It is also clear that he is not exerting himself to talk Chad into returning. He develops some feelings for Madame de Vionnet. To his surprise, Chad assists in arranging a very advantageous marriage for Madame de Vionnet's daughter. This leaves Strether to wonder what might be going on between Chad and the mother.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Newsome grows tired of Strether's failure to act. She sends over a set of new ambassadors to accomplish the mission—including her daughter and son-in-law. The group clearly doesn't see Paris, life's possibilities, Chad or Madame de Vionnet in the same way that Strether does. Sarah (Newsome) Pocock demands that Strether get himself in line and insist to Chad that Chad return. While the Pocock party is away on a short trip, Strether ventures out of Paris for a day of random wandering and accidentally happens upon Chad and Madame de Vionnet in a setting where it is evident that they are romantically and sexually entangled. He feels deceived but still acknowledges the improvements in Chad's character.

Chad makes the decision to return to Woollett, which will mean the sundering of his relationship with Madame de Vionnet. Strether has very mixed feelings about this. He, too, will return to Woollett, even if this means a less-alive existence. It is unclear whether Mrs. Newsome will receive him back into her graces.

Dick and Nicole Diver are a glamorous couple who rent a villa in the South of France and surround themselves with a coterie of American expatriates. Rosemary Hoyt, a 17-year-old actress, and her mother are staying at a nearby resort. Rosemary becomes infatuated with Dick and becomes close to Nicole.

Rosemary senses something is wrong with the couple, and her suspicions are confirmed when another guest at a party, Violet McKisco, reports witnessing Nicole's nervous breakdown in a bathroom. Tommy Barban, another guest, comes to the defense of Nicole and insists that Violet is lying. Angered by this accusation, Violet's husband Albert duels Barban on the beach, but both men miss their shots. Following these events, Dick, Nicole, Rosemary, and others depart the French Riviera.

Soon after, Rosemary is now a constant companion of both Dick and Nicole in Paris. She attempts to seduce Dick in her hotel room, but he rebuffs her advances, although he admits that he loves her. Much later, a black man named Jules Peterson is found murdered in Rosemary's bed at the hotel, a potential scandal which could destroy Rosemary's career. Dick moves the blood-soaked body out of the room to cover up any implied sexual relationship between Rosemary and Peterson.

A flashback occurs in the narrative. In Spring 1917, Dick Diver—a promising young doctor—visits psychopathologist Franz Gregorovious in Zürich, Switzerland. While visiting Franz, he meets a patient named Nicole Warren, a wealthy young woman whose sexual abuse by her father has led to mental neuroses. Over a period of time they exchange letters. With the permission of Franz who believes that Dick's friendship benefits Nicole's well-being, they start seeing each other. As Nicole's treatment progresses, she becomes infatuated with Dick who, in turn, develops Florence Nightingale syndrome. He determines to marry Nicole in order to provide her with lasting emotional stability.

Dick is offered a partnership in a Swiss psychiatric clinic by Franz, and Nicole uses her finances to pay for the enterprise. After his father's death, Dick travels to America for the burial and then journeys to Rome in hopes of seeing Rosemary. They start a brief affair which ends abruptly and painfully. A heartbroken Dick is involved in an altercation with the Italian police and is physically beaten. Nicole's sister helps him to get out of jail. After this public humiliation, his incipient alcoholism increases. When his alcoholism threatens his medical practice, Dick's ownership share of the clinic is purchased by American investors following Franz's suggestion.

Dick and Nicole's marriage disintegrates as he pines for Rosemary who has become a successful Hollywood star. Nicole distances herself from Dick as his self-confidence and friendliness turn into sarcasm and rudeness towards everyone. His constant unhappiness over what he could have been fuels his alcoholism, and Dick becomes embarrassing in social and familial situations. A lonely Nicole enters into an affair with Tommy Barban. She later divorces Dick and marries her lover.

''The Good Soldier'' is narrated by the character John Dowell, half of one of the couples whose dissolving relationships form the subject of the novel. Dowell tells the story of those dissolutions, plus the deaths of three characters and the madness of a fourth, in a rambling, non-chronological fashion. As an unreliable narrator the reader can consider whether they believe Dowell and his description of how the events unfolded including his own role in the "saddest story ever told".

Events as narrated

The novel opens with the famous line: "This is the saddest story I have ever heard." Dowell explains that for nine years he, his wife Florence and their friends Captain Edward Ashburnham (the "good soldier" of the book's title) and his wife Leonora, had an ostensibly normal friendship while Edward and Florence sought treatment for their heart ailments at a spa in Nauheim, Germany.

As it turns out, nothing in the relationships or in the characters is as it first seems. Florence's heart ailment is a fiction she perpetrated on John to ensure that he did not seek intimacy from her as it would seemingly be too stressful for her heart, and so to keep him out of her bedroom at night in order that she could continue her affair with an American artist named Jimmy. Edward and Leonora have an imbalanced marriage broken by his constant infidelities (both of body and heart) and by Leonora's attempts to control Edward's affairs (both financial and romantic). Dowell is an innocent who is coming to realise how much he has been fooled as Florence and Edward had an affair under his nose for nine years without his knowing until Florence was dead.

Dowell tells the story of Edward and Leonora's relationship which appears normal to others but which is a power struggle that Leonora wins. Dowell narrates several of Edward's affairs and peccadilloes including his possibly innocent attempt to comfort a crying servant on a train, his affair with the married Maisie Maidan, the one character in the book whose heart problem was unquestionably real, and his bizarre tryst in Monte Carlo and Antibes with a kept woman known as La Dolciquita. Edward's philandering ends up costing them a fortune in bribes, blackmail and gifts for his lovers leading Leonora to take control of Edward's financial affairs. She gradually gets him out of debt.

Florence's affair with Edward leads her to commit suicide when she realises both that Edward is falling in love with his and Leonora's young ward, Nancy Rufford, and that Dowell has found out about her affair with Jimmy. Florence sees Edward and Nancy in an intimate conversation and rushes back to the resort where she sees John talking to a man she used to know (and who knows of her affair with Jimmy). Assuming that her relationship with Edward and her marriage to John are over, Florence takes prussic acid—which she has carried for years in a vial that John thought held her heart medicine—and dies.

Edward's last affair is his most scandalous as he becomes infatuated with Nancy. Nancy came to live with the Ashburnhams after leaving a convent where her parents had sent her; her mother was a violent alcoholic and her father (it is later suggested that this man may not be Nancy's biological father) may have abused her. Edward, tearing himself apart because he does not want to spoil Nancy's innocence, arranges to have her sent to India to live with her father, even though this frightens her terribly. Once Leonora knows that Edward intends to keep his passion for Nancy chaste, only wanting Nancy to continue to love him from afar, she torments him by making this wish impossible. She pretends to offer to divorce him so he can marry Nancy but informs Nancy of his sordid sexual history, destroying Nancy's innocent love for him. After Nancy's departure, Edward receives a telegram from her that reads, "Safe Brindisi. Having a rattling good time. Nancy." He asks Dowell to take the telegram to his wife, pulls out his pen knife, says that it's time he had some rest and slits his own throat. When Nancy reaches Aden and sees the obituary in the paper, she becomes catatonic.

The novel's last section has Dowell writing from Edward's old estate in England where he takes care of Nancy whom he cannot marry because of her mental illness. Nancy is only capable of repeating two things—a Latin phrase meaning "I believe in an omnipotent God" and the word "shuttlecocks." Dowell states that the story is sad because no one got what they wanted. Leonora wanted Edward but lost him and ended in marrying the normal (but dull) Rodney Bayham. Edward wanted Nancy but gave her up then lost her. Dowell wanted a wife but ended up a nurse to two women.

Dowell ends up generally unsure about where to lay the blame, but expressing sympathy for Edward because he believes himself similar to Edward in nature. The fact is he has been disengaged, a voyeur. While the other characters are flawed, he has never participated in life. He is revealed as less than the foolish innocent he represents himself as, when he walks away, leaving Edward to slit his throat with a very small pen knife.

Textual analysis

The novel has potential narrative inconsistencies that suggest different, hidden plot elements. For example, Dowell marries an heiress who ostensibly has a bad heart. He states repeatedly that he has no need or interest in her money—one might argue that he protests his lack of interest rather too much. Florence eventually dies, stated by Dowell to be suicide. If readers suspend their trust in the narrator, some may be left with the impression that the narrator is happy his wife dies, as he does little to prevent it; just as he does little throughout the entire book. Thus, behind the more or less explicit narrative lurks a possible counter-narrative in which Dowell is something of a sociopath, caring for no one but himself, an observer of others who are living more fully while never actively engaging very intensely in life himself, and indeed, perhaps a voyeur relishing the demise of others. This would be the story of a manipulative man trying to elicit the sympathy of the audience he speaks/writes to, which must decide whether he is a deluded victim or a heartless manipulator of the reader's emotions.

Florence supposedly poisons herself in a possibly painful manner, and Edward supposedly cuts his own throat, but as always in this novel, we only have Dowell's word for it, and he epitomises the "unreliable narrator." The reader must decide just how much of the truth Dowell reveals. Some commentators have even suggested that Dowell, who presents himself as considered by all to be passive, murders both Florence and Edward. In this view the entire story is his justification for doing so without his admitting his guilt.

Prince Amerigo, an impoverished but charismatic Italian nobleman, is in London for his marriage to Maggie Verver, only child of the widower Adam Verver, the fabulously wealthy American financier and art collector. While there, he re-encounters Charlotte Stant, another young American and a former mistress from his days in Rome; they had met in Mrs. Assingham's drawing room. Charlotte is not wealthy, which is one reason they did not marry. Although Maggie and Charlotte have been dear friends since childhood, Maggie does not know of Charlotte's and Amerigo's past relationship. Charlotte and Amerigo go shopping together for a wedding present for Maggie. They find a curiosity shop where the shopkeeper offers them an antique gilded crystal bowl. Charlotte lacks the money to buy the bowl and the Prince declines to purchase it, as he suspects it contains a hidden flaw.

After Maggie has married, afraid that her father has become lonely, as they had been close for years, she persuades him to propose to Charlotte, who accepts Adam's proposal. Soon after the wedding, Charlotte and Amerigo are thrown together, because their respective spouses seem more interested in their father-daughter relationship than in their marriages. Amerigo and Charlotte finally consummate an adulterous affair.

Maggie begins to suspect the pair. She happens to go to the same shop and buys the golden bowl they had rejected. Regretting the high price he has charged her, the shopkeeper visits Maggie and confesses to overcharging. At her home, he sees photographs of Amerigo and Charlotte. He tells Maggie of the pair's shopping trip on the eve of her marriage and their intimate conversation in his shop. (They had spoken Italian, but he understands the language.)

Maggie confronts Amerigo. She begins a secret campaign to separate him and Charlotte while never revealing their affair to her father. Also concealing her knowledge from Charlotte and denying any change to their friendship, she gradually persuades her father to return to America with his wife. After previously regarding Maggie as a naïve, immature American, the Prince seems impressed by his wife's delicate diplomacy. The novel ends with Adam and Charlotte Verver about to depart for the United States. Amerigo says he can "see nothing but" Maggie and embraces her.

Set in London in 1886, the novel follows the life of Adolf Verloc, a secret agent. Verloc is also a businessman who owns a shop which sells pornographic material, contraceptives and bric-a-brac. He lives with his wife Winnie, his mother-in-law, and his brother-in-law, Stevie. Stevie has a mental disability, possibly autism, which causes him to be excitable; his sister, Verloc's wife, attends to him, treating him more as a son than as a brother. Verloc's friends are a group of anarchists of which Comrade Ossipon, Michaelis, and "The Professor" are the most prominent. Although largely ineffectual as terrorists, their actions are known to the police. The group produces anarchist literature in the form of pamphlets entitled ''F.P.'', an acronym for ''The Future of the Proletariat''.

The novel begins in Verloc's home, as he and his wife discuss the trivialities of everyday life, which introduces the reader to Verloc's family. Soon after, Verloc leaves to meet Mr Vladimir, the new First Secretary in the embassy of a foreign country. Although a member of an anarchist cell, Verloc is also secretly employed by the Embassy as an agent provocateur. Vladimir informs Verloc that from reviewing his service history he is far from an exemplary model of a secret agent and, to redeem himself, must carry out an operation – the destruction of Greenwich Observatory by a bomb. Vladimir explains that Britain's lax attitude to anarchism endangers his own country, and he reasons that an attack on 'science', the current vogue amongst the public, will provide the necessary outrage for suppression. Verloc later meets his friends, who discuss politics and law, and the notion of a communist revolution. Unbeknownst to the group, Stevie, Verloc's brother-in-law, overhears the conversation, which greatly disturbs him.

The novel flashes forward to after the bombing has taken place. Comrade Ossipon meets The Professor, who discusses having given explosives to Verloc. The Professor describes the nature of the bomb he carries in his coat at all times: it allows him to press a button which will kill him and those nearest to him in twenty seconds. After The Professor leaves the meeting, he stumbles into Chief Inspector Heat, a policeman investigating a recent explosion at Greenwich, where one man was killed. Heat informs The Professor that he is not a suspect in the case, but that he is being monitored due to his terrorist inclinations and anarchist background. Heat suspects Michaelis. Knowing that Michaelis has recently moved to the countryside to write a book, the Chief Inspector informs the Assistant Commissioner that he has a contact, Verloc, who may be able to assist in the case. The Assistant Commissioner shares some of the same high society acquaintances with Michaelis and is chiefly motivated by finding the extent of Michaelis's involvement in order to assess any possible embarrassment to his connections. He later speaks to his superior, Sir Ethelred, about his intentions to solve the case alone, rather than rely on the effort of Chief Inspector Heat.

The novel flashes back to before the explosion, taking the perspective of Winnie Verloc and her mother. At home, Mrs. Verloc's mother informs the family that she intends to move out of the house. The move is motivated largely by a desire to avoid straining Mr. Verloc’s kindness. Mrs. Verloc's mother and Stevie use a hansom driven by a man with a hook for a hand. The driver's tales of hardship, whipping of his horse, and menacing hook scare Stevie to the point where Mrs Verloc must calm him. On Verloc's return from a business trip to the continent, his wife tells him of the high regard that Stevie has for him and she implores her husband to spend more time with Stevie. Verloc eventually agrees to go for a walk with Stevie. After this walk, Mrs Verloc notes that her husband's relationship with her brother has improved. Verloc tells his wife that he has taken Stevie to go and visit Michaelis, and that Stevie would stay with him in the countryside for a few days.

As Verloc is talking to his wife about the possibility of emigrating to the continent, he is paid a visit by the Assistant Commissioner. Shortly thereafter, Chief Inspector Heat arrives to speak with Verloc, without knowing that the Assistant Commissioner had left with Verloc earlier that evening. The Chief Inspector tells Mrs Verloc that he had recovered an overcoat at the scene of the bombing which had the shop's address written on a label. Mrs Verloc confirms that it was Stevie's overcoat, and that she had written the address. On Verloc's return, he realises that his wife knows that his bomb killed her brother, and confesses what truly happened. A stunned Mrs Verloc, in her anguish, fatally stabs her husband.

After the murder, Mrs Verloc flees her home, where she chances upon Comrade Ossipon, and begs him to help her. Ossipon assists her while confessing romantic feelings but secretly with a view to possess Mr Verloc's bank account savings. They plan to run away and he aids her in taking a boat to the continent. However, her instability and the revelation of Verloc's murder increasingly worry him, and he abandons her, taking Mr Verloc's savings with him. He later discovers in a newspaper that a woman matching Mrs Verloc's description disappeared from the ferry, leaving behind her wedding ring before drowning herself in the English Channel.

In 1832, a family traveling through New Salem, Illinois in its wagon need groceries from Lincoln's (Henry Fonda) store, and the only thing of value that they have to trade is a barrel of old books including a law book, ''Blackstone's Commentaries''. After thoroughly reading the book, Lincoln opts for the law after receiving encouragement from his early, ill-fated love, Ann Rutledge (Pauline Moore), who soon dies. Too poor to own even a horse, he arrives in Springfield, Illinois, on a mule and soon establishes a law practice in 1837 with his friend John Stuart (Edwin Maxwell). After a raucous, day-long Independence Day celebration, a man, Skrub White, is killed after he pulled a gun in a fight. The accused are two brothers, Matt and Adam Clay (Richard Cromwell and Eddie Quillan). Lincoln prevents the lynching of the accused at the jail by shaming the angry, drunken mob. He also convinces it that he really needs the clients for his first real case.

Admiring his courage, Mary Todd (Marjorie Weaver) invites Lincoln to her sister's soiree. Despite being aggressively courted by the very polished Stephen Douglas (Milburn Stone), Mary is interested in Lincoln. She faithfully attends the trial of the Clay boys, sits in the front row, and listens closely.

The boys' mother, Abigail Clay (Alice Brady), who witnessed the end of the fight, and Lincoln are pressured by the prosecutor (Donald Meek) to save one of the brothers at the expense of the other's conviction. However, the key witness to the crime, J. Palmer Cass (Ward Bond), is a friend of the victim who claims to have seen the murder at a distance of about 100 yards under the light of the moon: "It was moon bright." However, Lincoln persists and is able, by using an almanac, to demonstrate that on the night in question, the moon had set before the time of death. He then drives Cass to confess that he had actually stabbed his friend.

Melvin Smiley has a good life thanks to his talents as a contract-killer, but has a very working class mentality going about his life, in combination with his constant struggles to maintain two romantic relationships. One is with the demanding and demeaning Chantel, who does not accept his work, and the other with Pam, who knows nothing of his job. Melvin is somewhat of a pushover, trying to appease all of Chantel's demands, even her most expensive wishes, as well as rolling over whenever one of his co-workers takes credit for his achievements. Perhaps as a result of his helplessness in asserting himself, throughout the early scenes, Melvin is often seen drinking Maalox to relieve a developing stress-induced ulcer.

Feeling underpaid for their work for mob boss Paris, the assassin team of Smiley, Cisco, Crunch, Vince and Gump take an independent job, kidnapping Keiko Nishi, the teenage daughter of local electronics magnate Jiro Nishi, for a hefty ransom. Unfortunately, the team does not realize that Nishi has recently gone bankrupt over his failed foray into films and furthermore, their boss Paris is the girl's godfather. Enlisted by the group to hold Keiko, Melvin has to hide the bound and gagged schoolgirl on his property, attempting to keep her presence hidden from Pam and her parents, who are coming for dinner.

Melvin feels sorry for Keiko and relieves her from her bondage. In the ensuing hours they build up a rapport preparing dinner together, an act which leads into a love scene reminiscent of the pottery scene from ''Ghost'', but which is cut short when Keiko attempts to escape. Ordered by Paris to discover the kidnappers of his goddaughter, a panicked Cisco kills Gump, but not before coaxing him into also implicating Melvin for the kidnapping.

A team of assassins crash Melvin's dinner with Pam's family, leading to a shootout during which Melvin realizes Pam was going to break up with him over pressure from her mother, a hardcore Jew who is severely against her being with Melvin, a Gentile. Melvin and Keiko's growing feelings for each other lead them to forming an awkward romance, and she and Melvin attempt to escape from the fiasco, pursued by Cisco. In the chaos, Melvin happens to run into Chantel and finally takes the opportunity to stand up to her and end their relationship.

A fight ensues between Cisco and Melvin, culminating at a video store where the ever-honest Melvin stops to return an overdue tape of ''King Kong Lives''. Melvin kills Cisco by stabbing him in the chest, but not before Cisco arms an explosive device. Melvin leaves the building and is confronted by Keiko, her father and Paris. He re-enters the building, which explodes.

Paris and Nishi, believing Melvin to be dead, call off the manhunt. Soon Melvin is revealed to have survived, sheltered from the blast by an enormous solid gold film stand-up made for the flop that destroyed Nishi's career. Melvin and Keiko are reunited and ride off together, while Nishi recoups his losses by making a film out of the story of his daughter's kidnapping.

It is 1932, the depth of the Great Depression, and noted Broadway producers Jones and Barry are putting on ''Pretty Lady'', a musical starring Dorothy Brock. She is involved with wealthy Abner Dillon, the show's "angel" (financial backer), but while she is busy keeping him both hooked and at arm's length, she is secretly seeing her old vaudeville partner, out-of-work Pat Denning.

Julian Marsh is hired to direct, although his doctor warns that he risks his life if he continues in his high-pressure profession. Despite a long string of successes he's broke, a result of the 1929 Stock Market Crash, so he must make his last show a hit, in order to have enough money to retire.

Cast selection and rehearsals begin amidst fierce competition, with not a few "casting couch" innuendos flying around. Naïve newcomer Peggy Sawyer, who arrives in New York from her home in Allentown, Pennsylvania, is duped and ignored until two experienced chorines, Lorraine Fleming and Ann "Anytime Annie" Lowell, take her under their wing. Lorraine is assured a job because of her relationship with dance director Andy Lee; she also sees to it that Ann and Peggy are chosen. The show's juvenile lead, Billy Lawler, takes an immediate liking to Peggy (after her being tricked into bursting into his dressing room), as does Pat.

When Marsh learns about Dorothy's relationship with Pat, he sends some thugs led by his gangster friend Slim Murphy to rough him up. That, plus her realization that their situation is unhealthy, makes Dorothy and Pat agree not to see each other for a while. He gets a stock job in Philadelphia.

Rehearsals continue for five weeks, to Marsh's complete dissatisfaction, until the night before the show's surprise opening in Philadelphia, when Dorothy breaks her ankle. By the next morning, Abner has quarreled with her and wants Marsh to replace her with his new girlfriend, Annie. Annie confesses in earnest that she can't carry the show, but convinces the director that the inexperienced Peggy can. With 200 jobs and his future riding on the outcome, a desperate Julian rehearses Peggy mercilessly until an hour before the premiere, vowing "I'll either have a live leading lady or a dead chorus girl."

Billy finally gets up the nerve to tell Peggy he loves her. They embrace and kiss, just as Dorothy shows up and walks through the door. Surprisingly, she wishes Peggy the best of luck and reveals that she and Pat are finally getting married. The show goes on to rousing applause. The last twenty minutes of the film are devoted to three Busby Berkeley production numbers: "Shuffle Off to Buffalo", "(I'm) Young and Healthy", and "42nd Street".

The show is a hit. As the theater audience comes out, Julian stands in the shadows outside the stage door, hearing comments that Peggy is the star and that he, the director, doesn't deserve the credit for the show's success.

;Plot note In the original Bradford Ropes novel, Julian and Billy are lovers. Since same-sex relationships were unacceptable in films by the moral standards of the era, the studio substituted a romance between Billy and Peggy. Although in one scene a gay innuendo is presented, as director Marsh puts his arm over choreographer Andy Lee's shoulder and asks if he has a date for the evening, who replies "No." Immediately Marsh replies, "Come on home with me will you? I'm lonesome."

A six-year-old boy is taken by his maternal grandfather to the Farseers' army base in Moonseye, the Six Duchies' outpost on the border of the Mountain Kingdom. His grandfather says he is King-in-Waiting Chivalry's bastard son. The boy is brought to Prince Verity, the second Son of King Shrewd who is currently in command of Moonseye. Verity orders that the boy be given into the care of Burrich, Chivalry's right-hand man and stableman, who calls the boy, who does not know his own name, "Fitz." With Burrich, Fitz travels to Buckkeep, the seat of the Farseer throne. Before Fitz arrives, Chivalry abdicates from the post of King-in-Waiting so that there will not be uncertainty about his bastard son's claim to the throne. Chivalry retires to the royal holdings of Withywoods with his wife Lady Patience without ever meeting Fitz. Chivalry's and Verity's younger half-brother, Prince Regal, despises Fitz and treats him badly when he arrives.

Burrich is left with the task of raising Fitz and trains him as a stable boy. Fitz is treated poorly for being a bastard, so he becomes a close friend of a young dog named Nosy. Fitz possesses what is known as Wit, an ancient and distrusted magic which allows him to communicate telepathically with animals. He 'bonds' with Nosy, but this is discovered by Burrich. With apparent disgust, he takes Nosy away, thus breaking the bond, and warns Fitz not to use the Wit, which is widely seen as a perversion. The only other companionship Fitz finds is with children living in Buckkeep town — in particular, a girl called Molly.

Fitz is desperately lonely and seemingly has no prospects, but he catches the attention of King Shrewd, who sees that a bastard can be either a threat or an asset to the royal line. Fitz swears fealty to the king. He is taken into the castle proper and is schooled, taught combat skills, and develops a sense of loyalty to the Farseer line, especially King-in-Waiting Verity. One night he is introduced to a recluse named Chade, who is a skilled assassin and spy. Fitz agrees to secretly learn Chade's skills and complete minor assassin work for King Shrewd. Meanwhile, Chivalry dies when thrown from a horse, but it is strongly suspected that Queen Desire, King Shrewd's second wife and Regal's mother, has had him assassinated. The widowed Lady Patience arrives at Buckkeep, where she and Fitz become close, and he adopts the name "FitzChivalry." Lady Patience gives Fitz a puppy, which he names Smithy and secretly forms a Wit bond with.

The coastal regions of the Six Duchies are being attacked by Outislanders known as the Red-Ship Raiders. The Raiders rampage through villages and towns, killing and taking hostages while stealing little, making their attacks seem to lack a motive. The hostages are returned, reduced to a brutal, emotionless state driven only by desire; they are named the Forged Ones. Forged Ones become robbers that plunder the countryside; Fitz is ordered by Chade to secretly kill many of them, and he finds he cannot sense them with his Wit at all. Verity fights the Raiders with the Skill, a magic found in the Farseer bloodline which allows its users to share thoughts and strength, which weakens him. Fitz becomes "King's Man" to Verity, allowing Verity to link with him to draw out Skill strength for his own use.

Fitz is made part of a class of students to be taught in the Skill to help Verity. The teacher, Galen, despises Fitz, treating him without respect and abusing the students. He tries to kill Fitz, then, with more success, sabotages his Skill training with mental blocks. During the last test of Galen's Skill classes, Galen sends Fitz to Forge, ostensibly to see if he can use the Skill to get back. Fitz is attacked by Forged Ones, although he manages to return safely. While he is away, Galen arranges an assassination attempt on Burrich which Fitz witnesses through Smithy's eyes. Smithy saves Burrich but is killed.

To gain allies against the Raiders, Prince Verity is to be married to Princess Kettricken of the neighboring Mountain Kingdom. Fitz travels there with orders from Shrewd to assassinate Kettricken's brother, Prince Rurisk, to bring Verity closer to the throne, based on information from Regal. However, this is compromised when Regal reveals Fitz's secret mission to Kettricken while drunk and Regal's information proves to be false. Fitz discovers a plan to steal the throne for Regal with the help of Galen, who tries to assassinate Verity using the Skill. Rurisk is poisoned and killed, leaving Kettricken the sole heir of the Mountain Kingdom. Fitz is poisoned by Regal but manages to contact Verity using the Skill to help him kill Galen. Fitz is rescued by his dog Nosy, who was not killed by Burrich, but sent to the Mountain Kingdom as a gift. Fitz recovers slowly, with lasting effects on his health. He laments the death of Nosy during that event and the pain of an older narrator at writing this.

FitzChivalry has survived Prince Regal's attempt to poison him, but is left weak and prone to unpredictable seizures. Fitz vows to never return to Buckkeep and his king. A vision of Molly fending off an attack by Red-ship Raiders convinces him otherwise, and he returns to the royal court of the Six Duchies.

At Buckkeep, Fitz is immediately embroiled in the intrigues of the royal family. Molly is alive, but she has been left a pauper by her father's death and debts, and serves as a lady's maid at Buckkeep. She and Fitz admit their love for each other and begin a relationship. When Fitz approaches King Shrewd for permission to marry, Shrewd reveals he has already pledged Fitz to the daughter of a duke. Fitz and Molly are left to conduct their courtship in secret, not only because of Shrewd's command, but to keep Molly safe from Fitz's enemies at the court.

King-in-Waiting Verity is consumed by the need to protect the Duchies' coast from the Red-ships, using his Skill to stave off Raider attacks, but failing to give attention to Kettricken, his new queen. King Shrewd suffers a mysterious wasting disease whose pain only mind-clouding drugs can abate, which Fitz suspects is the doing of Regal and his followers. Bands of Forged Ones begin to converge on Buckkeep, which Fitz secretly assassinates. Fitz rescues a young wolf, Nighteyes, and forms a Wit bond with him despite the danger of discovery. Regal and his lackeys come close to discovering that Fitz is Witted, and Fitz struggles to use the Skill to guard his mind.

After their relationship is strained by Fitz's duties and inability to marry her, Molly tells him that she is leaving him and Buck forever for the sake of another. Fitz desperately reveals his biggest secret, that he is an assassin. Molly is instead repulsed and rejects Fitz with finality. Galen's Skill coterie is supposed to help Verity fight the Raiders, but unsent messages and late warnings leave the coastal Duchies easy prey. Verity decides to journey to the mountains to seek the Elderlings, legendary beings that defended the Six Duchies in the past. This leaves Regal free to begin amassing power and loyalty to himself. Shrewd grows more weak and addled. Even the Fool is not safe from Regal, though he hints to Fitz that he has a great destiny. Fitz and Kettricken leave to quell a Raider attack on the coast. While they are gone, Regal announces that word has come that Verity is dead, and makes himself King-in-Waiting.

Using his mostly uncontrollable Skill, Fitz discovers that Verity is still alive, but to say this in the court where Regal now holds power would mean death. After an attempt is made on the life of Verity's unborn heir, Fitz and his mentors Chade and Burrich make plans to spirit King Shrewd and Kettricken, now pregnant, safely out of Regal's reach. Shrewd dies in an attempt to Skill to Verity before the plans can be carried out. However, Fitz gets a glimpse of the true source of the King's long illness and death: Serene and Justin, two members of the coterie, have been using their Skill to slowly drain King Shrewd's life away. Fitz takes the King's blade and immediately assassinates Serene, then hunts down and kills Justin in front of much of the court. Meanwhile, Kettricken manages to escape Buck with the Fool.

Fitz is imprisoned and accused of homicide, regicide, and exposed for using the Wit. Regal, in an attempt to get Fitz to confess to his alleged crimes, tortures Fitz both physically and mentally by having him beaten while a member of the coterie, Will, assaults Fitz with the Skill. Fitz, knowing his mind and body cannot sustain any more punishment, uses the Wit to leave his body behind and join with his wolf, Nighteyes.

After his death, Fitz is publicly pronounced guilty of all charges, and his body is buried by his last remaining supporter, Lady Patience. However, Burrich and Chade exhume Fitz's body and, after much coaxing, convince him to leave Nighteyes' mind and go back into his own body. Looking back on his past, an older Fitz laments the loss of freedom and simplicity he experienced as a wolf.

FitzChivalry Farseer has been raised from death, but spends months with the mind of a wolf after his time sharing minds with Nighteyes. He lives in a remote cabin watched by Burrich and Chade, the only ones who know he is alive. Fitz gradually regains his humanity, but struggles with the loss of his former life and must face the trauma inflicted by his torture in King Regal's dungeons. Fitz decides only a personal quest to kill Regal will bring him peace. Before departing the cabin, Fitz is attacked by and kills Forged Ones. Through his uncontrollable Skill dreams, Fitz laters learns that Burrich found the scene and believes him dead. Burrich is caring for Molly, Fitz's former lover who is now pregnant with his child. Meanwhile, Lady Patience leads what resistance remains against the Red Ship Raiders.

Fitz travels to Regal's palace in Tradeford but fails to assassinate him thanks to the remaining coterie members. Verity aids his escape and imprints the command "Come To Me" into Fitz's mind. Unable to disobey, Fitz embarks for the Mountain Kingdom, following the path of Verity's quest to find the Elderlings. His bond with his Wit companion, Nighteyes, deepens and changes as they become more similar. The wolf begins to think abstractly and plan events and a human does. Fitz meets other Witted people who call themselves "Old Blood," but he declines to learn more of their ways.

Fitz and Nighteyes are joined by Starling, a minstrel, and an old woman named Kettle who is seeking the White Prophet. They travel while evading Regal's men. Fitz reaches the Mountain Kingdom barely alive and is tended back to health by the White Prophet, revealed to be the Fool. The Fool has prophesied that Fitz is a Catalyst who is essential to the future of the Six Duchies. Verity and Kettricken's child was stillborn. Kettricken and Chade determine that they will take Fitz and Molly's daughter to become the Farseer heir, despite Fitz's pleas that he be allowed a simple life with them.

As Regal attempts to conquer the Mountain Kingdom, Fitz, Kettricken, the Fool and Starling set off to find Verity, followed by Kettle, who is mysteriously knowledgeable about the Skill. The group encounter a road leading to a ruined city, both constructed of a black stone imbued with Skill. The road is perilous for those sensitive to the Skill but without sufficient training. Fitz survives thanks to the guidance of Kettle and his Wit bond with Nighteyes, and also developed a bond with the Fool. They discover a garden full of dragon sculptures that Fitz senses as alive with his Wit, which they realize may be the legendary Elderlings.

Beyond the garden is a quarry of Skill stone where they find Verity, frail and obsessed with carving a dragon of his own. Kettle reveals she is the last remaining member of a former royal coterie, though her Skill ability was taken from her. She reveals that the stone dragons were carved by Skilled Farseers and their coteries by Skilling their own memories and emotions into the stone, giving up their lives to animate the dragons. Fitz uses his Skill and Wit to help Verity and Kettle restore each other's Skill strength. They nearly complete the dragon, but Verity does not have enough power left. After learning that Molly and Burrich have fallen in love while caring for her daughter, Nettle, Fitz offers his own life on the condition that they be left alone. Instead, Verity and Fitz's minds switch bodies, allowing Verity to share a last night with Kettricken and providing the final surge of emotion and memory needed. Verity becomes the dragon and flies with Kettricken and Starling to defend Buckkeep.

The Fool inadvertently wakes another incomplete dragon while Fitz faces Regal's men. He learns how to wake the other dragons with a combination of blood and Wit. The risen dragons defeat the soldiers and Will, and are then led by Verity-as-Dragon to defeat the Red Ship Raiders. With his coterie broken, Regal has no defense against Fitz's Skill. Instead of killing him, Fitz imprints him with fanatical loyalty to Kettricken and the Six Duchies. Regal restores Buckkeep and ensures the legitimacy of Kettricken and Verity's heir she is left pregnant with, Prince Dutiful.

After the Raiders are defeated, the dragons return to the mountains to sleep as stone again. The Fool disappears, the prophecy of the Catalyst apparently fulfilled. Fitz retires into anonymity and travels for several years. Chade and Starling are some of the few who know he still lives in isolation, attempting to write about his history.

The game is set in 2007 during a world war between various power blocs: the United States aided by the European Union and the United Kingdom are at war against Russia, China and the fictional Middle Eastern Coalition (MEC) aided by various insurgent.

There is no given reason as to how or why the war broke out. In-game, the European Union and the United States fight China and the MEC. It is mentioned in-game that the US and EU are allies and the EU has negotiated a truce with Russia, but it is unknown if China and the MEC are allies. The game also takes place in different fronts, as the Middle East and China are being invaded by US and EU forces, and the United States is being invaded by Chinese and MEC forces.

16-year-old Sebastian (Hampus Björck) has nice parents and a great circle of friends, is doing well in school, has good looks, and leads a happy life—or at least that is what everyone thinks. Secretly, he has been brooding for some time over the fact that he is in love with his best friend, the rather hunky Ulf (Nicolai Cleve Broch).

One evening, after some playful frolicking around with Ulf, Sebastian plants a kiss on Ulf's lips, not exactly to the latter's delight. Being sexually rejected in this way throws Sebastian into an even deeper depression about his sexuality. He refuses to discuss these issues with his parents and only after a long talk with a female friend of his, who is also in love with Ulf and guesses correctly what Sebastian's problem could be, he opens up to his family and friends, only to find that it is not all that problematic to them.

Even the coming out to Ulf, which he anticipated to be very painful, turns out to be not so bad and actually takes a comical turn when Ulf admits to having had a homosexual experience himself some time ago. In the end, basically nothing has changed, except that Sebastian no longer has to waste energy guarding his secret and can instead concentrate on being happy, having fun with his friends, and perhaps finding a real boyfriend someday.

The game is set in an alternate timeline, centered around events starting in Petrograd, Russia in 1917. World War I and the 1917 October Revolution never happened. Germany has yet to become involved with any of the other world powers. The story starts when Tsar Nicholas of the Russian Empire is betrayed by one of his closest friends, General Popov. One night, Popov sends assassins to kill the Tsar and the rest of the Royal Family to ensure that there are absolutely no living heirs to the throne of Russia. Popov would later cover up the murder by addressing the Russian people that a "terrible accident had befallen the Royal Family". The villainous general then later presents Lieutenant Oleg to the people of Russia as the "sole surviving son of Tsar Nicholas: Prince Alexander" and has Oleg crowned as the new Tsar.

Unknown to Popov, Colonel Sergei of the Army Staff somehow managed to overhear the General's plans, and he immediately rescues two children from the doomed family: the real Prince Alexander and Princess Anastasia, who earlier was "shot and left for dead, somehow managing to survive". It is unknown how Anastasia managed to still be in Russia, but Sergei arranges Dr. Meier of the famous Russian Scientific Institute to hypnotize Prince Alexander to temporarily erase his memory of his real heritage and replace it with that of a "farm boy who grew up in the countryside of England". This is a precaution to save Alexander from giving himself away as the true son of Tsar Peter. Meanwhile, with Oleg as a fake Tsar, General Popov, who is hell-bent on world domination, manages to take over almost all of Europe, throwing the continent into a bloody war. Soon, all free nations of the world form an alliance known as "Shadow Command" to rebel against the evil might of the Russian Empire.

Ten years later, in 1927, Prince Alexander (with his temporary memory) has grown up to become "Agent Red" of Shadow Command, and he is assigned the most difficult missions that the alliance has to offer. He is also the only playable character in the game. Red's main friends who fight on his side are Captain Potter, his instructor for his missions, the female "Agent Goggles", and the male "Agent Mortar". The main goal of Shadow Command is to defeat the Russian Empire, using whatever means possible to defeat the Russian war machine from within.

Along the way, Red meets up with Colonel Sergei, who he at first mistakes for an enemy officer, but later listens to the Colonel as he is told of his true heritage. Red has a hard time believing this story, but he soon starts having frequent flashbacks of his real family being murdered by General Popov's henchmen as a result of this. Red rescues Dr. Meier, who soon reveals the whole story of his true heritage and restores his memory back to normal. With his memory restored, Red soon meets up with his sister Anastasia. At first, Red/Alexander was to be the new Tsar of Russia, but now, his mind's made up, asking his sister to address the Russian people and reveal the truth about General Popov and his evil actions against their family and take the throne, becoming Tsarina of Russia. At first, Anastasia disagrees with him, but her brother says to her that his destiny now "lies with Shadow Command. I'm sworn to them, and must honor my promise". Following this chat, Red soon seeks out the last remains of an Allied spy airship mission that was forced down in the Alps to retrieve secret document from it.

When he gets there, Red finds Agent Mortar alive and well, now a traitor who's turned against Shadow Command. Mortar stole the documents earlier, even set Red up at an earlier point when Red saved Dr. Meier, who warned him of his friends. After a brief confrontation of his old friend, Mortar tries unsuccessfully to deliver the Allied documents to General Popov, but Red manages to stop him from getting away. Following this, Red finally reaches the Tsar's palace but not before disarming a doomsday device on a train on the way there. When he gets there, he finds the fake Tsar Oleg and manages (with some difficulty) to eliminate him. While dying, Oleg reveals to Red that General Popov is headed for London with another Doomsday Device in a double-structured Zeppelin.

Following this, in the last level of the game, Red then reaches the destination of Popov's Zeppelin on board the British aircraft carrier HMS York. First, Red has to man the AA guns on the carrier to defend the carrier against the fighter-bomber escorts of the Zeppelin. After this threat is dealt with, Popov's Zeppelin (escorted by two more zeppelins) enters the area. Red then takes off in his plane to shoot down the Zeppelin to avenge his murdered family. After a real difficult battle, the General's Zeppelin is shot down. Popov tries to escape in another Russian bomber, which Red shoots down, killing the evil man who had killed his family ten years earlier. The world is saved, and Russia is now under rule of Tsarina Anastasia. Most online sources cover up the true story and say that the main villain is Pietre instead of Popov, whose father died earlier.

After a fatal car accident on Earth, Herb Asher is placed into cryonic suspension as he waits for a spleen replacement. Clinically dead, Herb experiences lucid dreams while in suspended animation and relives the last six years of his life.

In the past, Herb lived as a recluse in an isolated dome on a remote planet in the binary star system, CY30-CY30B. Yah, a local divinity of the planet in exile from Earth, appears to Herb in a vision as a burning flame, and forces him to contact his sick female neighbor, Rybys Rommey, who happens to be terminally ill with multiple sclerosis and pregnant with Yah's child.

With the help of the immortal soul of Elijah, who takes the form of a wild beggar named Elias Tate, Herb agrees to become Rybys's legal husband and father of the unborn "savior". Together they plan to smuggle the six-month pregnant Rybys back to Earth, under the pretext of seeking help for Rybys' medical condition at a medical research facility. After being born in human form, Yah plans to confront the fallen angel Belial, who has ruled the Earth for 2000 years since the fall of Masada in the first century CE. Yah's powers, however, are limited by Belial's dominion on Earth, and the four of them must take extra precautions to avoid being detected by the forces of darkness.

Things do not go as planned. "Big Noodle", Earth's A.I. system, warns the ecclesiastical authorities in the Christian-Islamic church and Scientific Legate about the divine "invasion" and countermeasures are prepared. A number of failed attempts are made to destroy the unborn child, all of them thwarted by Elijah and Yah. After successfully making the interstellar journey back to Earth and narrowly avoiding a forced abortion, Rybys and Herb escape in the nick of time, only to be involved in a fatal taxi crash, probably due to the machinations of Belial. Rybys dies from her injuries sustained in the crash, and her unborn son Emmanuel (Yah in human form) suffers brain damage from the trauma but survives. Herb is critically injured and put into cryonic suspension until a spleen replacement can be found. Baby Emmanuel is placed into a synthetic womb, but Elias Tate manages to sneak Emmanuel out of the hospital before the church is able to kill him.

Six years pass. In a school for special children, Emmanuel meets Zina, a girl who also seems to have similar skills and talents, but acts as a surrogate teacher to Emmanuel. For four years, Zina helps Emmanuel regain his memory (the brain damage caused amnesia) and discover his true identity as Yah, creator of the universe.

When he is ready, Zina shows Emmanuel her own parallel universe. In this peaceful world, organized religion has little influence, Rybys Rommey is still alive and married to Herb Asher, and Belial is only a goat kid living in a petting zoo.

In an act of kindness, Zina and Emmanuel liberate the goat-creature from his cage, momentarily forgetting that the animal is Belial. The goat-creature finds Herb Asher and attempts to retain control of the world by possessing him and convincing him that Yahweh's creation is an ugly thing that should be shown for what it really is. Eventually Herb is saved by Linda Fox, a young singer whom he loves and who is his own personal Savior; she and the goat-creature meet and she kills it, defeating Belial. He finally discovers that this meeting happens over again for everyone in the world, and whether they choose Belial or their Savior decides if they find salvation.

Ten years ago, CIA agent Jake Hopper was stationed in Thailand. A fight with thugs resulted in his partner, Sunti escaping with his life after accidentally killing a woman. Following that, Jake left the CIA and returned to the United States when his wife died, while Sunti became a Buddhist monk to atone for his sins. Following his retirement, Jake becomes a successful businessman running a private security business while being a devoted father to his now-adult daughter Jessica.

While hiking in Thailand, Jessica and her friend Sara Winthorpe, the daughter of U.S. Senator John Winthorpe, are kidnapped. A group of Islamic fundamentalists known as the Abu Karaf claims responsibility. The Abu Karaf demand the release of 20 prisoners from American custody. Tom Collins, an ex-colleague of Jake's, recognizes Jessica on the ransom tape, and he tips Jake off. Knowing that Jake must rescue the girls himself, a former CIA colleague puts him in contact with Leon Washington, an active CIA agent who is working in Thailand. Jake goes to Bangkok, and he escapes an assassination attempt by gangsters and unknown forces.

Meanwhile, Leon arranges a meeting for himself with Soku, the internal security chief for General Jantapan, a rebel military general who is making a play to be one of the most powerful men in Thailand. Secretly, Jantapan is messing with some very dangerous spiritual forces. Soku provides Jake with a cover story, but the CIA wants Jake out of the way because they're planning to take out the Abu Karaf with the aid of the Thai army, and they don't want a civilian in the middle. As a spiritual man, Jake contacts his spiritual master, Buddhist monk Paijan Paitoon. As Jake descends into trouble, Paitoon offers to arrange a divination from the oracle of the order. After enlisting the help of Sunti, Jake gets Lulu, the girlfriend of arms dealer Fitch McQuoid, to steal information leading to the Abu Karaf.

Jake and Sunti follow the leads to a warehouse where they discover evidence of highly sophisticated weaponry. With their enemies now after Lulu, Jake takes Lulu under his wing. He then shares some of his info with Leon still testing the waters. Another attempt is made on Jake's life, and this time, Jake's sure that Leon was involved.

Finally, the Abu Karaf contact Jake to arrange a meeting to see the pieces are coming together. Jake figures out that it was not the Abu Karaf who kidnapped Jessica and Sarah. Jake gets his reading from the old oracle, and the cryptic message confirms that his fears, demonic spiritual forces, are working against him. Jantapan later goes to an evil temple and tries to send the spirit of an ancient warrior demon to kill Jake, but the ceremony goes wrong and the spirit enters Jantapan himself, giving him evil physical and spiritual powers, disguised as feats.

Jake and Sunti go to meet Mongkol, the leader of the Abu Karaf. Mongkol confirms what Jake suspects; ever since the terrorist attacks of 2001, Jantapan has worked to corner the narcotics and arms markets. He also adds that Jantapan kidnapped the girls and blamed the Abu Karaf so the army would wipe out Jantapan's competition. Mongkol, knowing where the girls are, gives Jake plans and intelligence, as they both need the girls alive. Jake must engage in a rescue effort that will put him to the ultimate test as he takes on Jantapan in a battle in which death may be the only ending.

Later that night, Jake and Sunti plan to rescue the girls, who are locked in a cell in Jantapan's mansion. After killing two gang members guarding the cell and freeing the girls, a group of corrupt Thai policemen intervene and make a deadly shootout but end up dead through the firearms of the two. Meanwhile, Sunti kills the rest of the cops while Jake battles with Jantapan in the upstairs living room. Jake kills Jantapan by disarming him and breaking his neck, killing him. He ends the fight by throwing Jantapan in a display cabinet which crushes his spine, killing him. Jake breaks Jantapan's neck by throwing him, which kills him, killing Jantapan. Jake returns downstairs which is now full of dead bodies of Thai police and embraces the girls and then Sunti only to discover he is fatally injured. Sunti wishes Jake farewell before dying in his arms. Military forces led by Leon and their General enter, but Leon orders them to hold fire after seeing Jake with the dead Sunti and the kidnapped girls.

After the battle, a Buddhist funeral with Jake in the lead is seen. Jake steps into the river and throws Sunti's ashes in the water. A vision of Sunti smiling fades in and later fades out. Jake was looking at the river and saying "Goodbye, brother."

The book tells the story of how this diverse group came together to form an effective team, as well as describing the battles they fought in, including the Battle of Guadalcanal, Tarawa and the Battle of Saipan. Also described are their boot camp experiences in San Diego and their two assignments to US Marine camps in New Zealand, the first time for preparatory training for the Battle of Guadalcanal and then back again for rest and recovery before the Tarawa campaign. Their experiences in New Zealand reveal the very different cultures of the two allies, and how much the young marines enjoyed the hospitality of the local people, in spite of being what has been called a 'friendly invasion'.

Neil Agar, a special agent with the State Department's Office of Security (the predecessor of the Diplomatic Security Service), is dispatched to Peckham, California to investigate the death of John Grubowsky, a bacteriologist working at the government-sponsored Brandt Research. Quickly making the acquaintance of the laboratory's head librarian, Julie Zorn, he begins interviewing the firm's leading scientists, many of whom have reputations as sexual players. His investigation is soon complicated by a growing number of deaths, all men who died of congestive heart failure caused by sexual exhaustion.

Faced with a rapidly escalating body count, the local sheriff, Captain Peters, holds a town meeting at which the laboratory's leading sex researcher, Henry Murger, urges the town populace to practice sexual abstinence – an idea greeted with derision by the locals. Neil and Julie arrange a meeting with Murger afterwards to discuss his theories as to the cause of his deaths, only to see him chased down and run over by a car with an unseen driver. While Agar is telephoning the agency, Julie is attacked and sexually assaulted by a group of local thugs, who are then beaten up by Agar on his return. During his investigation of Murger's home in search of clues, Neil discovers a secret room concealing sexual paraphernalia and Murger's gay lover, Joe, who informs Neil that he saw Murger driving off with an unknown woman prior to his death.

Despite a curfew and the establishment of a military quarantine, the scientists continue playing their sex games. One of them, Herb Kline, is approached by Susan Harris, a beautiful entomologist working on bees. Though described by the men as an "iceberg", she flirts with Kline and invites him over for dinner. That night, as they engage in sex, Kline suffers a fatal thrombosis and Harris reveals black compound eyes, suggesting that she is more than she seems to be.

Meanwhile, convinced there is a similar pattern at work, Neil begins studying the sexual patterns of insects. Seeking information about the mating habits of honey bees, he interrogates Dr. Harris at her lab; when he departs, she resumes her project – the transformation of Kline's wife Nora into a Bee Girl through a process of controlled mutation. With the aid of other previously mutated women, she cocoons Nora and places her in a chamber where she is swarmed by mutated honey bees; when she emerges, she is bombarded with radiation and awakens with the same black compound eyes and drive to mate that the other transformed women possess. The next morning, Herb Kline's body is discovered; when Captain Peters goes to inform Nora, she attempts unsuccessfully to seduce him.

Having worked out much of what has taken place, Neil summons the remaining department chairs and presents his theory. Though the geneticist, Stan Williams, scorns the idea, the head of the diagnostics department, Aldo Ferrara, is more receptive. At Grubowsky's funeral, Neil and Julie bring a radiation detector, which picks up the gamma radiation coming from the women in attendance who have been subjected to the treatment. Aware that they have been detected, the transformed women move to eliminate the remaining scientists; Williams is nearly killed by his now-mutated wife and Ferrara dies during a visit by Dr. Harris, who then lures Julie to her lab to be transformed.

When Neil discovers Ferrara's body, he realizes what the women are up to. Racing to the lab, he interrupts the women as they begin the process of turning Julie into one of them. With Harris threatening to kill Julie unless he leaves, he moves to depart, but pulls out a revolver instead and shoots the machinery. Neil then rescues Julie and bars the door, leaving the mutated women to die amidst a cascade of exploding machinery.

The second installment of the series continues the story of Rami Nana-Hikari's adventures as the keeper of the Secret Treasure. A year has passed since the apocalyptic disaster which left a great crater in the center of Edo City. The destruction wrought major economic consequences and while much investment was poured into the public works for the new Edo Castle, the citizens were all feeling the pinch of the recession.

Dr. Pon Eho was no exception. Although a freak of nature with an astronomical IQ of 1400, hard reality forced the genius raccoon to become a laborer in the construction of the New Castle. One day, while he was shoveling away some gravel near the center of the crater, he unearthed the Secret Treasure Scroll and one of the Six Magical Orbs! With the knowledge that the six Orbs together would bring him enormous wealth, he quickly left his job in search of the remaining five Orbs listed on the Scroll's map.

Meanwhile, Himiko Yamatai, "the Pompous Queen of the Ancients", makes a dramatic appearance at the Nana-Hikari family's dinner table and grabs the family's Magical Orb. But before she can get away, Dr. Pon ambushes her and steals it. Of course, Rami makes chase and joins the race for the great treasure, starting her on her new adventure.

This game features animated cutscenes provided by Studio Pierrot, who also provided the animation for the cutscenes in the first game.

Set in an unspecified time in the future (book states 500 years ), the plot centres on protagonist James Mowry and an inter-planetary war between humans (collectively referred to as "Terrans") and the Sirians (collectively referred to as the Sirian Empire, from Sirius). The war has been in effect for nearly a year as the story begins. The Terrans, while technologically more advanced in most respects to the Sirians, are outnumbered and out-gunned by a factor of twelve-to-one.

The Sirians are a humanoid species that share many of the same physical characteristics as their Terran enemies. Some of the more noticeable differences are their purple-faced complexions, pinned-back ears, and a bow-legged gait. In terms of government, the Sirian Empire is reminiscent of fascist states that existed in the Second World War; they frequently employ a much-feared secret police force named the Kaimina Tempiti, or Kaitempi; they censor much of their media, and they actively seek to quell any opposition to the government or the war through the use of violence and intimidation.

The novel begins by introducing James Mowry as he is being recruited by the Terran government to infiltrate enemy lines; to become a "wasp," in the sense portrayed in the opening passages of the novel. His recruitment is somewhat less than voluntary: Mowry is offered the alternative of conscription and assignment to the front. His dossier states that he can be counted on to do anything, provided the alternative is worse. So persuaded, he accepts the assignment.

Notwithstanding the method of persuasion, Mowry is an ideal recruit, having spent the first seventeen years of his life living under the Sirian Empire. After extensive linguistic and cultural training and surgery designed to make him appear to be Sirian, he is sent to the Sirian outpost world of Jaimec to begin his mission. The first phase of his mission involves placing stickers with subversive slogans all over the Jaimecan towns in the hope of beginning to create the first murmurings of confusion and concern in Sirian society.

Completing his first objective, Mowry begins the second: sending letters to various people of importance informing them of several deaths by his hand. These threats are always signed by a mythical rebel organisation named ''Dirac Angestun Gesept'' (Sirian Freedom Party) and often emblazoned by the slogan, "War makes wealth for the few, misery for the many. At the right time, Dirac Angestun Gesept will punish the former, bring aid and comfort to the latter."

Following this, Mowry moves on to phase three, the hiring of Sirian civilians as contract killers to kill prominent members of the Kaitempi and other government officials. With the Sirians becoming more concerned about the disruption they believe the ''D.A.G.'' is causing, Mowry's success allows him to move on to phase four of his plan.

The fourth phase involves Mowry planting fake wire tapping devices on several buildings (including the Kaitempi headquarters) to engender paranoia. He also continues to spread rumours via Sirian civilians to plant other seeds of doubt among the populace.

With a Terran invasion imminent, Mowry is told to skip to phase nine of his operation: the sabotaging of Jaimecan sea-ships in another effort to divert the Sirians' concern away from the real – and approaching – threat. This time, the Terrans strike and the invasion begins. Mowry is captured by a Terran spaceship and is held for a few days before a government man recognises that he is not Sirian, but Terran. The novel ends with a government man informing Mowry that a wasp on another world has been captured, and that he is the replacement.

''A Void'' plot follows a group of individuals looking for a missing companion, Anton Vowl. It is in part a parody of ''noir'' and horror fiction, with many stylistic tricks, gags, plot twists, and a grim conclusion. On many occasions it implicitly talks about its own lipogrammatic limitation, highlighting its unusual syntax. ''A Void'' protagonists finally work out which symbol is missing, but find it a hazardous topic to discuss, as any who try to bypass this story's constraint risk dying. Philip Howard, writing a lipogrammatic appraisal of ''A Void'' in his column ''Lost Words'', said "This is a story chock-full of plots and sub-plots, of loops within loops, of trails in pursuit of trails, all of which allow its author an opportunity to display his customary virtuosity as an avant-gardist magician, acrobat and clown."

''The Scions of Shannara''

The first novel in ''The Heritage of Shannara'' reveals the gathering of the chosen Ohmsfords to meet with the shade of Allanon, then focuses on Par and Coll Ohmsford as they attempt to retrieve the Sword of Shannara.

''The Druid of Shannara''

The second novel follows and mainly focuses on Walker Boh, as he reluctantly searches for the Black Elfstone, which has the power to restore the Druids and their keep, Paranor.

''The Elf Queen of Shannara''

The third novel chronicles Wren Ohmsford's travels beyond the shores of the Westland in search of the lost Elven race.

''The Talismans of Shannara''

The last novel details the final conflict between the Ohmsfords and the Shadowen monsters that have overtaken the Four Lands.

While on the way to Starbase Armus IX for computer maintenance, the ''Enterprise'' arrives at the planet Omicron Theta, the site of a vanished colony where the starship ''Tripoli'' originally found the android Data (Brent Spiner). An away team travels to the surface and finds that what had been farmland is now barren with no trace of life in the soil. The team also finds a lab which they discover is where Dr. Noonien Soong, a formerly prominent but now discredited robotics designer, built Data. The team also find a disassembled android nearly identical to Data and return with it to the ship. As the course to the Starbase is resumed, the crew reassemble and reactivate Data's "brother" (also played by Brent Spiner) in sickbay. He refers to himself as Lore, and explains that Data was built first and he himself is the more perfect model. He feigns naiveté to the crew, but shows signs of being more intelligent than he is letting on. Later, in private, he tells Data that they were actually created in the opposite order, as the colonists became envious of his own perfection. He also explains that a crystalline space entity capable of stripping away all life force from a world was responsible for the colony's demise.

Lore then incapacitates Data, revealing that he plans to offer the ship's crew to the entity. When a signal transmission is detected from Data's quarters, Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) arrives to investigate. He finds Lore, now impersonating Data, who explains that he had to incapacitate his brother after being attacked. Wesley is doubtful, but pretends to accept the explanation. Soon after, the same crystalline entity that had attacked the colony approaches the ship. Lore, still pretending to be Data, enters the bridge as the object hovers before the ''Enterprise'' and explains that he incapacitated his brother by turning him off, causing Doctor Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) to be suspicious, since Data had previously treated the existence of such a feature as a closely guarded secret. Lore then explains that he can communicate with the crystalline entity and suggests to Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) that he should show a demonstration of force by beaming an object toward the entity and then destroying it with the ship's phasers.

Lore's attempts to imitate Data are imperfect, though, arousing Picard's suspicion, especially when Lore does not recognize Picard's usual command to "make it so". Although Picard sends a security detachment to tail him, Lore overpowers Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) and evades pursuit. Meanwhile, the suspicious Dr. Crusher and her son, Wesley, reactivate the unconscious Data, and the three of them race to the cargo hold to find Lore plotting with the entity to defeat the ''Enterprise''. When Lore discovers them, he threatens Wesley with a phaser and orders Dr. Crusher to leave. Data quickly rushes Lore and a brawl ensues. Data manages to knock Lore onto the transporter platform, and Wesley activates it, beaming Lore into space. With its conspirator no longer aboard, the crystalline entity departs, and the ''Enterprise'' resumes its journey to the starbase.

The novel begins in 1939 with the arrival of 19-year-old Josef "Joe" Kavalier as a refugee in New York City, where he comes to live with his 17-year-old cousin, Sammy Klayman. With the help of his mentor, Kornblum, Joe escapes Nazi-occupied Prague by hiding in a coffin. Joe leaves behind the rest of his family, including his younger brother Thomas. As the novel develops, both Joe and Sammy find their creative niches, one entrepreneurial, the other's artistic. Beyond having a shared interest in drawing, the duo share several connections to Jewish stage magician Harry Houdini: Josef (like comics legend Jim Steranko) studied magic and escapology in Prague, which aided him in his departure from Europe; Sammy is the son of the Mighty Molecule, a strongman on the vaudeville circuit.

When Sammy discovers Joe's artistic talent, he gets Joe a job as an illustrator for a novelty products company, Empire Novelty. Sheldon Anapol, owner of Empire, motivated to share in the recent cultural and financial success of Superman, attempts to break into the comic-book business on the creative backs of Joe and Sammy. Under the name "Sam Clay", Sammy starts writing adventure stories with Joe illustrating them, and the two recruit several other Brooklyn teenagers to produce ''Amazing Midget Radio Comics'' (named to promote one of the company's novelty items). The pair is at once passionate about their creation, earnestly optimistic about making money, and always nervous about the opinion of their employers.

The magazine features Sammy and Joe's character, the Escapist, an anti-fascist superhero who combines traits of (among others) Houdini, Captain America, Batman, the Phantom, and the Scarlet Pimpernel. The Escapist becomes tremendously popular, but like the talent behind Superman, the writers and artists of the comic get a minimal share of their publisher's revenue. Joe and Sammy are slow to realize that they are being exploited, as they have private concerns: Joe is trying to help his family escape from Prague and has fallen in love with the bohemian Rosa Saks, who has her own artistic aspirations, while Sammy works to find his sexual identity and seeks progress in his professional and literary career.

For many months after coming to New York, Joe's drive to help his family shows through in his work, which remains violently anti-Nazi despite his employer's concerns. In the meantime, he spends more and more time with Rosa, appearing as a magician in the bar mitzvahs of the children of Rosa's father's acquaintances, even though he sometimes feels guilty for distracting himself from fighting for his family. Joe's efforts to bring his family to the States culminate in securing passage for his younger brother Thomas on the ship ''The Ark of Miriam''. On the eve of the attack on Pearl Harbor however, it transpires that Thomas's ship has been sunk by a German U-boat. Distraught and unaware that Rosa is pregnant with his child, Joe abruptly enlists in the navy, hoping to fight the Germans. Instead, he is sent to a secluded naval base in Antarctica. After a faulty chimney fills the base with carbon monoxide, Joe emerges from this interlude the lone survivor from his station. When he makes it back to New York, he is ashamed to show his face again to Rosa and Sammy and eschews their expected reunion. Unbeknownst to his previous contacts in the city, he squats in a hideout in the Empire State Building, with only a small circle of magician-friends aware of his whereabouts.

Parallel to Joe's experiences leading up to the United States' entrance into the war, Sammy develops a romantic relationship with the radio voice of The Escapist, Tracy Bacon. Tracy's movie-star good looks initially intimidate Sammy, but later they fall in love. When Tracy is cast as The Escapist for the film adaptation, he invites Sammy to move to Hollywood with him, an offer that Clay accepts. But later, when Tracy and Sammy go to a friend's beach house with several other gay couples, the private dinner is raided by the local police as well as two off-duty FBI agents. All of the men at the party are arrested, except for two who hide under the dinner table, one of whom is Sammy. The FBI agents use their authority to sexually abuse Sammy and the other man. After this episode, Sammy decides that he cannot live with the constant threat of being persecuted and breaks off his relationship with Tracy. When Joe leaves to fight in the war, Sammy marries Rosa and moves with her to the suburbs, where they raise her son Tommy in what outwardly appears to be a traditional nuclear family.

Sammy and Rosa cannot hide all their secrets from Tommy, however, who encounters Joe and begins to take private magic lessons in the Empire State Building with him for the better part of a year without anyone else's knowledge. Tommy is instrumental in finally reuniting the Kavalier and Clay duo, who swiftly find renewed enthusiasm in their comic endeavors. Joe moves into Sammy and Rosa's house and begins to rekindle his love with Rosa. Shortly afterwards, Sammy's homosexuality is revealed on public television when he speaks at the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency that is investigating claims of comic books' pernicious effect on children. This further complicates the attempts of Rosa, Sammy, and Joe to reconstitute a family. In the end, Sammy plans to move to LA in spite of Joe and Rosa's attempts to dissuade him, including Joe revealing he has bought Empire Comics. The following morning, they find Sammy gone.

During the Cold War, shortly after the Soviet Union launched ''Sputnik 1'' in October 1957, an object from space crashes in the ocean just off the coast of Maine and then enters the forest near the town of Rockwell.

The following night, nine-year-old Hogarth Hughes investigates and finds the object, a 50-foot tall alien robot attempting to eat the transmission lines of an electrical substation. Hogarth eventually befriends the Giant, finding him docile and curious. When he eats railroad tracks in the path of an oncoming train, the train collides with him and derails; Hogarth leads the Giant away from the area, discovering that he can self-repair. While there, Hogarth shows the Giant comic books and compares him to the hero Superman.

The incidents lead a xenophobic U.S. government agent named Kent Mansley to Rockwell. He suspects Hogarth's involvement after talking with him and his widowed mother, Annie (Hogarth's father was a U.S. Air Force pilot who died during the Korean War), and rents a room in their house to keep an eye on him. Hogarth evades Mansley and leads the Giant to a junkyard owned by beatnik artist Dean McCoppin, who reluctantly agrees to keep him. Hogarth enjoys his time with the Giant but is compelled to explain the concept of death to the Giant after he witnesses hunters killing a deer.

Hogarth is interrogated by Mansley when he discovers evidence of the Giant after finding a photo of him next to Hogarth and brings a U.S. Army contingent led by General Rogard to the scrapyard to prove the Giant's existence, but Dean (having been warned by Hogarth earlier) tricks them by pretending that the Giant is one of his art pieces.

Upset by the apparent false alarm, Rogard prepares to leave with his forces after berating Mansley for his actions. Hogarth then continues to have fun with the Giant by playing with a toy gun but inadvertently activates the Giant's defensive system; Dean yells at him for nearly killing Hogarth, and the saddened Giant runs away with Hogarth giving chase. Dean quickly realizes that the Giant was only acting in self-defense and catches up to Hogarth as they follow the Giant.

The Giant saves two boys falling from a roof when he arrives, winning over the townspeople. Mansley spots the Giant in the town while leaving Rockwell and stops the Army, sending them to attack the Giant after he has picked up Hogarth, forcing the two to flee together. They initially evade the military by using the Giant's flight system, but the Giant is then shot down and crashes to the ground.

Hogarth is knocked unconscious, but the Giant, thinking that Hogarth is dead, ultimately gives in to his defensive system in a fit of rage and grief and attacks the military in retaliation, transforming into a war machine and making its way back to Rockwell. Mansley convinces Rogard to prepare a nuclear missile launch from the USS ''Nautilus'', as conventional weapons prove to be ineffective. Hogarth awakens and returns in time to calm the Giant while Dean clarifies the situation to Rogard.

The General is ready to stand down and order the ''Nautilus'' to deactivate its primed nuke, but Mansley impulsively orders the missile launch in a fit of paranoia, causing the missile to head towards Rockwell, where it will destroy the town and its population upon impact in the resulting nuclear detonation. Mansley attempts to escape after being given a furious scolding by Rogard, but the Giant stops him, and Rogard has Mansley arrested. To save the town, the Giant bids farewell to Hogarth and flies off to intercept the missile. As he soars directly into the missile's path, the Giant, remembering Hogarth's words that "you are who you choose to be," declares himself “Superman" as he collides with the weapon.

Months later, a memorial of the Giant stands in Rockwell; Dean and Annie begin a relationship; and Hogarth is given a package from Rogard containing a screw from the Giant, the only remnant found. That night, Hogarth finds the screw trying to move on its own and, remembering the Giant's ability to self-repair, allows the screw to leave.

The screw joins many other parts as they converge on the Giant's head on the Langjökull glacier in Iceland, and the Giant smiles as he begins reassembling himself.

The title character is an intelligent robot (named after the mechanical man in the Oz books) who originally works as a domestic servant and house-painter. Unlike other robots, whose behavior is constrained by "asimov circuits"—a reference to Isaac Asimov's fictional Three Laws of Robotics, which require robots to protect and serve humans—Tik-Tok finds that he can do as he pleases, and he secretly commits various hideous crimes for his amusement. After manipulating both robots and humans to cause chaos and bloodshed, Tik-Tok becomes wealthy (partly through health care privatization) and is finally elected Vice President of the United States.

Spy extraordinaire Derek Flint is an ex-agent of Z.O.W.I.E. (Zonal Organization World Intelligence Espionage) who is brought out of retirement to deal with the threat of ''Galaxy'', a worldwide organization led by a trio of mad scientists: Doctor Krupov, Doctor Wu, and Doctor Schneider. Impatient that the world's governments will never improve, the scientists demand that all nations capitulate to Galaxy. To enforce their demands, they initiate earthquakes, volcanoes, storms and other natural disasters with their climate-control apparatus, for the only purpose to bring the nations to give up weapons and nuclear energy.

Initially reluctant, Flint decides to take them on after a preemptive assassination attempt by Galaxy's section head, Gila, who replaces a restaurant's harpist while Flint is dining with his four live-in "playmates" — Leslie, Anna, Gina, and Sakito. Gila uses a harp string as a bow to fire a poisoned dart, which misses Flint, but hits his former boss, Cramden.

Flint squeezes the poison out of the wound, saving Cramden's life. A chemical trace on the dart directs Flint to Marseille for bouillabaisse. In one of Marseille's lowest clubs he stages a brawl to gain some useful information from "famous" Agent 0008, who is investigating the narcotics trade keeping Galaxy in business.

Galaxy agent Hans Gruber is in the club enjoying his favorite soup while waiting to rendezvous with Gila. Gila sends Gruber to ambush Flint in the lavatory. Flint ends up killing Gruber in a toilet stall, while Gila escapes, leaving behind a cold cream jar she has booby-trapped with explosives. Flint detects the trap and chases the bystanders from the club before detonating the bomb.

The remains of the jar lead Flint to Rome. After investigating several cosmetic companies, Flint arrives at Exotica, where he actually meets Gila for the first time. Gila lets him come to her apartment for an exchange of information. Following their encounter, he steals the keys to Exotica and breaks into the company's safe, learning of Galaxy's location before being trapped inside by Gila's assistant, Malcolm Rodney. Malcolm and Gila assume that Flint will soon run out of air in the safe as they transport it to a waiting submarine. During the journey, Flint learns that his playmates have been kidnapped and taken to the headquarters on Galaxy Island in the Mediterranean Sea.

He then uses his power of self-induced suspended animation to fool his captors into thinking they have successfully killed him. Gila and Rodney take an evidence photograph of the "body", which they send to Cramden, then carry Flint back to headquarters on the submarine.

Flint revives and sneaks into the Galaxy complex, but his infiltration is thwarted and he is taken before Galaxy's trio of leaders. Offered a chance to join their new order, he refuses, and is sentenced to death by disintegration.

Gila's failure to eliminate Flint results in her being stripped of her leadership role and reassigned to become a Pleasure Unit – a fate which has already befallen Flint's playmates. She then changes sides, slipping Flint his gadget-filled cigarette lighter before she is hauled away. With the help of the lighter, Flint again escapes, sabotages the machinery, rescues his playmates and Gila, and departs the island as it disintegrates.

Flint and the women are picked up by a waiting American warship, as they watch a volcano erupt on the island. Gila presumably joins the other four women living with Flint. In the sequel, when Flint is again called out of retirement for a mission, he is living with three women, saying that "five was just too many."

Early April, Kazuki Sendō is invited by his friend, Taishi Kuhonbutsu, to come with him to Tokyo Big Sight. He is surprised to see thousands of people waiting in line to get in. Apparently they are at Comic Party, a giant dōjinshi convention. Once inside, Kazuki meets some of the dōjinshi artists and is surprised to find himself enjoying their work. Taishi convinces Kazuki to draw dōjinshi after their visit because he recognizes Kazuki's skill as an artist, but Kazuki's childhood friend Mizuki tries to talk him out of it because she believes otakus are smelly, dirty, and disgusting. Her reasoning does not help because Kazuki already made up his mind and begins to draw his first dōjinshi.

The title character is an intelligent robot, the first to be invented. The opening chapters describe the creation of Roderick and show his mind (at first consisting of a bodiless computer program) developing through several stages of awareness. Finally, Roderick is given a rudimentary body and, through a series of misadventures, finds himself alone in the world. Due to his sketchy understanding of human customs, and intrigues surrounding the project that created him, he unwittingly becomes the center of various criminal schemes and other unfortunate events.

''Roderick at Random'' is a novel in which Roderick the robot tries to learn about being human.

Introduction to the Prince, May 1860

This chapter begins with a detailed description of the exquisitely decorated drawing-room where the Salina family recites the daily rosary. Afterwards, the Prince wanders out into the garden, where the sickly, over-ripe smells of lush foliage threaten to overwhelm him with memories – specifically of a mortally wounded Neapolitan soldier who in his last moments had crawled into the lemon grove and died there. Perturbed by these thoughts, the Prince takes refuge in watching his dog, Bendicò, joyfully dig up the garden, and in thoughts about the behavior of his wayward nephew, Prince Tancredi Falconeri.

At dinner the Prince announces that he will drive into Palermo. The adults at the table, including the Princess and the family's Jesuit chaplain, Father Pirrone, instantly know that the only reason he is leaving is to visit a brothel. As the Prince is driven in his carriage into the city he passes Tancredi's villa, worrying again that Tancredi has fallen in with the bad company of the rebels fighting to overthrow the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The Prince's thoughts vacillate between anticipation and guilt, between disgust with his wife (who crosses herself whenever they make love or he even kisses her goodnight; to preempt a private rebuke from the family priest about visiting prostitutes, the Prince points out that "he's had seven children with the Princess and yet has never seen her navel") and admiration for her modesty. Two hours later his thoughts run a similar course, with the addition of a kind of disgusted satisfaction with the prostitute and a satisfied disgust with his own body. When he arrives back home he finds the Princess in bed, thinks affectionately of her, climbs into bed with her and finds he cannot sleep. "Towards dawn, however, the Princess had occasion to make the Sign of the Cross."

The following morning the Prince's shaving is interrupted by the arrival of Tancredi, who reveals that his position in the Italian nationalist movement has risen. He adds that he will soon be joining Garibaldi in the mountains. The Prince suddenly imagines his beloved nephew dead in the garden with his guts trailing out like the Crown soldier and tries to dissuade him from departing. However Tancredi insists that he is fighting for a very good reason. Later, as the Prince gets dressed, he realizes the practicality of Tancredi's words. As he ponders the coming upheavals, he realizes that his nephew is more aristocratically minded than he had thought.

After breakfast the Prince, accompanied by the playful Bendicò, goes into his office, which is lined with century-old paintings of the Salinas' estates. As he sits at his cluttered desk the Prince recalls how much he dislikes both the room and the work it represents. This dislike intensifies during visits from his accountant and one of his tenants, both of whom are allied with the Redshirts. Both of them assure the Prince that the unification of Italy will be peaceful and will benefit everyone, including the nobility. The Prince allows himself to be reassured, certain that the class system will remain unchanged no matter what. This belief is reinforced by his visit to Father Pirrone atop a tower where the men practise their joint hobby of astronomy.

At lunch the Prince becomes aware that his family is worried about Tancredi’s safety. As a result the Prince makes an effort to appear simultaneously concerned and reassuring. When dessert is brought out it is his favorite – a large, castle-shaped rum jelly. The castle is essentially demolished before Don Paolo, the Prince's son and heir, gets a chance to have any.

That evening the Prince receives a letter urging him to flee to safety from the revolution. In response he simply laughs. Later, as the Salinas gather to say their rosary, the Prince reads in a newspaper of the approach of Garibaldi and his men. He is disturbed but reassures himself that Garibaldi will be reined in by his Piedmontese masters.

Donnafugata, August 1860

After a long journey by coach, the Prince, his faithful dog Bendicò and the squabbling Salinas arrive at their estate at Donnafugata. Both the officials of the town and the common people greet the Salinas as gladly as always. Their numbers include the new mayor, Don Calogero Sedàra.

The Prince reflects on Garibaldi's recent conquest of the island. The Expedition of the Thousand landed at Marsala, where Tancredi and other native Sicilians joined them. Garibaldi's march was finally completed with the Siege of Gaeta, where the final Bourbons were expelled and Garibaldi announced his dictatorship in the name of Victor Emmanuel II of the Kingdom of Sardinia. Upon his arrival, the citizens of Palermo rejoiced and, later, local leaders of the movement had called at the Salina palace. Although they treated the Prince with great respect, one of them insisted on flirting with his daughter Concetta.

After Mass, the Princess invites the officials to the traditional first-night dinner, and Don Calogero requests permission to bring his daughter Angelica.

As the Prince inspects his property and possessions, the manager lists everything that has been done to keep the estate in order and then passes on some local news. Don Calogero, who was active in Garibaldi's invasion, has become a wealthy landowner and businessman. To the dismay of the Prince, Don Calogero is now almost as wealthy as the Salinas. The manager adds that Angelica has become quite full of herself as a result. The Prince realizes that he is somewhat resentful of Don Calogero's status.

The Prince's bath before dinner is interrupted by the arrival of Father Pirrone. Concetta has asked Father Pirrone to tell her father that she is in love with Tancredi and that she believes a marriage proposal to be imminent. She desires instruction from her father as to how she is to respond. The Prince ponders his fondness for Concetta, which is based in her apparent submissiveness and placidity. However, he thinks that Tancredi's political ambitions may require more money than Concetta will bring as her dowry. Keeping his thoughts to himself, the Prince decrees that Father Pirrone is to tell Concetta that the Prince will discuss it with her later.

After a nap, the Prince goes out into the garden, where his contemplations of an erotic statue are interrupted by Tancredi's teasing about sex, comments which also apply to a small crop of beautifully ripe peaches in a nearby grove. The Prince uneasily changes the subject, and he and Tancredi gossip their way back to the house, where they join the rest of the family and the arriving dinner guests.

Soon after, Don Calogero arrives, and the Prince is relieved to see that he is dressed quite tastelessly. His relief ends abruptly when Angelica arrives — he finds her attractive enough to feel the stir of lust. At dinner, Angelica flirts openly with Tancredi — who, in his turn, finds himself attracted to both Angelica's beauty and her money. He tells Angelica a risqué story about storming a convent and jokes about how if she had been present his band of comrades would not have needed the nuns. Concetta is enraged, angrily rebukes Tancredi and turns her back to him.

The following day the Prince and his family uphold a centuries-old family tradition and visit a convent founded by a female ancestor. Although tradition demands that he hold back, Tancredi expresses a desire to enter the convent, saying that a new interpretation of the rules will allow him to. To the shock of both Tancredi and her father, Concetta snaps that Tancredi has already been in a convent and enters without him.

After returning from the convent, the Prince looks out from his window at the town square of Donnafugata and spies Tancredi, dressed in his 'seduction color' of Prussian blue. He is carrying a box of peaches from the palace's fruit grove and is seen knocking on the door of the Sedàra household.

"The Troubles of Don Fabrizio." October 1860

This chapter begins with a lyrically written introduction to the silent, still, dim, early morning world at Donnafugata in which the Prince likes to walk with Bendicò. Narration then describes how Tancredi writes every week, but never to Concetta and always with comments that he would like the Prince to pass on to Angelica, who, in turn, visits every day, pretending to come to see the girls but in reality to learn news of Tancredi.

One particular day a letter arrives from Tancredi in which he asks the Prince to ask Angelica's father for her hand in marriage. He uses several arguments to persuade the Prince to do so, among them that she will bring money into the family and guarantee that the family will continue to have status in the new kingdom of Italy. The Prince finds himself agreeing with many of Tancredi's points and takes a little second-hand sensual pleasure in knowing that he will soon be able to enjoy seeing Angelica more often.

When the Prince informs the Princess she is outraged and accuses Tancredi of betraying both Concetta and his lawful King. The Prince angrily replies that if Concetta wished to marry Tancredi then she should not have refused him outside the convent. The Princess relaxes.

The next morning, the Prince, in the company of his usual morning companions, Don Ciccio (the parish organist) and Bendicò, takes his gun with him on his walk and shoots a rabbit: 'The animal had died tortured by anxious hopes of salvation, imagining it could still escape when it was already caught, just like so many human beings.'

Later, the Prince and Ciccio eat their picnic lunch and settle down for a nap. However, instead of sleeping, the Prince finds himself contemplating the recent vote taken on the question of whether Sicily should politically join with the new Italian Kingdom. The Prince remembers how he could not decide which way to mark his ballot. Eventually he voted 'yes'. He then recalls the celebrations which greeted the result — a unanimous vote in favor.

The Prince contemplates what he believes to be the historical significance of the vote, as well as its deeper meaning. This leads him to ask Ciccio how he voted in the Plebiscite. At first reluctant, Don Ciccio finally admits that, as the son of a Bourbon royal gamekeeper, he could not bring himself to vote in favor of the revolution. Many others in Donnafugata voted the same way, but Don Calogero rigged the election and announced the results as unanimous in favor of the House of Savoy.

The Prince asks Don Ciccio what the people of Donnafugata really think of Don Calogero. Don Ciccio speaks at angry length of how many people despise Don Calogero in spite of, or perhaps because of, his embodiment of a harsh reality — that 'every coin spent in the world must end in someone's pocket.' Don Calogero was moneylender to peasants and eloped with Angelica's mother, who was the uneducated daughter of a rough peasant farmer. The girl's father vowed revenge, but his corpse was later found, shot twelve times in the back. Angelica's mother never appears in public, and the rumor is that, because of her peasant background, she is unable to function in society. Don Ciccio reveals that he once glimpsed Angelica's mother at early-morning mass and discovered that she, like Angelica, is an extraordinary beauty. It is thus no surprise that the homely Don Calogero keeps such a woman under wraps.

Although scandalized by Don Ciccio's stories, the Prince at last asks the question that is really on his mind — what is Angelica truly like? Don Ciccio speaks rapturously of her beauty, poise and sophistication, and then speaks about how her parents' vulgarity seems not to have affected her. The Prince bristles and informs Don Ciccio that thenceforth, because Angelica and Tancredi are to be married, the Sedàras must be spoken about with appropriate respect. Don Ciccio, who has believed that Tancredi was attempting to seduce Angelica and ruin her marriage prospects, in order to embarrass her father, is horrified. He bursts out that for Tancredi and Angelica to marry will cause the end of the good qualities of the Salina and Falconeri families. However, the Prince thinks to himself that the marriage will be not the end, but the beginning. As the Prince and Don Ciccio return to Donnafugata, it is impossible to tell which of them is Don Quixote and which is Sancho Panza.

The Prince takes his time dressing for his meeting with Don Calogero and when he finally goes downstairs he has a vision of the two of them as animals. Their conversation is for the most part polite, with both men making occasional slips into tactlessness but ultimately making the truths of the situation quite apparent. For the Prince the truth involves Tancredi's excellent lineage but extreme poverty, whereas for Don Calogero the truth involves his wealth, which is much greater than the Prince had ever realized, and the fact that Don Calogero is in final negotiations to purchase the title of Baroness for his daughter. An agreement is reached that the marriage is to proceed. As the Prince leaves the meeting he passes Concetta, who does not even turn.

"Love at Donnafugata." November 1860

As preparations progressed for the wedding between Tancredi and Angelica, the Prince and Don Calogero became more like each other — the Prince grew more ruthless in his business dealings, while Don Calogero saw the value of good manners and better grooming. Don Calogero, the narrator suggests, began 'that process of continual refining which in the course of three generations transforms innocent peasants into defenseless gentry'.

The narrator describes, in a tone that is at times enraptured and at other times pointedly cynical, Angelica's first visit to the Prince and his family, following her betrothal to Tancredi. Dressed beautifully, she makes her entrance with perfect timing and immediately endears herself to the Prince. Only Bendicò, growling in a corner, seems unhappy to see her. Finally, the narrator also describes how Angelica, as she listens, coolly considers the financial and sexual prosperity that awaits them, and comments that, within a few years of the marriage, Angelica will become one of the great political kingmakers of the Italian Kingdom.

A week later, the family's quiet evening is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Tancredi, who has brought with him a friend, Count Carlo. Tancredi and the Count, in their full dress uniforms, fascinate the Prince's daughters and puzzle the Prince, who says he had thought they were still fighting for Garibaldi. Tancredi and the Count react with disgust, saying there was no way they could have stayed with such a rough outfit when positions with the new king's army were available. Tancredi then produces the ring he has purchased for Angelica. A moment later, Angelica rushes in, having been informed by a note that Tancredi is back. The lovers embrace; sensuality fills the air.

Love and sensuality fill the subsequent days at Donnafugata. The Count pursues Concetta, dreamily and ineffectually, while Concetta's younger sisters, Carolina and Caterina, dream romantically of Tancredi and the Count. Tancredi and Angelica spend their time exploring the palace's many rooms, each of which contains some representation of a leopard, the family insignia. They discover one set of rooms that seems to have been used to indulge sexual sadism, and flee when the implications sink in. Narration describes how, on several occasions, Tancredi and Angelica are tempted to give in to their mutual sensual desire, but never do, and how this idyllic time of romantic, intimate gaming between them is a happy prelude to the miserable, unsuccessful marriage that will follow.

A government representative, Chevalley di Monterzuolo, arrives and tells the Prince that, because of his aristocratic background and social influence, the government wants him to sit as an appointed (as opposed to elected) member of the Senate. At first, the Prince is quite silent, leading Chevalley to attempt to flatter him into accepting the offer — an attempt that does not work. The Prince explains at increasingly intense, often poetic length, why, like other Sicilians, he has no interest in being involved in government. He suggests that Don Calogero is more the type of man they should be looking for, and the narrator informs us that Don Calogero will indeed became a Senator ten years hence.

The following morning, the Prince accompanies Chevalley to the station. As they walk through the streets of early-morning Donnafugata, both of them overwhelmed by the squalor and despair surrounding them, they think the situation ought to change, but whereas Chevalley believes it will, the Prince is convinced it will not.

"Father Pirrone Pays a Visit." February 1861

Father Pirrone visits his home village. Much has changed since the arrival of the Garibaldini. The land, which was previously owned by a Benedictine monastery, has been seized and sold to a peasant moneylender. Many of the villagers complain to Father Pirrone about their new landlord.

During a conversation with a childhood friend, Father Pirrone enters a lengthy speech explaining why the Prince and other aristocrats do not really have any reaction one way or the other to the events of the revolution. They "live in a world of their own...all they live by has been handled by others." He concludes by saying that the feelings and attitudes that give rise to class consciousness, never truly die.

The next day, Pirrone finds his sister Sarina in tears in the kitchen, and gets her to admit that her daughter Angelina (whom Pirrone mentally compares to the beautiful Angelica, and finds wanting) is pregnant out of wedlock. She confesses furiously that the father is the girl's first cousin Santino, the son of paternal uncle of Sarina and Father Pirrone. The latter ponders the long-standing family feud between Pirrone's father and his uncle. After saying Mass, he goes to visit his uncle and manipulates him and Santino into accepting what he proposes as the terms of marriage. Back home, Father Pirrone persuades Angelina's grudging father into agreeing to the terms of marriage by sacrificing his own inheritance. Santino and his father arrive; the marriage is contracted and the young people are happy. Later, while travelling back to the Salinas' Palace, Father Pirrone is certain that Santino and his father had planned Angelina's seduction so they could get their hands on property they had believed was rightfully theirs. He also realizes that the nobility and the peasants are, at least on one level, far more similar than he once thought.

"A Ball." November 1862

The Salinas prepare to attend a ball, one of the most important of the Palermo social season. The Prince is both excited and concerned about the evening to come. It will be the first time Angelica and her beauty are to be presented to the public. However, he remains concerned that Don Calogero will make a complete fool of both himself and the Salinas. When Angelica, looking beautiful, and Don Calogero, looking acceptable, arrive shortly after, Angelica makes a huge social success, thanks to detailed training in etiquette given to her by Tancredi. The Prince, after being satisfied that Angelica has been accepted, wanders through the rooms of the Palazzo Ponteleone where the ball is being held, becoming increasingly gloomy at the callowness of the young men, the boredom in the older men, and the silliness of the girls. The Prince notices Tancredi and Angelica dancing happily together, oblivious to the other's desperation, ambition and greed. As he watches, the Prince comes to realize and accept, if only for a moment, that whatever happiness the lovers feel is to be celebrated, no matter what.

Angelica asks the Prince to dance with her. Flattered, he agrees to a waltz. They are a successful couple and dance well, with the Prince's memory flashing back to the days of his youth "when, in that very same ballroom, he had danced with the Princess before he knew disappointment, boredom and the rest". As the dance finishes, he realizes the other dancers have stopped and are watching them, his "leonine air" preventing the onlookers from bursting into applause. Angelica asks him to eat with her and Tancredi, and for a flattered moment he almost says yes, but then again remembers his youth and, recalling how embarrassing it would have been for him to have an old relative eating with him and a lover, politely excuses himself. The ball goes on until six in the morning. The Prince decides to walk home, alone with his thoughts.

"Death of a Prince." July 1883

For years, the Prince has felt that he is dying, 'as if the vital fluid...life itself in fact and perhaps even the will to go on living, were ebbing out of him... as grains of sand cluster and then line up one by one, unhurried, unceasing, before the narrow neck of an hourglass'. A last-minute visit to a doctor has tired him so much that it is decided that he should not go back to the villa outside Palermo, but shall stay in a hotel inside the city itself. As he settles into the hotel, the Prince contemplates the fates of several of his family members — Tancredi's political success in the new Kingdom of Italy; and the deaths of Father Pirrone from old age, of Princess Maria from diabetes, and of Paolo after being thrown by a horse. He also recalls the maturation and dignity of Concetta who, he realizes, is the true heir of what was noble and enduring of the Salina family. He dismisses Paolo's son and biological heir, Fabrizietto, as dissolute, shallow and aimless.

As the Prince receives the Sacrament of Extreme Unction, he considers the joys (sensual, spiritual, political and animal — in particular, the loving and playful Bendicò) and the sorrows (political, sexual and familial) that he has experienced, concluding that of the 73 years he has been alive, he has only fully lived three of them. In his last moments, as his family gathers around, he sees a young woman appear — beautiful, exquisitely dressed, sensitive, and smiling lovingly. The narrator describes her in terms identical to those in which it describes a beautiful woman glimpsed at the train station on the way back to Palermo — in other words, death was present in his life even then. As the woman helps him to his feet, he sees her face, and to him she appears 'lovelier than she ever had when glimpsed in stellar space'.

"Relics." May 1910

This chapter begins with a reference to 'the old Salina ladies', three elderly sisters whose right to have private Masses in their home is being investigated by representatives of the Archdiocese of Palermo, due to the fact that the ladies have certain relics in their home that, according to rumor, may not be authentic. Eventually, the narrator reveals that the ladies are the three daughters of the Prince — the authoritarian Concetta, the blunt-spoken Carolina and the paralyzed Caterina. As the priests enter the chapel, they are surprised to see a sensuously painted 'Madonna' hanging behind the altar, and walls lined with relics.

After the priests depart, Concetta retires to her bedroom, where she keeps several locked boxes of decaying mementos of her past, including the skin of her father's dog Bendicò, which had been made into a rug and which is now completely moth-eaten. There, because she is the most pragmatic of the three sisters, she foresees what is about to happen — the confiscation of the relics and the painting, the re-consecration of the chapel, the inevitable spreading of stories of the Salinas' humiliation, and the equally inevitable destruction of what is left of the family's reputation and prestige. Her thoughts are interrupted by a footman announcing the arrival of Princess Angelica Falconeri.

The well-preserved Angelica, widowed after Tancredi's death a few years before, meets Concetta in the sitting room. She chattily tells Concetta of her plans for celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Garibaldi invasion. Angelica also promises to use her influence with the Cardinal to keep the family's embarrassment from going public. In addition, Angelica informs Concetta that an old friend is coming to call. Senator Tassoni is a veteran of Garibaldi's Redshirts, a close friend and confidant of Tancredi, and a former illicit lover of Angelica. Tassoni is shown in, and after speaking flatteringly of how well Tancredi had spoken of her, he confesses to Concetta that one night, Tancredi tearfully confessed to him that he had once told a lie to her, namely the story about the Redshirts' raid on a convent. Tassoni reveals that Tancredi had wanted to kiss Concetta when she reacted so angrily to the story, and had carried with him the grief of offending her for the rest his life.

After Tassoni and Angelica depart, a horrified Concetta sees Tancredi in a radically different light. What she had once believed was an attempt to seduce Angelica was only a momentary flirtation. Tancredi loved only her and was profoundly unhappy with the adulterous Angelica. Concetta also realizes that Tancredi's attempt to enter the convent with her family was a marriage proposal and that her angry words were interpreted as a refusal. After fifty years, Concetta is stripped of the comfort of blaming others for her broken heart.

The following day, the Cardinal inspects the palace chapel and orders the sisters to replace the painting behind the altar, stating that it does not depict the Blessed Virgin but a woman reading a letter from her lover. He leaves behind a priestly antiquarian to examine the relics and determine which are genuine. A few hours later, the priest emerges with a basket full of forged relics and the news that only the few which remain are genuine.

Meanwhile, Concetta returns to her room and contemplates her possessions there with new perspective. Even the few relics which she once cherished are now only reminders of a life unfulfilled. She also realizes that an unpleasant smell is coming from what remains of Bendicò's rug and orders it thrown out: 'During the flight from the window, its form recomposed itself for an instant; in the air there seemed to be dancing a quadruped with long whiskers, its right foreleg raised in imprecation. Then all found peace in a heap of livid dust.'

Wealthy Texan Big Enos Burdette and his son Little Enos have sponsored a racer in Atlanta's Southern Classic and want to celebrate in style when he wins, so they are seeking a trucker willing to bootleg Coors Beer to Atlanta for their refreshment. They find local legend Bo "Bandit" Darville at a roadeo at Lakewood Fairgrounds and offer him to haul 400 cases of Coors from Texarkana (the closest place it could be legally sold at that time) to Atlanta in 28 hours. The Bandit takes the bet on the risky and unprecedented task, and recruits his partner Cledus "Snowman" Snow to drive the truck, while Bandit drives a black Pontiac Trans Am bought on advance from the Burdettes as a "blocker" to divert attention away from the truck and its illegal cargo.

They arrive in Texarkana one hour early and load up the truck, but just as they head back, Carrie, a runaway bride, stops Bandit and jumps in his car, unwittingly making him an indirect target of Sheriff Buford T. Justice, a career Texas lawman whose witless son Junior was to have married Carrie. Buford, with Junior along, ignores his own jurisdiction and doggedly chases Bandit all the way to Georgia to retrieve Carrie while various mishaps cause his cruiser to disintegrate on the way.

Bandit attracts more police attention across Dixie as Snowman barrels on toward Atlanta with the contraband beer, but they are helped en route by many colorful characters via CB radio. Neither Buford nor any other lawmen know of Snowman's illegal manifest, while Bandit is likewise unaware that Buford is chasing him because of Carrie, whose jumpiness inspires Bandit to give her the CB handle "Frog".

Just after re-entering Georgia, Snowman is rescued by Bandit after being stopped by a Georgia State Patrol motorcycle trooper, and state and local police intensely pursue Bandit with roadblocks and a helicopter to track his movement. With four miles left, Bandit, discouraged by the unexpected mounting attention, is ready to give up, but Snowman, who initially thought they would fail, takes the lead and smashes through the roadblock at the fairgrounds' main entrance. They make it back one minute after their time limit, but instead of taking the payoff, Carrie and Bandit accept a double-or-nothing offer from Little Enos: a challenge to run up to Boston and bring back clam chowder in 18 hours. They quickly escape in one of Big Enos's 13 Cadillacs as police flood the racetrack.

After passing Buford's badly damaged cruiser on the roadside, Bandit gets on the CB and initially directs him to the Burdettes, but then respectfully gives his real location—right behind Buford, who continues his chase leaving Junior behind, and with more parts falling off his cruiser as he limps off after Bandit.

The book features a mad scientist, De Selby, who tries to destroy the world by removing all the oxygen from the air. He has also many strange inventions. He exploits the theory of relativity and invents a kind of time travelling machine, which he uses to age his whiskey, creating brews that have been aged for many decades in just a few hours.

Saint Augustine and James Joyce both have speaking parts in the novel. James Joyce, after forging his own obituary to escape being drafted to fight in the Second World War, was serving pints in a small pub. Saint Augustine, on the other hand, appeared in a magical underwater cave and held a conversation with De Selby. The mad scientist De Selby leads the two main characters, Hackett and Mick, to the cave, to witness this conversation.

Many prominent elements of the book, particularly De Selby himself, the eccentric policemen, and the atomic theory of the bicycle, were taken from O'Brien's much earlier novel ''The Third Policeman'', because he had not been able to find a publisher for it. The latter novel was published posthumously.

Séverine Serizy (Catherine Deneuve), a young and beautiful housewife, is unable to share physical intimacy with her husband, Dr. Pierre Serizy (Jean Sorel), despite their love for each other. Her sexual life is restricted to elaborate fantasies involving domination, sadomasochism, and bondage. Although frustrated by his wife's frigidity toward him, he respects her wishes.

While visiting a ski resort, they meet two friends, Henri Husson (Michel Piccoli) and Renée (Macha Méril). Séverine does not like Husson's manner and the way he looks at her. Back in Paris, Séverine meets up with Renée and learns that a common friend, Henriette, now works at a brothel. At her home, Séverine receives roses from Husson and is unsettled by the gesture. At the tennis courts, she meets Husson and they discuss Henriette and houses of pleasure. Husson mentions a high-class brothel to Séverine at 11 Cité Jean de Saumur. He also confesses his desire for her, but Séverine rejects his advances.

Haunted by childhood memories, including one involving a man who appears to touch her inappropriately, Séverine goes to the high-class brothel, which is run by Madame Anaïs (Geneviève Page), who names her "Belle de Jour." That afternoon Séverine services her first client. Reluctant at first, she responds to the "firm hand" of Madame Anaïs and has sex with the stranger. After staying away for a week, Séverine returns to the brothel and begins working from two to five o'clock each day, returning to her unsuspecting husband in the evenings. One day, Husson comes to visit her at home, but Séverine refuses to see him. Still, she fantasizes about having sex with him in her husband's presence. At the same time, Séverine's physical relationship with her husband is improving and she begins having sex with him.

Séverine becomes involved with a young criminal, Marcel (Pierre Clémenti), who offers her the kind of thrills and excitement of her fantasies. When Marcel becomes increasingly jealous and demanding, Séverine decides to leave the brothel, with Madame Anaïs's agreement. Séverine is also concerned about Husson, who has discovered her secret life at the brothel. After one of Marcel's associates follows Séverine to her home, Marcel visits her and threatens to reveal her secret to her husband. Séverine pleads with him to leave, which he does, referring to her husband as "the obstacle".

Marcel waits downstairs for Pierre to return home and shoots him three times. Marcel then flees but is shot dead by police. Séverine's husband survives but is left in a coma. The police are unable to find a motive for the attempted murder. Sometime later Séverine is at home taking care of Pierre, who is now paralysed, blind and in a wheelchair. Husson visits Pierre to tell him the truth about his wife's secret life; she does not try to stop him. After Husson leaves, Séverine returns to see Pierre crying. In an ambiguous ending which is hinted to be another of her fantasies, Pierre then gets out of the wheelchair, pours himself a drink and discusses holiday plans with Séverine.

This is a sex comedy film about Mimi (Catherine Spaak), a young widow who discovers that her recently deceased husband kept a secret apartment for his kinky desires. Frustrated that he did not explore his sexual fantasies with her, she embarks on a quest to understand perversion and sexuality. She uses her late husband's apartment to seduce various men, each time learning more about the depths of human depravation, as well as the extent of the sexual double standard for women (late in the film, she states, "I notice men only call me a whore when I say no. Or stop saying yes.")

Finally, she meets the man who shares himself fully with her, appreciates her sexual daring and accepts her for whoever she is.

Petra von Kant (Carstensen) is a prominent fashion designer based in Bremen. The film is almost totally restricted to her apartment's bedroom, decorated by a huge reproduction of Poussin's ''Midas and Bacchus'' (c.1630), which depicts naked and partially clothed men and women. The room also contains numerous life-size mannequins for her work, though only her assistant Marlene (Hermann) is shown using them.

Petra's marriages have ended in death or divorce. Her first husband Pierre was a great love, who died in a car accident while Petra was pregnant; the second began the same way, but ended in disgust. Petra lives with Marlene, another designer, whom she treats as a slave, and this relationship reveals Petra's sadistic, codependent tendencies.

First act

Petra is shown being awoken by Marlene. She begins her day and gets dressed while her assistant attends to her. Petra makes a phone call to her mother, makes demands of Marlene (including slow-dancing), and dons a brown wig just before she receives a visitor.

Petra talks to Sidonie (Schaake), her cousin, about her male relationships. Meanwhile, Marlene does the work and acts as hostess. Karin Thimm (Schygulla), Sidonie's friend, joins the women. Karin, newly returned to Germany after residing in Sydney for five years, is a desirable but shallow 23-year-old woman. Petra, immediately attracted to Karin at this first meeting, suggests Karin become a model. Karin agrees to return the following day.

Second act

Petra quickly falls madly in love with Karin. The next day, with Marlene showing clearer signs of frustration, but still typing, Petra, now wearing a larger and dark wig, offers to support Karin while she trains to be a model. Karin's husband has remained in Sydney, though Petra is only momentarily put off by this revelation. The women soon show their incompatibility. Petra had a happy childhood and came from a home where the good things in life were always stressed. Karin's father was a toolmaker, and she always felt neglected by her parents. Petra loved mathematics and algebra at school, but Karin could never understand algebra and the point of substituting letters for numbers. Petra has a daughter, whom she rarely sees, but reassures herself that her daughter is at the best possible boarding school.

Karin's parents are now both dead. She says people reject her when they find out about her history, but Petra now admits to a great affection for her, even stronger after having heard her family history. Petra orders Marlene to get a bottle of Sekt. Karin goes into more detail about her parents' death. Her father was laid off because of his age. In a drunken stupor, he killed Karin's mother and then hanged himself. Karin feels she has drifted in her life; her husband in Sydney treated her as a slave and offered no reprieve from her past, but Petra insists this is about to change. Marlene returns with the bottle of Sekt in a cooler, silently returns to her typing, and the other two women toast each other. Petra promises to make Karin a great model. Marlene, previously hidden by a curtain, stops typing and glares at Petra. While listening to a record, Petra says life is predestined, people are brutal and hard, and everyone is replaceable. Petra, discovering the expense of Karin's hotel, suggests she move in with her. Marlene resumes her typing, but after Karin agrees to move in with Petra, she is ordered to bring more Sekt. While Petra admits to being in love with Karin, Karin herself can only say she likes Petra. Six months or so pass.

Third act

Petra, resplendent in a red wig, is getting dressed, while Karin is in bed reading a colour magazine. Petra cancels a flight to Madrid over the telephone, a habit which Karin thinks is pointless, and Petra orders Marlene to find her shoes. Karin thinks Marlene is strange, but Petra reassures her that Marlene loves her. Karin still cannot say she loves Petra. Karin's own capacity for cruelty emerges while the two drink gin and tonic together. The previous night, Karin had been out until 6am, and admits to having slept with a man, though she keeps changing her precise story. Petra is jealous and shouts at Marlene. Freddy, Karin's husband, telephones from Zurich. It emerges they have been in contact by letter, and Karin is no longer planning on getting a divorce, and she is rejoining her husband. Petra calls her a "rotten little whore", and Karin responds that being with Petra is less strenuous than working the streets. She asks Petra to book a flight to Frankfurt, where she is to meet her husband, and asks for 500DM from Petra, though Petra freely gives her twice that. Marlene drives Karin to the airport; Petra is now too drunk to drive.

Fourth act

On Petra's birthday, the bedroom is almost empty. Petra, lying on the floor and now wearing a blond wig, is drinking heavily while assuming that Karin, her object of love and hate, will phone. Her daughter Gaby (Eva Mattes) arrives. Petra tells her little; Gaby admits to being in love with a young man, though so far it is unrequited. Sidonie appears with a birthday present: a doll with blond hair like Karin's. She admits to knowing Karin is in Bremen that day. Petra's mother Valerie (Gisela Fackeldey) is subjected to abuse in her turn. Petra accuses her of being a whore who never worked and lived off her husband. Petra tramples on the china tea service Marlene had brought in; she insists on smashing anything she has bought. She insists she is not crazy about Karin, but loved her. She claims Karin's little finger is worth all of them put together. Her mother, previously unaware of Karin, is shocked at the thought of her daughter being in love with another woman. Petra rejects Sidonie and hopes not to see her again, but Sidonie stays.

Final act

Later that same night, Petra lies in bed without a wig, her natural auburn hair on display. She is apologetic to her mother, and realizes she wanted to possess Karin rather than love her. Karin rings and Petra amicably declines seeing her before she leaves for Paris. Petra instead offers the chance that they will meet again in the future. Petra turns to Marlene after her mother has left, and admits she has to apologize to her for many things. It will be different from now on, Petra promises, adding that she will share her life with Marlene. But Marlene, who has satisfied her personal masochistic desire in submitting to Petra, packs her meager belongings (including, notably, a pistol) in her small suitcase, and leaves, taking the doll with her.

Ai, a timid 22-year-old college student in Tokyo, works as a prostitute for an exclusive escort agency that caters to wealthy, perverted men. To please her clients, Ai has to play out elaborate fantasy scenarios involving sexual humiliation and light sadomasochism/bondage.

The first two-thirds of the film consists in large part of four erotic sequences involving sodomy, sadomasochism, submission and bondage. Including dildos and mirrors—one with a perverted male dominant, one with a promiscuous female dominant. The other two involve erotic asphyxiation with, again, one episode in which a necrophiliac attempts to partially asphyxiate the female protagonist and the other in which a drug addicted man is the recipient to the female protagonist. Other acts of fetishes and paraphilias are involved in some of the scenarios.

The last third of the film consists of Ai's attempt to find her ex-lover, a famous Gallery artist.

The actual story however, revolves around Ai's attempt to place herself in the world and understand her life in an attempt to make her own way forward.

This is played out through the juxtaposition of the false closeness of the paid relationships with her decadent clients against her unrequited love for the gallery artist who has ended his relationship with her. The viewer can see that Ai is desperately grasping at this relationship as real in contrast to the simulated fetish relationships of her clients and we learn that she wishes to tell him of her continued love even though he has moved on and been married.

Ai shows an emotional connection to one of her clients, another sex worker who is a female dominant and who Ai clearly admires. Throughout the movie this person is the only person with whom Ai has a free open conversation. This woman delivers a monologue which defines her view of the sex trade as empowering and which is a sentinel defining concept to place the movie itself in a social context. This speech comes at a time when Ai appears to be having difficulties accepting her role as an escort and Ai is shown listening with rapt attention.

Ai confides to this client that she has unrequited love for the gallery artist and Ai's client tells her that she must live life to the fullest otherwise she will be filled with regrets. She tells Ai that she must confront this part of her life then she can move forward as her future will be hers.

At the beginning of the movie we are introduced to Ai's quest to find herself and her direction, She visits a fortune-teller, played by artist Yayoi Kusama, who advises her to find a "pink stone", and then fashion it into a ring.

The fortune teller also advises Ai to put a telephone directory under her television and to avoid a gallery in the east. Ai's view of the ring is important enough that when she later loses the ring she risks her life to recover it.

Throughout the movie Ai looks at a photo of what appears to be her as a child with her mother and which in context represents innocence before life became complicated. Ai appears to refer to it to ground herself perhaps pondering how the happy child has transformed in to what she has become.

Taking the advice of her female client, and an unidentified drug which her client gave her to provide her with the courage of lions, she becomes dangerously inebriated and fails in an attempt to meet her ex lover,

She is rescued from the police by one of the artist's neighbors who is said to have once been a great singer but is now crazy. This woman met Ai only a few minutes earlier and told her that she used to be friends with the Gallery artist but it is over and that she considers Ai to be her "best friend".

Ai who is now sitting dirty and battered, looks at the photo of herself and her mother and destroys it signifying her move away from innocence and her past. In the next scene now clean, she studies the pink stone on her hand and has the faintest trace of a smile twitch across the corner of her mouth. She pulls her hair back as she looks at herself in the mirror and goes off to her usual routine which is also now her new life, externally the same as her old life but internally different as she has taken control, found herself with the future now belonging to her.

Throughout the film, Ai's movements have been timid and stiff and her posture demure. After the credits there is a sequence of her dancing on stage boldly and fluidly thus finalizing her growth in to her new future.

There are at least two versions of ''Tokyo Decadence'', with the shorter one edited more for pacing than for censorship.

Shiro is the Bondage Master who has a special technique with ropes and women. When a model is found murdered and tied with Shiro's signature style, he has to find the real murderer to clear his name while eluding the vengeance of the model's yakuza boyfriend.

A boy (Takuya) meets a girl (Satsuki), both 17 years of age, and they fall in love. When she discovers his fetishes Satsuki brands Takuya ''hentai'' (pervert) and leaves him, only to be drawn back by the power his fetishes give her over him.

She has him watch as she had sex with another man, then asks him to lick her body.

The master, Moxon, who creates a chess-playing automaton, boasts to the narrator that even though machines have no brains, they can still think and demonstrate intelligence or mind and therefore should be treated just like men of flesh and blood. After a thorough discussion about what it means to "think" and what is the nature of "intelligence", the narrator leaves Moxon's house in confusion.

The narrator returns to Moxon's house later in the midst of a rainstorm to learn more. He enters secretly and finds Moxon playing chess with an automaton. Moxon wins the game. This agitates the automaton who kills him in a fit of rage. Lightning strikes the room. The house is engulfed in flames. The narrator loses consciousness.

The narrator wakes up in a hospital room where Haley, Moxon's servant, tells him that he saved him from imminent death. Haley corroborates the details. Nevertheless, the narrator questions whether what he saw was real.

At the beginning of the first book, Katherine Talgarth ("Kate") and her beautiful younger sister Georgina have been taken by their Aunt Charlotte Rushton from Rushton (in Essex) to London to experience part of the Season. Kate's parents, George Talgarth and Celia Rushton, have both died at least five years before. Kate's favorite cousin, Cecelia Rushton ("Cecy"), has been left at home with her brother Oliver and their father, the antiquarian Arthur Rushton, at Rushton Manor. Oliver and Cecy's mother died when Cecy was quite young. Their father's other unmarried sister, Aunt Elizabeth Rushton, lives with them at Rushton Manor.

The story takes place in the year 2031, after a series of worldwide crises called the Year of the Domino (1996) has forced the U.S. government and the heads of major corporations to relocate to Hammarskjold Center, on Mars ("temporarily, of course"). In the wake of the American government leaving the planet and the Soviet Union collapsing from Islamic insurrections, there was a power shift throughout the world, with Brazilian Union of the Americas and the Pan-African League becoming the new superpowers on Earth.

However, the exiled American government, its corporate backers, and a group of technicians in the defected Soviet lunar colony of Gagaringrad form the '''Plex''': a giant, interplanetary union of corporate and government concerns that conduct commerce and govern the United States from its capital on Mars. Many population centers are grouped around massive, fortified arcologies called Plexmalls and the law is enforced by the Plexus Rangers, the absentee Plex's Earthside militia.

The Plex has formed the Tricentennial Recovery Committee, to get America "back on track for '76", but the TRC is in reality a plan to sell the United States off to the new superpowers and to leech off the remaining inhabitants before gaining true self-sufficiency. As a result, the Plex has outlawed non-combat related education, organized sports such as basketball and personal aircraft, restricted media to only one outlet, the Plex itself (although it has multiple channels), and advocates and glorifies the use of political violence amongst independent policlubs by providing money and firearms for its hit TV show ''Firefight All Night LIVE!'', and covertly sterilizes the population by using a combination contraceptive and antibiotic called Mañanacillin to reduce the population.

This all changes when former television star Reuben Flagg is drafted and transferred to Chicago's Plexmall to replace the local Ranger Hilton "Hammerhead" Krieger's fallen partner. He witnesses widespread graft and corruption throughout the Plexmall, but also a series of subliminal messages implanted in a television show that are causing outbreaks of gang violence. After he uses his emergency powers to interrupt the broadcast, he not only ends the violence, but also brings forth a series of events that causes the Plex to send in covert agents, the death of Hilton, and the unveiling of Q-USA, a secret TV station owned and operated by Krieger that opens Flagg's eyes to the nature of the Plex.

As the series progressed, Chaykin took less and less of a direct role in scripting and plotting the stories out, and by the third year of its run, he really had nothing to do with the book other than cover art. Stories began to violate the rules that Chaykin had explicitly stated in the writer's bible for the series (for instance, California was said to have slid into the Pacific Ocean, but in the final year of the book, California was merely shown to have been abandoned for reasons that were vague at best), and characterizations began to drift considerably as well. (Among other things, Flagg abandoned his interest in 1930s jazz, and was frequently shown listening to late-1960s rock, as well as becoming more of a traditional stern-jawed good-guy hero). After trying and failing several times to shore up declining interests, First Comics decided to lure Chaykin back into the writer's seat. "American Flagg!" wrapped up its principal storyline with issue #50. By this time, Reuben Flagg had traveled to Mars, overthrown the Plex, and become President of the United States. He then decided to separate Illinois from the United States and run it as his own personal fiefdom. All issues of this series took place in the year 2031.

The next year, the comic was re-launched under the name ''Howard Chaykin's Amerikan Flagg!'' (The "K" and a reversed "r" were to reflect the fact that most of this series took place in Russia) and picked up from where the earlier book had left off (in 2032). There is some difference of opinion as to whether this new book was intended to be a limited run, or open-ended as is the norm with comics. In either case, it ended after twelve issues. The final issue ends with a photo album of the Flagg's future domestic life, with many kids, a screaming shrew of a wife, and a balding, overweight Flagg.

Rocky Graziano (Paul Newman) has a difficult childhood and is beaten by his father. He joins a street gang, and undergoes a long history of criminal activities. He is sent to prison, where he is rebellious to all authority figures. After his release, he is drafted by the U.S. Army, but runs away. Needing money, he becomes a boxer, and finds that he has natural talent and wins six fights in a row before the Army finds him and dishonorably discharges him. He serves a year in a United States Disciplinary Barracks, and resumes his career as a boxer as a result.

While working his way to the title, he is introduced to his sister's friend Norma, whom he falls in love with and later marries. Starting a new, clean life, he rises to the top, but loses a title fight with Tony Zale (Court Shepard). A person he knew in prison finds him and blackmails him into throwing a fight over his dishonorable discharge. Rocky fakes an injury and avoids the fight altogether. When he is interrogated by the district attorney, he refuses to name the blackmailer and has his license suspended. His manager gets him a fight in Chicago to fight Zale the middleweight champion, once more. Rocky wins the fight.

In light of "And Then There Were Fewer", the Griffins are watching the news — where Tom Tucker reveals that Diane Simmons committed the murders at James Woods' mansion and is now dead. He then introduces Diane's successor, Joyce Kinney. As Lois reads the newspaper, she discovers that conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh is holding a book signing in Quahog. Chris is confused as he thought Rush Limbaugh was secretly Fred Savage, which Lois herself reported when she worked for Fox in Fox-y Lady only for Lois to explain that anything reported on Fox news is/becomes a lie, even if it's the truth. Enraged Brian, who despises Limbaugh over his political beliefs, decides to confront him at the signing. There, Limbaugh is criticized by Brian, but he counters by asking him whether he has read any of his books, leaving Brian dumbfounded and angry. As he curses Limbaugh to himself on his way home, Brian is mugged by a gang; Limbaugh abruptly shows up and beats them all to rescue Brian. Thankful, Brian agrees to read four pages of Limbaugh's book. This he does, but Brian grows interested enough to continue reading the book overnight. By then, he becomes a conservative Republican. Lois questions Brian's conviction, citing his past liberalism, while Brian defends his ability to change his mind based on new information. Lois also mentions that Brian goes out of his way to not agree with the general consensus on many things just so he can feel like "the smartest guy in the room" and accuses him of being a contrarian rather than a genuine believer, for example, he hated ''Titanic'' and ''Slumdog Millionaire'', but defends the movie ''Cocktail''. Brian meets with Limbaugh to thank him for helping his political conversion, and the two travel to the Republican National Headquarters, where they are greeted by former President of the United States George W. Bush and United States Senator John McCain.

Returning home, Lois is unimpressed when Brian tells her that Limbaugh will be coming over for dinner. That night, Lois begins arguing and challenging Limbaugh politically — with Peter joining in as well. She then accuses Limbaugh of brainwashing Brian, and demands for their dog to go back to the way he used to be. Limbaugh insists Brian became a conservative on his own terms, and the two sing a number based on "The Company Way", "Republican Town". Brian, outraged by Lois' unsupportive behaviour, decides to move out and become roommates with Limbaugh — who reluctantly allows him to move into his house. Brian soon begins to irritate Limbaugh with his blind devotion. He replaces many of Limbaugh's possessions with American-Made versions, which all go wrong. Brian then proceeds to follow Limbaugh to his radio show, where he attempts to voice his own political opinions on the air about Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. This frustrates Limbaugh, who ends up having Brian thrown out. Despite this, Brian continues to try and prove his devotion to the conservative cause by waterboarding Pelosi — only to end up getting apprehended and sent to jail.

Later on, Limbaugh bails out Brian, but he grows annoyed when Brian again tries to assert his conservatism. This prompts Limbaugh to tell Brian he is only fighting against the Establishment due to his desire of being the underdog. He proves his point by telling Brian that a child was executed in Texas, causing Brian to be visibly horrified; Limbaugh then says that he made up the story, but Brian's honest reaction to it shows he is a liberal at heart. Reassuring Brian of his liberal convictions, Limbaugh leaves the jail, making a ''Grapes of Wrath''-like pledge to "be around" wherever conservative causes need help. Outside, they heckle each other with reassurance before waving goodbye to the other. The episode ends with Brian watching Limbaugh transform into a bald eagle and subsequently flying away into the skyline.

Pittsburgh professor and author Grady Tripp is working on an unwieldy 2,611-page manuscript that is meant to be the follow-up to his successful, award-winning novel ''The Land Downstairs'', which was published seven years earlier. On the eve of a college-sponsored writers' and publishers' weekend called WordFest, Tripp's wife walks out on him, and he learns that his mistress, the chancellor of the college, Sara Gaskell, is pregnant with his child. To top it all off, Tripp finds himself involved in a bizarre crime committed by one of his students, an alienated young writer named James Leer. During a party, Leer shoots and kills the chancellor’s dog and steals her husband’s prized Marilyn Monroe collectible: the jacket worn by the actress on the day of her marriage to Joe DiMaggio.

''The New York Times'' reviewed the novel as "...the ultimate writing-program novel. If that sounds insulting, I don't mean it to be. But anyone who has ever served time in a writing program and gone to the "writing festivals" at various universities will instantly recognize the milieu and the characters."

Dr. Richard Walker (Harrison Ford) is a surgeon visiting Paris with his wife Sondra (Betty Buckley) for a medical conference. At their hotel, she is unable to unlock her suitcase, and Walker determines that she picked up the wrong one at the airport. While Walker is taking a shower, Sondra receives a phone call that Walker can't hear and she mysteriously disappears from their hotel room.

Still jet-lagged, Walker searches for his wife in the hotel with the help of a polite but mostly indifferent staff and then wanders outside to look for her himself. A wino overhears him in a café and says he saw Sondra being forced into a car in a nearby alley. Walker is skeptical, until he finds his wife's ID bracelet on the cobblestones. He contacts the Paris police and the U.S. Embassy, but their responses are bureaucratic, and there is little hope anyone will bother looking for her. As Walker carries on the search himself he stumbles onto a murder site where he encounters the streetwise young Michelle, who mistook Sondra's suitcase for her own at the airport. He realises that Michelle is a career drug smuggler, but does not care or know for which shady dealers she is hired. Michelle reluctantly helps Walker in his attempt to learn what was packed in her switched suitcase, and how to trade the contents for the return of his kidnapped wife.

Following their visit to Michelle's apartment, Walker's hotel room and shabby cabarets, it turns out that the smuggled contents are not drugs, but a krytron, an electronic switch used as a detonator for nuclear weapons, stolen and smuggled inside a souvenir replica of the Statue of Liberty, on orders of some Arab country's agents. The American embassy, working with Israeli agents, wants to get hold of the precious device, and they have no problem letting Sondra die for it. In order to save his wife, Walker joins forces with Michelle, who is only interested in getting her paycheck.

The film ends with a confrontation on the Île aux Cygnes, in the middle of the Seine, next to the Paris Statue of Liberty replica there, where Sondra is to be released in exchange for the krytron. However, a gunfight ensues between the Arab agents who were to get the precious device, and the Israeli Mossad secret agents who traced them to get hold of it. The Arabs are killed in the crossfire but Michelle is hit too, dying soon after having slipped the krytron into Walker's pocket, with Sondra at their side. Furious, Walker shows the krytron device to the Israeli agents, just to throw it into the Seine. He carries Michelle's body away, ready to leave Paris with his wife.

In 1879, a communiqué from Lord Chelmsford (narrated by Richard Burton) to the Secretary of State for War in London details the crushing defeat of a 1,300-man British column by the Zulu armies at Isandlwana. In the aftermath of the battle, Zulu tribesmen are shown scavenging the battlefield and collecting rifles and ammunition from the dead soldiers. At a mass Zulu marriage ceremony witnessed by missionary Otto Witt and his daughter Margareta, Zulu King Cetshwayo is informed of the great victory; Witt and Margareta flee when they realize what has happened.

A company of the British Army's 24th Regiment of Foot is using Witt's missionary station at Rorke's Drift in Natal as a supply depot and hospital for British forces in Zululand. Receiving news of Isandlwana from Natal Native Contingent Commander Adendorff and warnings that 4,000 Zulu warriors are advancing on their position, Lieutenant John Chard of the Royal Engineers assumes command of a force consisting of less than 200 men as he is slightly senior to their nominal commander, Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead. With not enough time to order a full evacuation, Chard decides to stay and fight. He has wagons, sacks of mealie (maize), and crates of hardtack stacked to form a defensive perimeter, gunholes knocked in the hospital walls, and a medical ward set up in Witt's chapel.

A contingent of South African cavalrymen who had fought at Isandlwana arrive, refuse Chard's pleas to help reinforce the station on the grounds that it is hopeless, and swiftly depart on their horses. Witt, enraged by Chard arming the hospital's patients and ordering them to fight instead of allowing them to be evacuated, persuades the Zulus serving in the Natal Native Contingent to desert. Chard then angrily orders Witt to be locked up in the chapel's supply room as he starts drinking heavily and proclaims that none of the soldiers will survive the coming battle.

The Zulu ''impis'' approach and then charge before quickly retreating under British fire; Adendorff explains that they are trying to find weak points in the station's defenses. Chard permits Margareta to take her father away; the Zulus, recognizing Witt, allow them to pass unharmed. Chard is concerned that the northern perimeter wall is under-defended and realises that the Zulus, aware of this, are preparing to attack the station from all sides. Zulu warriors armed with British rifles also start taking potshots at the soldiers. Throughout the day and night, wave after wave of Zulu attackers are repelled, but the defenders are slowly killed off one-by-one. The Zulus succeed in setting fire to the hospital, and Private Henry Hook rallies the patients to fight them and escape.

The next morning, the Zulus approach to within several hundred yards and sing a lament before launching again into their war chant; the British respond by singing the Welsh song "Men of Harlech". In the final assault, just as it seems the Zulus will finally overwhelm the tired defenders, the British soldiers fall back to a small redoubt in front of the chapel. With a reserve of men hidden within the redoubt, they form into three ranks and fire volley after volley, inflicting heavy casualties; the Zulus retreat. After a pause of three hours, the Zulus re-form on the Oscarberg. Resigned to another assault, the British are astonished when the Zulus instead sing a song to honour the bravery of the defenders before departing.

The film ends with another narration by Richard Burton, listing the eleven defenders who received the Victoria Cross for the defence of Rorke's Drift, the most ever awarded for a single action.

Henry Harding MP, a British government minister on a moral crusade, hires an inexperienced young computer whiz kid, Peter Emery who works for a Christian computer company called Holy Hardware, to infiltrate the United Kingdom BDSM scene. Harding is set on putting a club called "House of Thwax" run by Mistress Tanya Cheex out of business, and is sure that Peter's secretly videotaped evidence of the club's activities will do the trick. However, the virginal Peter takes a liking to Tanya Cheex and finds himself falling for the Mistress. Amongst the locations used Layer Marney Tower in Essex plays a pivotal role for a party scene.

LAPD Officer Frank Dooley is framed for stealing a television set by two corrupt detectives. He is dismissed from the force, but escapes criminal punishment. The court's next case features hapless defense attorney Norman Kane attempting to defend a white supremacist leader, who threatens him with death should Kane fail to keep him out of prison. Kane reveals his ineptitude and the death threat to the judge, who agrees to render a long sentence if Kane promises to leave law behind.

Dooley and Kane meet when they both apply for work at Guard Dog Security, run by Captain Clarence O'Connell and part of a union represented by Klepper and Lazarus. Becoming licensed security guards after a single afternoon of training, Dooley and Kane are made partners by supervisor Maggie Cavanaugh and assigned to night duty at a pharmaceutical warehouse. Ordered to take a lunch break by senior guard Bruno, Kane happens upon an armed robbery of the warehouse and calls Frank for help, but they prove no match for the thieves.

The next day, the pair are berated by O'Connell for their failure. While they are venting their anger toward O'Connell, Maggie reveals that she is his daughter. Dooley and Kane then attend a meeting of the union, where Kane's attempt to file a grievance against Guard Dog is quashed by union president Michael Carlino. Kane pointedly questions Carlino about how the union dues, adding to about $4 million per year, are spent. After Kane rejects an evasive answer from treasurer Lou Brackman, Carlino threatens Kane should he ever attend another union meeting.

Over the next few days, Dooley and Kane find themselves assigned to work at a landfill and a toxic waste dump. Convinced something illegal is afoot after hearing a story from two fellow security guards about a similar robbery, the pair track down Bruno at his gym and interrogate him. Bruno admits that O'Connell had him order them to lunch the night of the robbery. They visit an informant friend of Dooley's for information on Carlino and bring their suspicions to Maggie, but she rejects them for having no evidence.

Dooley and Kane next attend a party thrown by Carlino, hoping to gather some evidence. Eavesdropping on a meeting between Carlino and Brackman, they learn that Carlino is using the pension fund to finance dealings with a drug cartel and plans to have the money robbed from an armored car, with insurance covering the loss. Fearing the insurance company will investigate, Brackman urges Carlino not to execute the robbery. Carlino instructs Klepper and Lazarus to kill Brackman. Dooley and Kane attempt to save Brackman, but are too late to prevent his murder. After a night spent evading police, the two make plans with Maggie to prevent the armored car robbery. Kane and Maggie take over driving the truck, while Dooley plans to meet them ahead of the would-be robbers.

Dooley has problems with his motorcycle while weaving through a traffic jam on L.A.'s Sixth Street Viaduct and is forced to hitch a ride with a trucker who bulls through the traffic, destroying several cars in the process. Meanwhile, Kane and Maggie avoid assaults from multiple cars attempting to hold them up. Dooley is able to arrive in time to save the armored car from a final attack from Klepper and Lazarus. O'Connell arrives, having captured Carlino and his associates, the two detectives who originally framed Dooley.

The criminals are arrested and Dooley is invited back to the police force, along with a reluctant Kane.

The film opens at a tea ceremony. Professor Shukichi Somiya (Chishu Ryu), a widower, has only one child, a twenty-seven-year-old unmarried daughter, Noriko (Setsuko Hara), who takes care of the household and the everyday needs—cooking, cleaning, mending, etc.—of her father. On a shopping trip to Tokyo, Noriko encounters one of her father's friends, Professor Jo Onodera (Masao Mishima), who lives in Kyoto. Noriko knows that Onodera, who had been a widower like her father, has recently remarried, and she tells him that she finds the very idea of his remarriage distasteful, even "filthy." Onodera, and later her father, tease her for having such thoughts.

Shukichi's sister, Aunt Masa (Haruko Sugimura), convinces him that it is high time his daughter got married. Noriko is friendly with her father’s assistant, Hattori (Jun Usami), and Aunt Masa suggests that her brother ask Noriko if she might be interested in Hattori. When he does bring up the subject, however, Noriko laughs: Hattori has been engaged to another young woman for quite some time.

Undaunted, Masa pressures Noriko to meet with a marriageable young man, a Tokyo University graduate named Satake who, Masa believes, bears a strong resemblance to Gary Cooper. Noriko declines, explaining that she does not wish to marry anyone, because to do so would leave her father alone and helpless. Masa surprises Noriko by claiming that she is also trying to arrange a match between Shukichi and Mrs. Miwa (Kuniko Miyake), an attractive young widow known to Noriko. If Masa succeeds, Noriko would have no excuse.

At a Noh performance attended by Noriko and her father, the latter smilingly greets Mrs. Miwa, which triggers Noriko's jealousy. When her father later tries to talk her into going to meet Satake, he tells her that he intends to marry Mrs. Miwa. Devastated, Noriko reluctantly decides to meet the young man and, to her surprise, has a very favorable impression of him. Under pressure from all sides, Noriko consents to the arranged marriage.

The Somiyas go on one last trip together before the wedding, visiting Kyoto. There they meet Professor Onodera and his family. Noriko changes her opinion of Onodera's remarriage when she discovers that his new wife is a nice person. While packing their luggage for the trip home, Noriko asks her father why they cannot simply stay as they are now, even if he does remarry – she cannot imagine herself any happier than living with and taking care of him. Shukichi admonishes her, saying that she must embrace the new life she will build with Satake, one in which he, Shukichi, will have no part, because "that’s the order of human life and history." Noriko asks her father’s forgiveness for her "selfishness" and agrees to go ahead with the marriage.

Noriko’s wedding day arrives. At home just before the ceremony, both Shukichi and Masa admire Noriko, who is dressed in a traditional wedding costume. Noriko thanks her father for the care he has taken of her throughout her life and leaves in a hired car for the wedding. Afterwards, Aya (Yumeji Tsukioka), a divorced friend of Noriko’s, goes with Shukichi to a bar, where he confesses that his claim that he was going to marry Mrs. Miwa was a ruse to persuade Noriko to get married herself. Aya, touched by his sacrifice, promises to visit him often. Shukichi returns home alone.

Retired couple Shūkichi and Tomi Hirayama live in Onomichi in western Japan with their daughter Kyōko, a primary school teacher. They have five adult children, four of whom are living. The couple travel to Tokyo to visit their son, daughter, and widowed daughter-in-law.

Their eldest son, Kōichi, is a physician who runs a small clinic in Tokyo's suburbs, and their eldest daughter, Shige, runs a hairdressing salon. Kōichi and Shige are both busy and do not have much time for their parents. Only their widowed daughter-in-law, Noriko, the wife of their middle son Shōji, who was missing in action and presumed dead during the Pacific War, goes out of her way to entertain them. She takes time from her busy office job to take Shūkichi and Tomi on a sightseeing tour of metropolitan Tokyo.

Feeling conflicted that they don't have time to entertain them, Kōichi and Shige pay for their parents to stay at a hot spring spa at Atami but they return early because the nightlife there disturbs their sleep. Tomi also has an unexplained dizzy spell. Upon returning, a frustrated Shige explains that she sent them to Atami because she wanted to use their bedroom for a meeting; the elderly couple has to leave for the evening. Tomi goes to stay with Noriko, with whom she deepens their emotional bond, and advises her to remarry. Shūkichi, meanwhile, gets drunk with some old friends from Onomichi. The three men drunkenly ramble about their children and lives. A policeman brings Shūkichi and one of his friends to Shige's salon. Shige is outraged that her father is lapsing into the alcoholic ways that overshadowed her childhood.

The couple remarks on how their children have changed, returning home earlier than planned, intending to see their younger son Keizō when the train stops in Osaka. However, Tomi suddenly becomes ill during the journey and they decide to disembark the train, staying until she feels better the next day. They return to Onomichi, and Tomi falls critically ill. Kōichi, Shige, and Noriko rush to Onomichi to see Tomi, who dies shortly afterwards. Keizō arrives too late, as he has been away on business.

After the funeral, Kōichi, Shige, and Keizō leave immediately; only Noriko remains. After they leave, Kyōko criticises her siblings over their selfishness toward their parents. She believes that Kōichi, Shige, and Keizō do not care how hard it will be for their father now that he has lost their mother. She is also upset at Shige for asking so quickly for Tomi's clothes as keepsakes. Noriko responds that while she understands Kyōko's disappointment, everyone has their own life and the growing chasm between parents and children is inevitable. She convinces Kyōko not to be too hard on her siblings because one day she will understand how hard it is to take time away from one's own life.

After Kyōko leaves for school, Noriko informs her father-in-law that she must return to Tokyo that afternoon. Shūkichi tells her that she has treated them better than their own children despite not being a blood relation. Noriko protests that she is selfish and has not always thought about her missing husband, and Shūkichi credits her self-assessment to humility. He gives her a watch from the late Tomi as a memento. Noriko cries and confesses her loneliness; Shūkichi encourages her to remarry as soon as possible, wanting her to be happy. Noriko travels from Onomichi back to Tokyo, contemplating the watch, while Shūkichi remains behind, resigned to the solitude he must endure.

Hirayama family tree

Wataru Hirayama (Shin Saburi) is a wealthy Tokyo businessman. When an old schoolmate Mikami (Chishū Ryū) approaches him for help concerning his daughter Fumiko (Yoshiko Kuga), who has run off owing to a conflict with her father, he agrees. Finding her in a bar where she now works, he listens to her side of the story. Fumiko complains that her father is stubborn, insisting on arranging her marriage, whereas she has now fallen in love with a musician and is adamant to lead life her own way.

One day during work, a young man named Masahiko Taniguchi (Keiji Sada) approaches Hirayama to ask for the hand of his elder daughter, Setsuko (Ineko Arima). Hirayama is extremely unhappy that his daughter has made wedding plans on her own. He confronts her at home and says that she must not go to work until she sees the folly of her ways. Hirayama tries to find out more about Taniguchi from his subordinate.

Owing to the standoff, his daughter's friend Yukiko (Fujiko Yamamoto) tries a ruse in which she asks Hirayama's opinion concerning a similar situation – her mother forcing her to marry someone she didn't like. When Hirayama advises her to ignore her mother, Yukiko reveals it is all a setup and states that Hirayama has just given his consent to Setsuko's marriage.

Despite the ruse, Hirayama remains unchanged and Hirayama's wife Kiyoko (Kinuyo Tanaka) accuses her husband of being "inconsistent". Even his younger daughter Hisako (Miyuki Kuwano) is on the side of her sister, finding her father too old-fashioned. Finally, after the couple's insistence on getting married, Hirayama decides to give in by attending his daughter's wedding.

After the wedding, Mikami reveals that he, like Hirayama, has agreed to let his daughter select her own marriage partner. After going for a short business trip outside Tokyo, Hirayama decides to visit the newly-weds at Hiroshima by train, where Taniguchi is stationed by his company.

British couple Nigel and Fiona Dobson are on a Mediterranean cruise ship to Istanbul en route to India. They encounter a beautiful French woman, Mimi, and that night Nigel meets her while dancing alone in the ship's bar. Later Nigel meets her much older and disabled American husband, Oscar, who is a failed writer—acerb, cynical and jaded.

Oscar invites Nigel to his cabin where he tells Nigel in great detail how he and Mimi first met on a bus in Paris and fell passionately in love. Nigel relates all to Fiona. Both are appalled by Oscar's exhibitionism, but Nigel is also fascinated by Mimi, who provokes him. Later, Oscar narrates how they explored bondage, sadomasochism, and voyeurism. As a contrast to their sexual adventurousness, we see Nigel and Fiona meeting a distinguished Indian gentleman, Mr. Singh, who is traveling with his little daughter Amrita.

Invited by Mimi, Nigel, escaping from a bridge game, goes to meet her in her cabin, but it turns out she and Oscar have played a joke on him. Nigel wants to leave, but another session unfolds, with Oscar describing how their hate/love relationship developed. Bored, he tried to break up, but Mimi begged him to let her live with him under any conditions. He complied, but started to explore sadistic fantasies at her expense, humiliating her in public. When Mimi became pregnant, he made her have an abortion, saying that he would be a terrible father. When he visited her in hospital, he was shocked by her condition and almost relented in his attempts to drive her away. He promised her a holiday in the Caribbean, but he got off the plane just before takeoff. Mimi departed alone, crying.

Leaving Oscar's cabin, Nigel meets Mimi and they kiss. Afterwards, he finds Fiona in the bar flirting with a young man. She warns Nigel not to stray too far, and that anything he can do, she can do better. Nigel goes to Oscar, who continues his narration. After two years of parties and one-night stands, he drunkenly stepped in front of a vehicle. To his surprise, Mimi came to visit him in the hospital where he was recovering from minor injuries and a fractured femur. Mimi shook hands with him, then pulled him out of his bed and left him hanging in his traction device. Having become paraplegic this way, Oscar had no choice but to let Mimi move in with him again and take care of him. She reveled in dominating and humiliating him, seducing men in front of him. When Oscar was desperate and wanted to die, she gave him a gun as a birthday present. Having experienced highs and lows together, they realized they needed each other and actually got married.

Nigel clumsily tries to woo Mimi, encouraged and coached by Oscar. Things come to a head at the New Year's Eve party, when Fiona sees them dance together. Fiona tells him that Oscar had made her come to the party. She goes on to dance erotically with Mimi, which culminates in a passionate kiss, cheered on by the other partygoers. A stormy sea interrupts the party and the two women leave together. Nigel goes outside clutching a bottle of liquor and screams his frustration into the wind and waves.

Nigel finds Fiona in Oscar's cabin, sleeping naked side by side with Mimi. Oscar claims the women have had sex together. Nigel grabs his throat, but Oscar points a gun at him and he backs off. Oscar shoots the sleeping Mimi several times, then kills himself. While the bodies of Oscar and Mimi are being stretchered off the ship, Fiona and Nigel, shaken, embrace each other. Mr. Singh encourages his little girl to comfort them.

During World War II, Maximilian Theo Aldorfer, a Nazi SS officer who had posed as a doctor to take sensational photographs in concentration camps, and Lucia, a teenage girl interned in a concentration camp due to her father's Socialist political ties, had an ambiguous sadomasochistic relationship. Max tormented Lucia, but also acted as her protector.

In 1957, Lucia, now married to an American orchestra conductor, meets Max again by chance. He is now a night porter at a hotel in Vienna, and a reluctant member of a group of former SS comrades who have been carefully covering up their pasts by destroying documents and eliminating witnesses to their wartime activities. Max has an upcoming mock trial at the hands of the group for his war crimes. The group's leader, Hans Fogler, accuses Max of wanting to live 'hidden away like a church mouse'. Max wishes to remain hidden, but he voices support for the group's activities. Memories of the past punctuate Max and Lucia's present with urgent frequency, suggesting that Lucia survived through her relationship with Max – in one such scene, Lucia sings a Marlene Dietrich song, "Wenn ich mir was wünschen dürfte" ("If I could make a wish"), to the camp guards while wearing pieces of an SS uniform, and Max "rewards" her with the severed head of a male inmate who had been bullying her, a reference to Salome.

Because she could testify against him, Lucia's existence is a threat to Max. He goes to see a former Nazi collaborator, Mario, who knows Lucia is still alive; Max murders him to protect his secret. After Lucia's husband leaves town on business, Max and Lucia renew their past lovemaking in Max's apartment. Max confesses to Countess Stein, another guest at his hotel, that he has found his "little girl" again. The Countess tells him that he is insane; Max replies that they are both 'in the same boat'. Meanwhile, Fogler has Max spied on by a youth who works at the hotel.

Max is interviewed by the police about Mario's murder. He spends days with Lucia in his apartment, chaining her to the wall so that "they can't take her away", and sleeps little. Fogler, who wants Lucia to testify against Max in the mock trial—though he harbors more ambiguous long-term intentions toward her—visits and informs her that Max is ill. He suggests that Lucia must also be ill to allow herself to be in this position, but she sends him away, claiming to be with Max of her own free will.

The SS officers are infuriated at Max for hiding a key witness. Max refuses to go through with the trial, calling it 'a farce', and admits that he works as a night porter due to his sense of shame in daytime. He returns to Lucia, telling her that the police questioned him and others at the hotel about her disappearance, and that no suspicion fell on him. Eventually, Max quits his job, devoting all of his time to Lucia. The SS officers cut off the couple's supply of food from a nearby grocery store. Max barricades the door to the apartment, and he and Lucia begin rationing.

Max seeks help by phoning one of his old hotel friends, who refuses, and imploring his neighbor, but she is prevented from providing aid by Adolph, the youth who had spied on Max earlier. Max retreats again to the apartment, where Lucia is almost unconscious from malnutrition. After one of the SS cuts off the electricity in Max's apartment, Max and Lucia, respectively dressed in his Nazi uniform and a negligee resembling the one she had worn in the concentration camp, leave the building and drive away; they are soon followed by a car driven by Max's former colleagues. Max parks his car on a bridge, where he and Lucia walk along the sidewalk as dawn breaks. Two gunshots ring out, and the lovers fall dead.

Mollie, an accountant living in New York City, becomes pregnant during an affair with married executive Albert. The baby, while growing inside Mollie, begins to make voice-over commentary. In her ninth month, while out shopping, Mollie and her friend Rona catch Albert with another woman, and Albert admits he does not plan to stay with Mollie. The heartbreak and stress cause Mollie to go into labor. A taxi driver speeds through downtown traffic to get her to the hospital in time. Mollie becomes a dedicated single mother and Mikey continues his commentary, using an "inner voice" which can also communicate with other babies.

She meets the taxi driver, James, again at her apartment building. Over the course of the next year, the two develop a friendship and tentative romantic relationship. James tells Mollie that he loves her, but she says she only wants what is best for Mikey, that rushing into things is how she got into trouble, and kicks him out. Mollie is forced by her boss to continue working with Albert, which complicates matters further. At the playground, Mikey is told by his friends what "daddies" are and he realizes he wants James to be ''his'' father.

James comes to the apartment and tells Mikey that he will not be around any more, and Mollie listens over the baby monitor as he pours his heart out to Mikey, who admits he will miss James, too. Mollie takes Mikey to Albert's office to meet him, but when Albert admits he does not want the responsibility of being a father because he’s going through a "selfish phase", Mollie realizes he has not changed. She leaves Albert behind for good and makes up with James.

Meanwhile, Mikey wanders off on his own, searching for James when he sees a taxi cab outside. After making his way out to the alley, he gets into a car which then gets towed away with Mikey inside it, while Mollie and James search frantically for him. After spotting him, James and Mollie give chase in his cab and eventually cut off the tow truck, but discover Mikey had gotten out of the car and is now standing in the middle of heavy traffic. James and Mollie run to reach him and take him to safety, where Mikey unofficially asks James to be his father by saying his first word "Da-da". James and Mollie realize that Mikey already sees James as his father, and they decide to give it a chance, kissing passionately while Mikey considers telling them he needs a new diaper.

Nine months later, Mollie gives birth to her and James' daughter and Mikey's half-sister Julie, complete with her own inner voice.

Erika Kohut is a piano professor in her late 30s at a Vienna music conservatory who resides in an apartment with her domineering elderly mother. Her late father had been a longstanding resident in a psychiatric asylum. Despite Erika's aloof and assured façade, she is a woman whose sexual repression and loneliness is manifested in her paraphilia, including voyeurism, sadomasochistic fetishes, and self-mutilation.

At a recital hosted by the Blonskij couple, Erika meets Walter Klemmer, a young aspiring engineer who also plays piano, and who expresses admiration of her talent for classical music. The two share an appreciation for composers Schumann and Schubert, and he attempts to apply to the conservatory to be her pupil. His audition impresses the other professors, but Erika, though visibly moved by his playing, votes against him; she cites his divergent interpretation of Schubert's Andantino, and questions his motivations. Despite this, Walter is admitted as Erika's pupil. Meanwhile, another pupil, Anna Schober, struggles with anxiety while pushed by her own ambitious mother. However, when Erika witnesses Anna and Walter socializing, she slips to an empty coat room and smashes a glass, hiding the shards inside one of Anna's coat pockets. This cuts Anna's right hand, preventing her playing at the forthcoming jubilee concert.

Walter pursues Erika into a lavatory after she secretly injured Anna. Walter passionately kisses Erika, and she responds by repeatedly humiliating and frustrating him. She proceeds to give him a handjob before performing fellatio on him, but abruptly stops when he does not abide by her orders to be silent and to look at her and not to touch her. She tells him she will write him a letter regarding their next meeting. Later at the conservatory, Erika feigns sympathy for Anna's mother, with Erika saying only she can substitute for Anna in the upcoming school concert at such a late stage.

Walter is increasingly insistent in his desire to initiate a sexual relationship with Erika, but Erika is only willing if he will satisfy her masochistic fantasies. She gives him the letter indicating acts she will consent to. He follows her home and reads the letter in her bedroom, but the list repulses him and he leaves. Later that night, Erika’s mother is berating her while they lay in bed together for letting Walter in her bedroom in the middle of the night when Erika suddenly begins kissing and groping her mother. Her mother resists and tells Erika she is unwell.

Erika finds Walter at an ice rink after his hockey practice to apologize. She begins to subjugate herself to him in a janitorial closet. Walter says he loves her and they begin to have sex, but Erika is unable to, and vomits while performing fellatio. Later that night, Walter arrives at Erika's apartment and attacks her in the fashion described in her letter. He locks her mother away in her bedroom before proceeding to beat and rape Erika.

The next day, Erika brings a large kitchen knife to the concert where she is scheduled to substitute for Anna. When Walter arrives, he enters cheerfully, laughing with his family, and flippantly greets her. Moments before the concert is due to start, a distraught Erika calmly stabs herself in the heart with the kitchen knife and exits the concert hall into the street.

When Tess Hunter and her mother arrive in Century Falls, they gradually find it to be a strange village, haunted by a disaster that befell it during the performance of an occult ceremony forty years earlier.

Tess befriends the only other children in the village, brother and sister Ben and Carey Naismith, and finds that Ben has strange powers which he draws from the waterfall that gives the village its name.

The Naismiths' uncle Richard is working with his aged father, Dr Josiah Naismith, to complete the unfinished ceremony using Ben's powers, hoping to raise the spirit of a mysterious God-like being, Century. They are eventually stopped by Tess's actions, aided by the local Harkness sisters, who knew the original tragedy of the 1950s events.

Undercover FBI agents John Tanner and Tobias Jones are sent to Miami to investigate the "South Beach" cartel headed by Calita Martinez, and her associates Lomaz and Bad Hand. When the agents notice the cartel’s recent acquisition of stolen cars, they suspect that they are working for someone else to fulfill a major order. To determine where the deal for the cars will take place, Tanner poses as a wheelman and infiltrates the cartel by recovering a car from a rival gang. After impressing Calita and earning her trust with a series of tasks, Tanner is assigned to assassinate "The Gator" for betraying the cartel.

South Beach relocate to Nice, France, after The Gator's presumed demise, to secure the remaining cars on their list. Tanner makes contact with Interpol agents Vauban and Dubois, who insist on arresting the cartel while in possession of the stolen cars. Tanner refuses, and Vauban orders Dubois to conduct surveillance on the cartel. Meanwhile, Tanner focuses on acquiring the cars for Calita while fending off attacks by a rival syndicate, eventually leading to a confrontation wherein he eliminates the gang's leader. Upon discovering that Dubois was captured by the cartel during his investigation, Tanner rushes to rescue him before he is executed. Following the rescue attempt, Tanner and Dubois break into a cartel boathouse to find out the location of the deal, which will take place in Istanbul, Turkey.

Shortly after, the two are captured by the cartel, and meet their employer, Charles Jericho. After revealing Tanner's identity, Jericho takes Tanner's gun and uses it to murder Dubois, intending to frame him for the crime. Tanner manages to escape, and makes contact with Vauban about where the cars are being shipped to, but releases little detail on Dubois' death. They travel to Istanbul, where Tanner tails Jericho to a meeting with the Bagman, a middleman arranging the sale of the cars to Russian criminals. Overhearing that The Gator survived his assassination, Tanner asks Jones to collect him before he is killed by Jericho's people, and The Gator offers information on the deal in exchange for his safety.

After reuniting with Jones, Tanner is accused of murder by Vauban, after he receives word of Dubois’ death. Despite the threat of an Internal Affairs investigation, Tanner and Jones go rogue to continue investigating, and focus on tracking down Lomaz. In exchange for protection, Lomaz reveals that Calita and the Bagman are set to meet soon to exchange money for the stolen cars. Tanner and Jones monitor the meeting until Calita calls it off. While Jones attempts to pursue the Bagman, he is ambushed and forced to pull back; meanwhile, Tanner chases after Calita and captures her. After bringing her to Vauban to regain his trust, Tanner convinces Calita that Jericho is too dangerous to trust. Calita reveals that the cars have already been shipped to Russia, and that Jericho will not leave the city until he is paid.

With assistance from Istanbul's police, Tanner, Jones and Vauban stake out the arranged location of the exchange between Jericho and the Bagman. When the meeting takes place, Jericho murders the Bagman for providing him only half of the agreed money and fools police by using Bad Hand as a decoy, eventually leading to his death. Upon learning that Jericho will likely leave by train, Tanner cuts him off, forcing him to disembark and flee through the streets. When Jericho is cornered in an alleyway, Tanner critically wounds him, but eventually decides to have him arrested, only for Jericho to gun him down when he turns his back on him. Both men are taken to the hospital in critical condition, leaving their fate uncertain.

NYPD detective and former racing driver John Tanner is sent undercover by Lieutenant McKenzie to investigate a crime syndicate led by Castaldi; McKenzie instructs Tanner to go to Miami and meet a pimp named Rufus. After arriving in Miami, Tanner uses his driving skills to prove himself to some gangsters in a parking garage, and becomes their getaway driver.

Tanner carries out jobs for various criminals before meeting Rufus, who tasks Tanner with rescuing Jean-Paul, one of his associates. Rufus is later shot by his girlfriend Jesse, who is apprehended by Tanner, and she reveals that Jean-Paul is now in San Francisco.

Tanner goes to San Francisco, where he finally meets Castaldi and begins working directly for him. He also meets Rusty Slater, his former racing rival, who also works for Castaldi. Tanner later learns that Castaldi is working with a man named Don Hancock, who is running for president. He later suspects that Slater has been spying on him and wrecks Slater's car during a chase, resulting in Slater being arrested.

Castaldi's syndicate move to Los Angeles, where Castaldi plans to assassinate FBI agent Bill Maddox. Tanner instructs Leck, a police associate, to ensure Maddox turns up, otherwise his cover may be blown. The assassination is unsuccessful and the police ambush the gangsters, forcing Tanner to take them to safety. Tanner convinces the suspicious gangsters that Slater told the police about the planned assassination. Leck later tells Tanner that McKenzie recently met with Marcus Vaughn, a corrupt FBI agent who is working with Castaldi and Hancock.

The syndicate then moves to New York, where Castaldi plans a high profile assassination. Tanner is told by his police associates that McKenzie wants him to pull out of the undercover operation, as he worries for Tanner's cover, and Leck tells Tanner that Hancock has bribed several people in the FBI. Tanner remains undercover and continues working for Castaldi, intent on uncovering his plan.

Tanner eventually learns that Castaldi plans to assassinate the President of the United States, and Tanner is tasked with driving the President's car. However, he ignores all instructions and takes the President to safety. McKenzie then arrives and tells Tanner that Castaldi and all of his associates, including Hancock and Vaughn, have been arrested. However, Tanner suspects that the police and FBI were involved with Castaldi, and he leaves, ignoring McKenzie completely.

Set in a retro-future setting, the series revolves around Mayuko, a high school graduate who goes to cram school in preparation for college. However, due to having no place to settle in, she decided to live in a bathhouse in the countryside, which is in a financial crisis due to having no customers. Even worse, she has to live with an alien girl named NieA, who has no antenna and is considered an "Under 7", a class despised by other aliens due to being the lowest of their kind.

The series touches lightly upon issues of discrimination, stereotypes, alienation, city life vs small-town life, and assimilation. Mayuko, who attends a cram school, is a young girl living away from her family and expresses a lot of melancholy. NieA, who is apparently placed in an inferior class by her fellow aliens due to being a physical minority among them, immediately accuses anyone who calls her a "stupid no-antenna" or the like, of discrimination. Other aliens adopt various stereotypical cultural styles; one chooses Indian dress and opens a convenience store, another chooses to associate herself with the Chinese Revolution. This theme of the outsider alien is carried through in the brief comic live-action sequence which ends each episode, "Dalgit's Tidbit of Indian Information."

The series focused on the life of the eponymous title character, a 30-something woman who works as a car saleswoman by day and sings in a club at night. It follows her various trials and tribulations in love and her relationships with her friends, in particular Jimmy McKenzie (Sean Gallagher), a mechanic at the car showroom where Linda works, and with whom she enjoys sexual relations when she feels like it, Michelle Fenton (Claire Rushbrook), a chiropodist, and Darren Alexander (Daniel Ryan), a kitchen-fitter. The latter two characters are a cohabiting couple with children, Jamie (Lee Shepherd) and Leanne (Jodie Hamblet), and, in series 2, a new baby, Eric. Despite the demands of parenthood, Michelle and Darren enjoy frequent nights out, usually at the club, with Linda and Jimmy. Linda's mother, Iris, who works as a clerk in the magistrates' court, is played by Rachel Davies, and her father, Frank, a deputy headteacher, by Dave Hill. Linda also has two siblings, both considerably younger than her: the very bright Katie (Jessica Harris), in whom Linda frequently confides, and the easy-going Philip, a.k.a. Fizz (Bruno Langley), who is hoping to join the Army, rather against his father's wishes. As well as being the eldest child, Linda is also her father's favourite, although he is always careful never to treat the other two less favourably. Both Frank and Iris are always ready to provide a shoulder to cry on when Linda is unhappy, usually as a result of a failed relationship. One of Linda's former boyfriends, the much younger Ricky Pinder (John Donnelly), becomes a semi-regular in the show when he becomes Katie's boyfriend. The other club singer, Coral (Jacinta Sloan) and the club comic (Danny De Bouy) also appear on a semi-regular basis.

Harper Sloane is a misfit in her snobbish, upperclass family of lawyers. She has just been accepted to Harvard law school. At her sister's wedding, after being sent out from her hiding place in the storage room with a bottle of champagne, she meets Connie Fitzpatrick, a bohemian photographer who takes an instant liking to her and nicknames her "Guinevere". Her visit to his loft in order to pick up the wedding photographs soon blossoms into a full-blown affair, and Harper eventually moves in with Connie as he instructs her in the ways of art, in particular photography.

After a brutal confrontation with Harper's mother, Deborah, and Harper's discovery that Connie has a history of relationships with young women, the film comes to a climax in a downtrodden L.A. hotel where Connie ends the relationship by kicking out Harper. She returns only once, four years later, as he is dying from cirrhosis of the liver, and meets the other Guineveres he has had. On the rooftop, she describes her personal view of his kind of heaven, which she affectionately titles "The Connie Special".

The plot revolves around a Philadelphia family, the Days. The father, Jack Day (David Newsom) is a corporate lawyer who quits his job at a pharmaceutical company in the midst of a mid-life crisis. His wife, Abby Day (Marguerite MacIntyre) has recently re-entered the work force as an executive for an advertising firm after taking time off to raise their children. The couple's eldest child, daughter Natalie Day (Laura Ramsey), is homecoming queen, a soccer star, and the most popular girl in school, until she finds out she's pregnant. Cooper Day (Evan Peters) is the middle child and an aspiring writer who counts the days until his graduation. He begins and ends each episode with a monologue of an entry in his journal. Nathan Day (Zachary Maurer) is the youngest child, a child prodigy, who attends a private school and frequently suffers panic attacks.

The game is set in the fictional town of Greely Valley, Iowa. An urban legend claims that if a golden token is inserted into the jester skull's mouth on top of the gravestone of a ringmaster named Professor Ludwig von Tökkentäkker, his undead carnival will rise from the earth.

The game begins with a group of teenagers taking a hayride tour through the Greely Valley cemetery, courtesy of the local "ghost expert" Spooky Sam. The unnamed protagonist leaves the tour and approaches Tökkentäkker's tombstone to find a golden coin sitting in its slot. The protagonist inserts the coin into the jester's mouth, resulting in the haunted amusement park rising from the ground. Trapped within, he takes a shotgun from the shooting gallery and uses it to fight off hordes of zombies and other undead monsters in order to escape. After fighting through the Haunted House, Rickety Town, and the Freak Show, he enters the Big Top and fights his way in order to face Tökkentäkker directly aboard his airship.

Soon after killing Tökkentäkker, the protagonist falls from the airship as it explodes. In the morning, he and the only other survivor, Betty, wake up in front of the tombstone, where the token falls back into its slot. The protagonist re-inserts it into the mouth of the jester, causing it to laugh wickedly as Betty screams in horror.

Pete Sandich (Dreyfuss) is an aerial firefighter whose excessive risk taking in the air deeply troubles his girlfriend, Dorinda Durston (Hunter), a pilot who doubles as an air traffic controller for the fire fighters. It also concerns Pete's best friend, Al Yackey (Goodman), a fellow firefighter pilot.

After yet another risky and nearly fatal flight that Pete casually shrugs off, Al suggests he accept a safer job training firefighting pilots in Flat Rock, Colorado. Pete refuses until Dorinda tearfully confronts him, confessing her perpetual fear and anguish that he will be killed. Pete relents and tells Dorinda he will take the training job.

Pete flies one last mission, despite Dorinda's gloomy premonition. During the fire bombing run, Al's engine catches fire and is about to explode. Pete makes a dangerously steep dive and skillfully douses Al's engine with a fire-retardant slurry, saving Al. As Pete struggles to regain control from the dive, he flies directly through the forest fire, igniting his own engine and causing the aircraft to explode.

Pete strolls through a burnt-out forest. Coming to a small clearing, he meets Hap (Hepburn), who explains Pete died in the explosion and now has a new purpose: As spirits did for him during his lifetime, he will provide ''Spiritus'' ("the divine breath") to guide others who will interpret his words as their own thoughts.

Although time is non-linear from Pete's perspective, six months have elapsed in the real world and Al wants a grieving Dorinda to move past Pete's death. He takes her with him to Colorado to work at the flight school where Pete was to command pilots who will be training to fight fires, one of which is Ted Baker (Johnson). More months pass and, to Pete's anguish, Ted falls in love with Dorinda as she begins emerging from her year-long mourning. Pete attempts to sabotage the budding romance, but Hap reminds him that his life ended; he was sent to inspire Ted, but also to bid Dorinda farewell.

Ted, with Pete's inspiration, plans a dangerous rescue mission of trapped firefighters. Unable to bear another loss, Dorinda takes Ted's aircraft to do the job herself. Pete, unseen by Dorinda, fails to dissuade her. However, with Pete's guidance, Dorinda is able to save the firefighters who are trapped on the ground. On the return flight, Pete tells her everything he wanted to say in life.

Dorinda makes an emergency water landing in a lake. As the sinking plane's cockpit floods, Dorinda seems reluctant to escape. Pete appears before her and, offering his hand, leads her to the surface. As Dorinda, now alone, wades ashore, Pete releases her heart to allow Ted to replace him.

Dorinda walks back to the airbase and embraces Ted. Pete smiles and heads in the opposite direction to assume his place in the hereafter.

The book opens immediately after the events of ''Under the Eagle'', with the troops relaxing and watching prisoners of war fight to the death in a makeshift arena. ''Optio'' Cato is bequeathed an ivory-hilted sword by the chief centurion, Bestia, who was mortally wounded in the British ambush and respected Cato for his tenacity. Meanwhile, the legate of the Second Legion, Vespasian, worries about his wife Flavia back in Rome, whom he has learned has connections to "The Liberators", a group of conspirators who want the feeble-minded Emperor Claudius out of power.

Soon afterwards the Legion moves off again, heading to the River Meadway (present-day Medway river, in Kent). As the Britons under Caratacus have heavily fortified the opposite bank, Macro and Cato are ordered to scout ahead for a ford upstream. Cato finds one, and the next day the attack goes in. The Ninth Legion, supported by artillery fire from triremes on the river, crosses and assault the enemy ramparts. After sustaining heavy losses, the attack falters, and only the Second Legion's intervention saves the day. Using the ford upstream, the legionaries are able to surprise the Britons and attack them from behind, overrunning their encampment; Cato is badly burned when he accidentally spills a cauldron of boiling water over himself. While recuperating, he strikes up a friendship with the North African surgeon, a Carthaginian called Nisus. They discover that the lead shot the British were using in their slings came from the Legion's stores, indicating there is a traitor placed high in the army command, supplying the British with arms in an attempt to undermine the campaign.

Over the next few days, the British are pushed back to the North Kent marshes, on the banks of the Tamesis river. The Second Legion is ordered to clear the southern bank in preparation for a crossing, but as twilight approaches, the Legion is scattered and lost in the marshes. Macro's unit, with Cato in tow, is ambushed by a war band; Macro holds the Britons at bay while Cato and a handful of men escape by boat. When the roll-call is held, Macro is declared missing, presumed dead. Cato, in a fit of anguish, volunteers to be in the first wave of the troops crossing the river. It is a suicide mission, and he does not expect to live, but he is able to survive long enough for the second wave of Romans to reach him. Macro reappears, having survived his ordeal in the marshes, and chastises Cato for being a fool. Cato renews his friendship with Nisus the surgeon, who lets slip some of his bitterness at being a Carthaginian (one of many cultures conquered by the Romans) in the Roman army.

Meanwhile, the army has received orders to halt on the far side of the Tamesis so that Emperor Claudius can arrive and take command in person for the final assault in the British capital at Camulodunum; this is intended to boost his popularity with the ''populares'' in Rome. While waiting for the Emperor to arrive, tribune Vitellius, Macro and Cato's nemesis, is plotting to assassinate him. He enlists Nisus, playing on his Carthaginian patriotism, and uses him as a liaison with the British tribes who resist Rome. Unfortunately, while crossing the lines one night, Nisus is accidentally killed by a sentry, and Cato, who is present, takes a bandage from his body; it is covered in strange markings and Cato thinks these are worth investigating. All thought of it is put out of his mind, however, when Claudius arrives, escorted by the Praetorian Guard and elephants to overawe the Britons. He insists on taking charge in the coming battle.

Despite the Emperor's buffoonery, the final battle is won and the legions march into Camulodunum. To celebrate 'his' victory, Claudius orders a lavish banquet to be held in his honour.

Vespasian finally gets to spend some time with his wife, and Cato renews his relationship with the slave girl Lavinia. Unfortunately, she is allied with Vitellius, having consorted with him previously whilst in the ownership of Tribune Plinius. She agrees to smuggle an ornate dagger into the banquet hall, believing it to be a gift for the Emperor. Before she does this, she decides to break up with Cato, who is aware that she is cheating on him with Vitellius. While she does this, Cato is fiddling with the late Nisus's bandage, which he has in his pocket. When it is rolled up in a certain way, the markings become a coded message; Cato is only able to discover that it concerns a plot to kill the emperor before he is knocked out by Lavinia, who read on ahead and saw Vitellius' name. When he is woken by Macro, Lavinia has disappeared. The only hope of saving the Emperor is to warn Vespasian, who is at the feast, and hope he believes them. They get there in time to see Vitellius and Lavinia being presented to the emperor; while Claudius is distracted by Lavinia's charms, a supposedly loyal Briton leaps at the emperor with a dagger.

Thanks to Cato's intervention, the Emperor's bodyguards are able to catch the assassin and mortally wound him. Vitellius finishes him off before he can talk, and discreetly murders Lavinia as he leaves. A distraught Cato is taken away by Macro before he is recognised as the Emperor's saviour, and Vitellius, as in the last book, gets all the credit. He is given a position on the Emperor's staff, and leaves with Claudius for Rome, leaving the legions to pacify the last remnants of resistance. Vespasian is tasked with an independent command for the coming months; clearing the south bank of the Thames of resistance. As for Cato, he is distracted by Macro, who promises to introduce him to his latest conquest - a young Briton called Boudicca...

The novel takes place during the week of the Halifax Explosion - 2 December 1917 to 10 December 1917.

Penelope Wain believes that her cousin, Neil Macrae, has been killed while serving overseas under her father, Colonel Geoffrey Wain. The family is under the impression that Neil had died in the disgrace of desertion. Neil, however, had not died, but has returned to Halifax to clear his name of its tarnish. Neil seeks Alec MacKenzie, the only other survivor of their unit who can confirm that Colonel Wain had given an contradictory order, which was impossible to fulfill. When the order ended in disaster, Colonel Wain attempted to blame Neil in hopes of retaining his position in the military. Yet, prior to the court martial, Neil was believed to have died in artillery strike. Colonel Wain was forced to return to Canada as a transportation officer.

In Halifax, the war has given Penny the opportunity to become a successful naval architect at the Halifax Shipyard. She develops a friendship with Angus Murray, a doctor wounded from the war. Angus eventually proposes marriage to Penny; she defers the proposal. While her father, Colonel Wain, disapproves of Angus, he warms up to him after learning that Neil is alive and in Halifax. Neil and Penny had also been lovers and Angus realizes that Colonel Wain is desperate to ensure that Neil is not court martialed and given an opportunity to clarify the occurrences over seas. The colonel had been offered a new position in the war, and the trial will ruin his promotion.

Penny and Neil are briefly reunited, but Penny finds herself unable to reveal that she has given birth to their daughter, Jean, after their affair in Montreal. Jean had been adopted and cared for by her aunt and uncle. Angus intrudes upon the reunion to warn Neil of the colonel's intentions. Neil leaves to find Alec, who is willing to testifying in Neil's defence, despite the colonel providing Alec with a job at the shipyard. The men are later joined by Angus, who also agrees to testify in favour of Neil.

On the following morning, the Halifax Explosion occurs. The blast kills several characters, including Penny's aunt and uncle.

Neil and Murray manage to rescue Alec and his wife from their house, although Alec had sustained grievous injury. Once the two men locate Penny, who had been wounded in the eye, Angus sets up a makeshift hospital at the Wains' house. Meanwhile, Neil enters the city to procure supplies and assist with rescue efforts, no longer concerned who will recognize him. Neil, however, is shocked when he finds Colonel Wain's dead body in the wreckage of the explosion. Although Alec dies from his injuries, he and Murray acquire an affidavit with a testimony to clear Neil's name. When Penny had recovered sufficiently from her injury and her surgery, she goes with Neil to retrieve Jean.

There is an incidental link between this novel and Greene's earlier ''A Gun for Sale'' (1936), in that the murder of the gang boss Kite, mentioned in ''A Gun For Sale'', allows the seventeen-year-old sociopath Pinkie to take over his gang and thus sets the events of ''Brighton Rock'' in motion. The murder of Kite had been brought about because of a report by Charles "Fred" Hale in the ''Daily Messenger'' about his slot machine racket. Now Hale has been sent to Brighton to distribute cards anonymously for a newspaper competition and realises that he is being hunted by Pinkie’s mob.

Hale meets middle-ageing Ida Arnold by chance in a pub and then on the Palace Pier as the mob is closing in, but he is snatched away without her realising what has happened to him. To confuse the police investigation, Pinkie has gang member Spicer distribute Hale's cards about the town and then tries to retrieve one card from the café in which sixteen-year-old Rose is working as a waitress. Since Rose had spotted Spicer leaving the card, Pinkie realises that she can now disprove his trail of deception and must take measures to prevent this. He therefore courts Rose until she falls in love with him, his aim being to marry her so that she cannot testify against him. In reality he looks down on her, since she comes from the same socially deprived neighbourhood as himself, and is even repelled by her physically.

Back in London, Ida reads about the inquest on Hale's death, which had found that he died of heart failure. Remembering the state of terror that Hale was in when she last saw him, she decides to go down to Brighton and discover the full story. While there she recruits the help of one of her old bed-fellows and manages to finance her trip with a lucky bet at long odds. Her enquiries soon establish the broad outlines of the story, even though Rose consistently refuses to co-operate and warns Pinkie of Ida's investigation.

Pinkie is summoned to an interview with Colleoni, a leading mobster whose aim is to take over all the illegal operations in Brighton. At the time Pinkie is too cocksure to take up Colleoni's invitation to join his operation. Afterwards he pretends to have reconsidered in order to get Colleoni to murder Spicer, whom Pinkie suspects of being close to turning informer. In fact both men are set up for a razor attack at the horse races but escape separately. Discovering that Spicer is still alive, Pinkie throws him to his death from an unstable staircase in their lodgings and implicates their terrified solicitor Prewitt into helping him cover up the murder.

Prewitt has also helped Pinkie and Rose avoid the legal obstacles to their marriage and Pinkie now discovers that Rose has known of his criminality all along but not minded. Feeling trapped, and with what remains of his gang disintegrating, Pinkie proposes a suicide pact to Rose, on the pretence that Ida is close to having him arrested by the police. His plan is to get her to shoot herself at the developing resort of Peacehaven but not to fulfil his part of the pact. Ida meanwhile has tailed them, in order to free Rose from what she perceives as a loveless marriage, and has brought a policeman along with her. Pinkie's attempt to throw vitriol at his attackers misfires and, blinded by it himself, he runs over a cliff to his death.

Rose later goes to confession and explains to the priest that she had wanted to accompany Pinkie even into damnation. She is told that since Pinkie had loved her, then there was good in him and she might become the means for his ultimate salvation. She leaves, looking forward to playing a recording he made on the day of their marriage, not realising that it really contains the declaration of his hatred.

The novel begins with U.S. President Timothy Kegan already having been assassinated in Philadelphia at Hunt Plaza. The ensuing presidential commission condemns a lone gunman as the killer. The narrative starts years later, when Kegan's half-brother, Nick, witnesses the death-bed confession of a man claiming to have been part of the killing's 'hit squad'. As the protagonist attempts to uncover those behind it, he encounters numerous groups and persons that could have led or been part of the conspiracy. One is Lola Camonte, a hostess, lobbyist and fixer. She recounts the story of President Kegan asking her about appointing a member of organized crime to the Court of St. James's. The character "Joe Diamond" is the fictional representation of the killer of Kennedy's assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, the Mob-connected Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby.

Condon's book describes numerous intertwined threads, variously implicating (or proffering as diversions to put the protagonist off the trail) the Jewish/Italian-American Mob, figures related to Cuba, even possible domestic police connections. Only in the final act, in which Nick meets with his vicious and perverse Joseph P. Kennedy-like 'father-figure', is the truth revealed with a twist ending implicating the "system" of interrelated interests embracing Organized crime, the U.S. covert world, Big Business, and political fixers.

The story of ''Disgaea'' opens with Laharl rising out of an open coffin in his room. Etna, one of the castle vassals, is standing next to him, surrounded by various weapons. She explains that he has been sleeping for two years, far longer than he intended, and his father, King Krichevskoy, has died. Laharl vows to reclaim the throne, and, after consulting with Etna and his other vassals, goes to Vyers' castle.

After defeating the demon Vyers, who refers to himself as the "Dark Adonis" and is renamed "Mid-Boss" by Laharl, he meets Angel Trainee Flonne. Flonne had been sent to the Netherworld by Seraph Lamington, the ruler of Celestia, to assassinate King Krichevskoy (who was already dead). Shocked by Laharl's lack of grief at his father's death, the eternally optimistic Flonne joins Laharl's party to determine if demons are capable of feeling love. Observing them in secret is the paranoid Archangel Vulcanus, who interprets Flonne's actions as treason and is convinced that she is plotting against him.

After Etna demands that Laharl pay the salary of the Prinnies that she has hired, he decides to attack the demon with the most money in the vicinity. This is Hoggmeiser at Dinero Palace. After defeating Hoggmeiser, Laharl is about to kill him, until Hoggmeiser's son rushes out and gets in the way. Flonne convinces Laharl to spare them, and Laharl lets them keep some of the money. In response to this act, Hoggmeiser joins the party.

At one point, Flonne and Etna discover a photograph of Laharl in an embarrassing situation. Laharl refers to this as a "paparazzi shot", however, the actual contents of the photo are never actually revealed. A threat on the back of the photograph states that copies of it would be distributed if Laharl did not accept a challenge to fight for the overlordship; thus Laharl was blackmailed.

Responding to this challenge, Laharl meets Maderas, a vampire. He was banished by King Krichevskoy, for stealing the King's favorite snack, black pretzels. Maderas takes advantage of Laharl's two biggest weaknesses – optimism and women with sexy bodies. Maderas was also controlling Etna by holding her memory. He had instructed her to kill the prince, but she had put him to sleep for two years by poisoning him instead. Etna eventually betrays Maderas, and along with Laharl, Flonne, and Mid-Boss, defeats him.

Waking up later at night, Flonne discovers that several Prinnies are chanting and leaving the castle. Laharl, worried that his reputation will be tarnished if it is discovered that he let his vassals escape, chases after them the next morning. Eventually, he runs into Death, and the player learns that Big Sis Prinny is actually Laharl's mother; she became a Prinny because she gave her life to save him.

After Laharl becomes the undisputed Overlord of the Netherworld, he meets a group of humans from Earth: Gordon, Defender of Earth; Jennifer, his assistant; and the robot Thursday. Gordon has been led to believe that his mission is to assassinate Laharl due to an impending attack on Earth by the Netherworld. Laharl promises not to invade Earth if Gordon defeats him, on the condition that Gordon becomes one of his vassals if he wins; Gordon is embarrassed by his ensuing loss and servitude. After the Earth Defense Force appears in the Netherworld, it is revealed that Gordon was actually sent to secure a path for an invasion of the Netherworld by the humans, who had been tricked by Vulcanus.

General Carter sends Kurtis to the Netherworld, and eventually goes there himself on the Space Battleship Gargantua. Kurtis abducts Jennifer, and Laharl engages the EDF fleet of spaceships in a rescue attempt, destroying all but the Gargantua by himself. When Laharl and his party arrive at the Gargantua's bridge, several angels from Celestia appear and attack them. After being defeated, General Carter escapes, only to have Mid-Boss appear to give him a message.

In response to this turn of events, Flonne and the rest of the party decide to go to Celestia to confront the Seraph. Vulcanus goes to Seraph Lamington, declares that Flonne is a traitor who is leading an army of demons in an invasion of Celestia, and goes to lead a group of angels to repel this "invasion". Vulcanus reveals to Laharl and his party that he intends to conquer all three worlds and rule over them as a god. After defeating Vulcanus, Laharl finally meets the Seraph and Flonne explains Vulcanus' plan and what she has learnt while travelling with Laharl. The Seraph accepts her version of events and agrees that demons are, in fact, capable of feeling love. However, he declares that Flonne must be punished because she fought against other angels, and turns her into a flower. Outraged at this injustice, Laharl attacks the Seraph, initiating the game's final battle.

The game has multiple endings. Depending on the way the game was played up to this point, the Seraph may or may not survive, Flonne either remains a flower, is restored to her original form, or is transformed into a Fallen Angel, and Laharl either becomes a great Overlord, disappears and leaves Etna in charge of the Netherworld, or dies and becomes a Prinny. It may also be noted that, on the Good Ending, when the spirit of Laharl's mother appears to him, Vyers appears to already know her, and the way he talks to Laharl suggests that he is King Krichevskoy.

There is one "Joke" ending, which can be obtained very early in the game, in Episode 1, if the final boss of the chapter defeats all of the characters in battle, a cutscene will play showing Vyers naming himself Overlord before the ending credits roll. After the ending credits, like with all endings, the game will ask you to save previous data and the player will then be sent to the main menu, where the player can reload the saved data and start a new game +, referred to in-game as a New Cycle.

Characters

• is the son of King Krichevskoy, who plans on becoming overlord after his father's death. He is incredibly arrogant, and he always tries to prove that he is the strongest demon in the Netherworld. He becomes physically sick when hearing optimistic sayings, especially "love", and when he sees attractive women.
• is the leader of the Prinny squad, and one of the few vassals who remain in the Overlord's Castle after King Krichevskoy's death. She serves Laharl, though in a very sarcastic and insincere manner. However, she slowly changes her attitude after Laharl spares her in spite of her betrayal, and becomes more loyal to him (she finally accepts Laharl as an Overlord after he helps a young demon to find his pets), even though she retains her sarcastic nature. She is very abusive toward the Prinny Squad, often using excessive violence and fear to keep them in line.
• is an Angel Trainee sent on a mission to assassinate Overlord Krichevskoy. After learning that her target is already deceased, she becomes determined to follow Laharl and determine if demons truly are incapable of love. She is very innocent and naive, though she is deeply devoted to Lamington and the concept of spreading love to others. She is obsessed with tokusatsu series
• is the 37th Defender of Earth, sent to the Netherworld to stop a potential invasion. Gordon has a great sense of justice, but is dim-witted. He is also blind to the true intentions of others, and never realizes when he's being tricked until it's too late. However, his sense of justice constantly motivates him even in the darkest hours.
• is Gordon's beautiful sidekick. Jennifer is a rather attractive woman, and she often jokes around in a very flirtatious manner. Her intelligence and technical knowledge surpasses most scientists, having created a fully functioning robot at the age of five and earned her Ph.D. (according to The World of Disgaea, she obtained all possible Ph.D.s) at the age of ten. Disgaea 3 mentions that Jennifer had solved the BSD Conjecture, a supposedly unsolvable theory, when she was six years old. She is also skilled at martial arts, specifically kung fu.
• is an "All Purpose Robot" (physically resembling Robby the Robot) created by Jennifer. He is very focused on bringing about justice, even to the point of breaking down. He also seems to be very calm when dealing with various obstacles and can be very sarcastic at times. Thursday usually begins or ends his sentences with 'blip beep'.
• is from Earth, and he views himself as more worthy of the title of Defender of Earth than Gordon. After a traumatic experience that cost him over 70% of his body in addition to his wife and daughter, he becomes a cyborg. He later changes his mind about Gordon, and sacrifices himself to save him. He returns as a green Prinny with cybernetic parts in heaven, and continues to protect Earth in that form.
• is a flamboyant demon interested in becoming overlord of the Netherworld. He has the self-given title of , though Laharl deems him unworthy of the title, and compares him to a mid boss, calling him for the rest of the game, much to Vyers' dissatisfaction. He speaks in a cultured tone, and incorporates multiple French words into his speech. Vyers tends to be very conceited and overly confident in his own abilities. He sees Laharl as a rival, though Laharl doesn't return the sentiment.
• is the leader of Celestia. He is very mature and calm, and he never raises his voice or harbors any vindictive thoughts or emotions. He willingly performs evil and underhanded actions, and he is willing to allow fate to punish him.
• is a full-fledged angel of Celestia, and he is an archangel, who serves Seraph Lamington as the second-in-command. His ideals and methods are much more extreme compared to others, and he has a hot temper that differs from other Angels. He holds demons in contempt and believes that humans are too stupid to live without the guidance of angels.
• is the adoptive father of Jennifer and the acting leader of Earth. Under the guidance of Archangel Vulcanus, he sends Gordon, Jennifer, and Thursday to act as a beacon for the Earth forces to invade the Netherworld for colonization. Despite his good intentions for Earth, Carter is willing to sacrifice many lives to achieve his goals.
• is a pink Prinny, who acts as a mother-figure to others. She does not speak like other Prinnies, notably leaving out the word "dood."
• is the former vassal of Krichevskoy. Upon Krichevskoy's death, Hoggmeiser steals huge amounts of treasure from the Overlord's castle, and builds his own mansion with that fortune. He has a son named Porkmeister.
• is a vassal of Krichevskoy, who is exiled after stealing Krichevskoy's black pretzels. Maderas is one of the many demons competing for the throne. He uses memories stolen from Etna to force her to work for him.
• is a legendary overlord sealed by King Krichevskoy a number of years before the start of the storyline. Known as the Lord of Terror, he is a large demon that uses large swords to attack. After being defeated, he is reincarnated as an "Uber Prinny", which only growls and causes explosions with every attack.

In a 1910 prologue, an unnamed missionary (played by Barbara King) is kidnapped by native Bokor (sorcerers) to be sacrificed under a full moon. The Bokor tie her between two posts, whip her, then carry her to a stone altar where they decapitate her. The ceremony is interrupted, however, by soldiers who shoot all the participants. Unnoticed in the melee, a Shedim (demon) takes possession of the woman.

Years later, Professor Jonathan Grant (played by Jack Taylor) commands a safari investigating the disappearance of elephants in West Africa. Amongst the explorers are a "great white hunter," Rod Carter (played by Simón Andreu), two blonde women (Elisabeth, played by Maria Kosti, and Carol, played by Loli Tovar), and a mulatto woman, Tunika (played by Kali Hansa). Elizabeth's father financed the expedition. They stumble across the clearing where the natives had performed their Vodoun rituals before being wiped out in colonial times. Carol decides to take some photographs of the altar for a magazine article. They decide to camp nearby.

That night, Carol returns to the clearing to take some more atmospheric photographs. The former missionary, now dressed in leopard skins and with feline-like canine teeth/fangs, emerges from the surrounding jungle and subdues her. The long-dead Bokor, resurrected from their burial mounds, recreate the ceremony from the prologue. Carol is whipped and decapitated.

The remaining Europeans search for Carol the next day, but discover only her camera. That night, Carol, now also dressed in leopard skins, joins the other leopard-woman. Together, they sneak into the camp.
The brunette kills Professor Grant and destroys the photographs from Carol's camera which he had been developing. The distraught Liz had taken sleeping pills when no one could locate her friend, and is groggy when Carol appears in her tent. "Elizabeth, it's me, your best friend Carol." "We thought you'd been lost in the jungle..." "It's just as well. Come!" The two blondes leave the camp and join the other leopard-woman in the jungle. Just as Liz realizes what they are going to do, the two leopard-women plunge their fangs into her neck.
In Liz's struggles, the original leopard-woman is knocked down and the choker she wears to fasten her neck together splits. Her severed head rolls free and she perishes as blood gushes from her neck.

After another fruitless day of searching, Rod and Tunika make plans to depart. That night Carol is joined by the demon-possessed Elizabeth, also dressed in leopard skins, her new fangs gleaming in the moonlight. They abduct Tunika, take her to the ceremonial clearing, place her on the altar, and use their sharp fingernails and fangs to bloody her. As they place the leopard skins across her shredded flesh, Rod emerges from the jungle and shoots them both. He tosses his ammunition belts into the ceremonial fire, and the random shots kill the resurrected Bokor. In the confusion, he picks up Tunika and carries her to a jeep. They make their escape, and Tunika tells him she’s "feeling much better already" in the breathy voice of the Shedim.

Dr. Simon Kress' (Beau Bridges) research for the government on Martian life is aborted because one of his specimens escaped his lab and almost made it to the surface. However, Kress does not agree with the abandonment of the project and decides to continue his experiments in his barn. He steals some sand containing Martian eggs from his lab and creates a makeshift incubator to hatch more of the Martian lifeforms. Kress' obsession with the project causes his relationship with his wife Cathy (Helen Shaver) to break down. The family dog, Cowboy, gets eaten after stepping into their territory, having been awoken by their digging.

The sandkings evolve into two distinct groups, a white group and a red group, and they settle on opposite sides of their glass enclosure. Kress comes to believe that he is a god to his sandkings when the white group builds a sand structure that resembles his face. He smashes the sand structure of the red group who did not do the same, one of them getting loose and stinging him. He kills his former supervisor Dave Stockley (Kim Coates) by tossing him into the enclosure, where the sandkings then devour him. Later, he finds himself in the basement with the red sandkings, who have made a nest with the face of Stockley. He breaks a gas pipe to cause an explosion in an attempt to kill all of the sandkings. In the ending of the episode, a colony of sandkings is shown surviving in the wilderness.

The novella is divided into two parts.

Part 1: "Underground"

Serving as an introduction into the mind of the narrator, the first part of ''Notes from Underground'' is split into nine chapters:

• The '''introduction''' propounds a number of riddles whose meanings are further developed as the narration continues.
• '''Chapters 2, 3, & 4''' deal with suffering and the irrational pleasure of suffering.
• '''Chapters 5 & 6''' discuss the moral and intellectual fluctuation that the narrator feels along with his conscious insecurities regarding "inertia"—inaction.
• '''Chapters 7, 8, & 9''' cover theories of reason and logic, closing with the last two chapters as a summary and transition into Part 2.

The narrator observes that utopian society removes suffering and pain, but man desires both things and needs them in order to be happy. He argues that removing pain and suffering in society takes away a man's freedom. He says that the cruelty of society makes human beings moan about pain only to spread their suffering to others.

Unlike most people, who typically act out of revenge because they believe justice is the end, the Underground Man is conscious of his problems and feels the desire for revenge, but he does not find it virtuous; the incongruity leads to spite towards the act itself with its concomitant circumstances. He feels that others like him exist, but he continuously concentrates on his spitefulness instead of on actions that would help him avoid the problems that torment him. The main issue for the Underground Man is that he has reached a point of ennui and inactivity.Chief among them is the Underground Man, who confesses to his own inertia (''inercija''), defined as "conscious-sitting-with-arms-folded" and also criticises his supposed antitheses, men of action and men of nature and truth for their active, machine-like existence.

Knapp, Liza. 1985. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20131101135147/http://www.utoronto.ca/tsq/DS/06/143.shtml The Force of Inertia In Dostoevsky's Krotkaja]." ''Dostoevsky Studies'' 6:143–56. – via University of Toronto. Archived from the [http://www.utoronto.ca/tsq/DS/06/143.shtml original] on 2013-11-01. He even admits that he would rather be inactive out of laziness.

The first part also gives a harsh criticism of determinism, as well as of intellectual attempts at dictating human action and behavior by logic, which the Underground Man discusses in terms of the simple math problem: ''two times two makes four'' (cf. necessitarianism). He argues that despite humanity's attempt to create a utopia where everyone lives in harmony (symbolized by The Crystal Palace in Nikolai Chernyshevsky's ''What Is to Be Done?''), one cannot avoid the simple fact that anyone, at any time, can decide to act in a way that might not be considered to be in their own self-interest; some will do so simply to validate their existence and to protest and confirm that they exist as individuals. The Underground Man ridicules the type of enlightened self-interest that Chernyshevsky proposes as the foundation of Utopian society. The idea of cultural and legislative systems relying on this rational egoism is what the protagonist despises. The Underground Man embraces this ideal in praxis, and seems to blame it for his current state of unhappiness.

Part 2: "Apropos of the Wet Snow"

The second part of the story consists of three main segments that further develop the Underground Man's consciousness.

First segment

The first segment is the Underground Man's obsession with an officer who once insulted him in a pub. This officer frequently passes him by on the street, seemingly without noticing his existence. He sees the officer on the street and thinks of ways to take revenge, eventually borrowing money to buy an expensive overcoat and intentionally bumping into the officer to assert his equality. To the Underground Man's surprise, however, the officer does not seem to notice that it even happened.

Second segment

The second segment is a going away dinner party with some old school friends to bid Zverkov, one of these friends, goodbye as he is being transferred out of the city. The Underground Man hated them when he was younger, but after a random visit to Simonov's, he decides to meet them at the appointed location. They fail to tell him that the time has been changed to six instead of five, so he arrives early. He gets into an argument with the four of them after a short time, declaring to all his hatred of society and using them as the symbol of it. At the end, they go off without him to a secret brothel, and, in his rage, the underground man follows them there to confront Zverkov once and for all, regardless if he is beaten or not. He arrives at the brothel to find Zverkov and the others already retired with prostitutes to other rooms. He then encounters Liza, a young prostitute, with whom he goes to bed.

Third segment

The story cuts to Liza and the Underground Man lying silently in the dark together. The Underground Man confronts Liza with an image of her future, by which she is unmoved at first, but after challenging her individual utopian dreams (similar to his ridicule of the Crystal Palace in Part 1), she eventually realizes the plight of her position and how she will slowly become useless and will descend more and more, until she is no longer wanted by anyone. The thought of dying such a terribly disgraceful death brings her to realize her position, and she then finds herself enthralled by the Underground Man's seemingly poignant grasp of the destructive nature of society. He gives her his address and leaves.

He is subsequently overcome by the fear of her actually arriving at his dilapidated apartment after appearing such a "hero" to her and, in the middle of an argument with his servant, she arrives. He then curses her and takes back everything he said to her, saying he was, in fact, laughing at her and reiterates the truth of her miserable position. Near the end of his painful rage he wells up in tears after saying that he was only seeking to have power over her and a desire to humiliate her. He begins to criticize himself and states that he is in fact horrified by his own poverty and embarrassed by his situation. Liza realizes how pitiful he is and tenderly embraces him. The Underground Man cries out "They—they won't let me—I—I can't be good!"

After all this, he still acts terribly toward her, and, before she leaves, he stuffs a five ruble note into her hand, which she throws onto the table (it is implied that the Underground Man had sex with Liza and that the note is payment). He tries to catch her as she goes out to the street, but he cannot find her and never hears from her again. He tries to stop the pain in his heart by "fantasizing."

And isn't it better, won't it be better?… Insult—after all, it's a purification; it's the most caustic, painful consciousness! Only tomorrow I would have defiled her soul and wearied her heart. But now the insult will never ever die within her, and however repulsive the filth that awaits her, the insult will elevate her, it will cleanse her…

The concluding sentences recall some of the themes explored in the first part, and he tells the reader directly, "I have merely carried to an extreme in my life what you have not dared to carry even halfway.” The work as a whole ends with a note from the author that while there was more to the text, "it seems that we may stop here."

Interstellar warrior Shep Ramsey is on a mission to capture intergalactic despot General Suitor. The general has kidnapped President Hashina, the ruler of an entire planet. Shep boards Suitor's flagship but is unable to rescue Hashina, who is killed by Suitor. Wounded by Hashina in the process, Suitor transforms into a berserk reptilian creature. Shep barely escapes, but is able to blow up the ship as he does so.

Due to his failure to save the President, Shep's superior officer suggests that he is "stressed out" and should take a vacation. Annoyed, Shep accidentally smashes his control systems and is forced to crash land on Earth, where he realizes he will have to stay until his spaceship repairs itself. Shep has little knowledge of Earth's customs, and his temper and sense of justice cause problems with everyone he meets, especially a mime artist he tries to help in various comical fashions, such as freeing him from his "invisible box".

Charlie Wilcox is a weak-willed architect working for the fawning and hypocritical Adrian Beltz. His wife Jenny unsuccessfully encourages him to stand up for himself and tell Charlie to ask Beltz for a raise since the bills are now very expensive. Charlie went to ask for a raise to Beltz, but he chickened out. In order to help out financially, she rents out Charlie's hobby shed as a vacation cabin, which Shep leases. Shep's appearance and behavior make Charlie nervous, and he begins to spy on his guest. He soon discovers Shep's advanced equipment and begins experimenting with it, not knowing that the power sources are traceable and its whereabouts tracked by Suitor's men. They send a pair of intergalactic bounty hunters after Shep. Shep also requires several rare crystals to fix his ship, the closest samples of which can be found in Beltz's office. Charlie helps Shep get into his boss's office during a company party before the bounty hunters corner them. After winning a furious fight, Shep and Charlie head home to repair the ship.

After the bounty hunters' defeat, Suitor, who has escaped the destruction of his ship, arrives on Earth. He takes Charlie's family hostage, forcing Charlie to lead him to Shep. Suitor begins torturing Shep, enjoying himself before he intends to kill the warrior. Finding his courage, Charlie injures Suitor, who then turns into his monstrous form. Physically outmatched, Shep is forced to set his ship to self-destruct. He and Charlie manage to escape the ship's explosion, which destroys Suitor for good.

Shep leaves Earth using the bounty hunters' ship. He takes Beltz's secretary, Margie, with him, hoping for a quiet family life. Charlie, however, has become bolder from his experiences; he appears in Beltz's office the following morning, shouting at his boss in front of witnesses, and finally quits his thankless job even after being loyal to him and not without raise or promotion. Later, Charlie solves his final problem by using one of Shep's weapons to destroy an annoying set of traffic lights that never changed at the right time, receiving cheers from the other motorists.

Charley Varrick is a crop-duster and former stunt pilot. Charley, his wife Nadine, longtime accomplice Al Dutcher, and youngster Harman Sullivan, rob a bank in the rural community of Tres Cruces, New Mexico. While Nadine waits in the getaway car, the heavily disguised Charley and his two accomplices draw their guns and begin the heist. A police officer passing by recognizes the getaway car. When the officers approach Nadine, she shoots at them, killing one instantly and seriously wounding the other, but the second officer returns fire, wounding her. The melee outside distracts the robbers, enabling the bank guard to kill Dutcher. Sensing that the bank manager is concealing something, Charley forces him to reveal two large satchels of cash. Charley, Harman, and Nadine flee, but Nadine dies soon thereafter. Charley and Harman swap vehicles and prepare to blow up the getaway car, with Nadine's body inside. They are stopped by another police officer, but before he can search their van, the explosion goes off and the officer races away.

When they count the money, it totals $765,118 — much more than expected. After a local news broadcast reports that only $2,000 was stolen, Charley says the bank must be involved in a money-laundering operation. He warns Harman that the Mafia will pursue them relentlessly and that their only chance of surviving is by laying low and not spending the money for three or four years; however, Harman insists that he should be free to spend his share on women and good times. Meanwhile, Maynard Boyle, president of the bank, dispatches tall, burly, and sadistic hit man Molly to recover the money.

Realizing that Harman's rashness will get them both killed, Charley double-crosses him. Charley knows that he, Nadine, and Harman all had dental work done recently, so he breaks into the dentist's office, stealing his and Nadine's X-rays and swapping Harman's for his. To obtain passports, Charley contacts Tom, an old accomplice of Dutcher, who directs him to local photographer Jewell Everett. He has his photograph taken, but he also gives her Harman's driver's license, thereby ensuring that Molly will find Harman. Tom immediately informs on Charley. Jewell also betrays Charley, but he never returns for the passports. Molly arrives at Charley's trailer and tortures Harman to get information about the money, then beats Harman to death.

Boyle meets secretly with Tres Cruces bank manager Harold Young, advising Young that his Mafia superiors will suspect that the robbery was an inside job, because it occurred during the brief period when the money was there. He suggests that Young will be tortured. Young, terrified, commits suicide.

Charley purchases dynamite, then flies to Reno, where he has flowers delivered to Boyle's secretary, Sybil Fort, so he can identify her and follow her home. He seduces Fort in her apartment. Fort warns Charley not to trust her boss.

Charley then contacts Boyle, offering to return the money. He arranges a meeting at a remote automobile wrecking yard and insists that Boyle come alone. Charley overflies the wrecking yard and spots Molly's car. After landing, Charley hugs the confounded Boyle, acting overjoyed; Molly falls for the ruse and assumes that Boyle is Charley's accomplice, so he runs Boyle down with his car, killing him. Molly then chases Charley, who tries to fly away, but Molly damages the crop-duster's tail with his car and the aircraft flips over. Trapped in the wreckage, Charley tells Molly that the money is in the trunk of a nearby car. However, Charley had flipped his aircraft on purpose. When Molly opens the trunk, he sees Harman's body, wearing Charley's wedding band, and the bank satchels; an instant later, he is killed by a booby trap. Charley throws a wad of hundred-dollar bills toward the burning car, then, after a couple of false starts, drives away.

Part 1

The technologically advanced Ancient race from ''Stargate SG-1'' series voyaged to the Pegasus Galaxy from Earth via a colossal starship to spread new life. The city of Atlantis served as a maneuvering station as well as a base of operations. Their mission was unsuccessful and they met a terrible new enemy called the Wraith, the Ancients lost the war with the Wraith and after a long siege Atlantis was submerged under the ocean.

Discovering evidence of the Ancients journey to another galaxy, a large team of scientists and military personnel, led by diplomat Elizabeth Weir (Torri Higginson) examine residual technology in an Antarctic outpost with hopes to travel to Atlantis, thereby discovering any knowledge left behind and unraveling the mystery of the abrupt disappearance of its citizens. With the assistance of Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) and Jack O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) they are able to travel to Atlantis through the Stargate.

Using an Ancient power resource known as the Zero Point Module (ZPM) to supply the energy essential for the unusually extended wormhole, an assembly of volunteer representatives from many different countries joins the Atlantis expedition under the command of Colonel Marshall Sumner (Robert Patrick) of the United States Marine Corps. Shortly after crossing, Dr. Rodney McKay (David Hewlett) determines that because of the immediate depletion of power due to their arrival, the shield protecting the city from the ocean water, will imminently collapse. Without enough energy to return to Earth, a squadron including Colonel Sumner, Major John Sheppard (Joe Flanigan), and Lieutenant Aiden Ford (Rainbow Sun Francks) travels to a random planet for help. The local villagers, led by Teyla Emmagan (Rachel Luttrell), are permitted to breed for generations before being systematically harvested by the Wraith. They assist the strangers, but as Colonel Sumner arranges an exploration of a vacant Ancient settlement, three Wraith starships travel through the Athosian Stargate to begin herding the planet’s human inhabitants.

Part 2

The Wraith starships head toward the village and start attacking. The military personnel start attacking the starships, but are eventually outmaneuvered by the Wraith. Back in Atlantis the shield is getting weaker and the remaining personnel there receive immediate orders to evacuate. Before they are able to press the gate address John Sheppard and the Athosian villagers come through the Stargate. When the shield fails, rather than taking on water, the city rises to the ocean surface. The captured military personnel and Athosian villagers wake up in a Wraith cell, three Wraith start taking out prisoners from the cell, one at the time. After tracking where the Wraith hideout is, Rodney McKay reveals to Sheppard that they can use one of the Ancient spaceships, dubbed "Puddle Jumper" by Sheppard, to get there. In the meantime, Carson Beckett shows Elizabeth Weir what he found out about the Wraith DNA.

Weir authorizes the rescue mission led by Sheppard, and he assembles a team together with Aiden Ford, to go through the Stargate. After leaving the Spacegate (a Stargate placed in Space, or in Orbit around a planet) on the other side, they eventually find the location of the Wraith base on the planet below. Meanwhile, Marshall Sumner is confronted by a Wraith woman (The Keeper). She tells him about their race and then uses her telepathic abilities to find out about Earth which she hopes to use as a new feeding ground for the Wraith. In the meantime Sheppard and Ford infiltrate the Wraith base and trying to locate the survivors from the Wraith attack. They split up, and Sheppard finds Sumner and the Keeper. The Keeper begins to feed on Sumner, and Sheppard shoots him, after witnessing his suffering. After Ford locates and saves the others survivors, he saves Sheppard from being fed upon by the Keeper. Sheppard kills her, but she tells him with her dying breath, that he has awoken them all. Sheppard and Ford witness the Wraith awakening from their hibernation pods, and decide to leave.

The remaining soldiers, protecting the Jumper outside the base are attacked by Wraith Darts. The team is able to escape the planet with the Jumper, but is held up by Wraith Darts blockading the Spacegate. Sheppard eventually manages to maneuver the Jumper to the gate. Back in Atlantis Sheppard, Ford and Weir talk about the situation with the Wraith and Sheppard apologizes because he hasn't made them many friends. However, Weir then shows him the Athosians, and Teyla Emmagan agrees with her, since they will help them find more friends. While the expedition celebrates their arrival in Atlantis, Weir asks Sheppard which members he wants in his team, since they have to go out there to fight the Wraith.

In Moscow, SVR director Sergey Golovko survives an attack on his way to work, when a car identical to the armored white Mercedes that he was in was shot with an RPG-7, killing the occupants (one of them a former KGB agent turned pimp) inside. Investigation of the incident by Russian police and later intelligence officers points out to involvement from Chinese intelligence, and that Golovko was the real target. After the failed attempt on the SVR director's life, the Chinese later plot to assassinate the Russian president, but their agent, also a former KGB officer, was arrested by the FSB.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Jack Ryan gives Taiwan diplomatic status, which is implied as retaliation to China for secretly assisting in previous plots by Japan (''Debt of Honor'') and Iran (''Executive Orders'') against the U.S. Months later, during trade negotiations between the U.S. and China in Beijing, a CNN crew witnesses the murders of the Papal Nuncio to the country and a Chinese Baptist minister, when the two attempt to stop Chinese authorities from performing a forced abortion on one of the latter's followers. Two days later, police officers brutally break up a prayer service led by the Baptist minister's widow in their home, who had been outraged that her husband's body was cremated and dumped into a river without her permission. International outrage over the incidents leads to a boycott on Chinese-made products. With its economy already struggling due to recent military expansions, the country hastens its planned invasion of Siberia to access newly discovered oil and gold fields.

Ryan persuades NATO to admit Russia, and promises assistance against China to the Russian president. When the Chinese enter Siberia, the Russians repel their invasion force with help from the United States, causing heavy casualties on the Chinese side. The U.S. Navy attacks the Chinese mainland's coastal defenses and destroys much of the Chinese navy's aging fleet while it lies in port. F-117 Nighthawks destroy railroad bridges in Harbin and Bei'an with GBU-27 Paveway IIIs, seriously damaging Chinese lines of communication for their army in Russia. Ryan later decides to broadcast CNN's coverage of the war, plus direct feeds from U.S. reconnaissance drones, over a CIA website to counter the Chinese government's propaganda about the war's status and purpose.

Beijing's increasingly desperate leaders decide to ready their ICBMs for a potential launch. A joint NATO-Russian special operations team led by Rainbow operative John Clark is dispatched to destroy them. The team destroys all but two of the Chinese missiles. Of the two that launch, one is shot down by an AH-64 Apache while the second heads toward Washington, D.C. Ryan's family is evacuated, but Ryan himself decides at the last minute to stay behind on board a docked naval ship, the USS ''Gettysburg'', which is equipped with the experimental Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. Ryan watches as the ship destroys the ICBM at the last possible moment. News footage of the ICBM's interception was later streamed through the CIA website.

Meanwhile, in Beijing, a group of Chinese students, spurred on by what they have witnessed through the CIA website, march through Tiananmen Square and invade a Politburo meeting, setting the stage for an overthrow of the government. A reformist Politburo member, Fang Gan, takes over and arrests the rest of the Communist leadership, ordering an immediate withdrawal of Chinese forces from Siberia. Fang then holds an open discussion with student leaders that starts China's transition to democracy. The country then orders a unilateral ceasefire from the war with Russia.

The narrator (who never identifies himself by name) is a college professor and a relatively unsuccessful author of historical novels. While doing research in Vienna, Austria, he met Utch, an orphaned survivor of the German occupation and the Russian siege at the end of World War II. At the opening of the novel, the narrator and Utch are married with two children and live a relatively placid existence until, at a faculty party, they become acquainted with Severin Winter, a Viennese-born professor of German and coach of the school's wrestling team, and his wife Edith, a WASP from a privileged background (she met her husband in Vienna while on a buying trip for MOMA) who is an aspiring fiction writer. The narrator begins a mentor-protégé relationship with Edith, and soon the couples are sharing dinners and play dates with their children. As the narrator becomes more attracted to Edith, and Utch begins to fall for Severin, the couples begin trading spouses for sexual encounters at the end of their dinner dates. At first the affairs proceed smoothly, with emotional conflict submerged beneath sexual curiosity, but soon enough, obsessive love rears its ugly head, and the narrator begins to discover that the Winters have not been entirely honest with him and his wife about their motives for entering the affair.

It is ultimately revealed that sometime prior to the events of the novel Severin had an affair with a teacher at the school, and when Edith discovered this she became furious and depressed. In an attempt to provide her with some emotional leverage against him, Severin arranged for Edith to become sexually involved with the narrator, while he himself would sleep with Utch. This foursome soon thereafter fragments; Severin and Edith are able to repair their relationship and forgive each other for the pains they have inflicted on one another. The narrator and Utch, however, are a different story. The narrator had developed genuine feelings for Edith, and while she did seem to reciprocate them, at least to a small degree, he is left despondent after she ends their liaison to salvage her marriage to Severin. For her own part Utch had fallen completely in love with Severin, and she is left devastated upon learning he did not feel the same for her. Utch leaves and takes their children with her, returning to her native Austria to sort out her feelings; she also takes her husband's passport so he cannot follow her. Edith and Severin likewise move to Austria, though it is revealed through letters that Utch writes her husband that she and the Winters do not interact with each other. The novel ends with a small bit of hope for the narrator and Utch when she mails him his passport, indicating she is now ready to mend their relationship.

The sport of wrestling featured prominently—the novel's title refers to the 158-pound weight class, which Severin considers the most elite competitive weight—and a subplot eventually emerges involving Winter's protégé, a peculiar wrestling prodigy from Iowa who transfers to Winter's college because of its superior biology department and becomes a pawn in the fallout of the two couples' swinging relationship.

Travelers near Zambezi are being killed, apparently by leopards. The commissioner (Dennis Hoey) asks Tarzan to look into the matter. Tarzan immediately doubts that leopards are the problem. At the same time, Tarzan, Jane, and Boy take in Kimba, a boy who claims to have become lost in the jungle. Kimba (Tommy Cook) is the brother of Queen Lea, leader of a leopard cult. She has dispatched him to spy on Tarzan. Queen Lea also conspires with Ameer Lazar (Edgar Barrier), a Western-educated doctor who resents the West's domination of the area.

Kimba has a goal of his own: to take the heart of Jane (Brenda Joyce) a deed that would make him a warrior in the eyes of the cult. The Leopard Men wear leopard skins that form a cowl and cape, with iron claws attached to the back of each hand. Queen Lea (Acquanetta) wears a headband, wrist bands, ankle bands, halter top and miniskirt made of leopard skin. As "Variety" put it: "She displays plenty of what it takes to stir male interest and handles her acting chores adequately." She works her followers into a frenzy in an underground chamber, "These skins are your disguise. These claws are your weapons. Go not as men, but as leopards. Go swiftly, silently."

They attack a caravan bringing four teachers (Iris Flores, Lillian Molieri (Miss Central America of 1945), Helen Gerald and Kay Solinas) and bring the maidens back for sacrifice. They also capture Tarzan, Jane, and Boy. Tarzan brings down the roof of the cavern, destroying the cult and rescuing his friends.

The plot is summed up by these lines spoken by Tarzan (about Cheeta): ''"If an animal can act like a man, why not a man like an animal?"''

Magneto is investigating the murder of two mutant children who were killed by henchmen of the Reverend William Stryker. Stryker, who murdered his wife and newborn son after his son (a deformed mutant child) was born, seeks the wholesale extermination of mutantkind while presenting himself to the public as a fire and brimstone preacher, spreading a message claiming that mutants are abominations in the eyes of God. After a television debate with Professor Charles Xavier, Stryker (who knows that Xavier is a mutant) kidnaps him, forcing the X-Men to team up with Magneto to find their mentor.

Xavier has been hooked up to a machine that will use his telepathic power to kill all of the world's mutants via cerebral hemorrhage. At a revival meeting, where a popular US Senator (who is a closeted mutant) is in attendance, Magneto and the X-Men confront Stryker and rescue Xavier. In the end, after Shadowcat and Nightcrawler successfully bait Stryker into admitting kidnapping Xavier and his plans for mutant genocide, Stryker is shot in the chest by a security guard when he tries to murder Shadowcat in public.

Magneto and the X-Men part ways, with Magneto politely turning down an offer by Xavier to join the X-Men. However, before he leaves, he reminds the X-Men that Stryker may have the final victory, as already his defenders rally to him as he awaits trial for his crimes.

In 2069, an alien race called "the Horde" arrived in Earth's solar system (it was later revealed that the actual name of the race was the 'Va-Shaak'). Although they were technologically advanced far beyond humanity at that time, they were extremely savage. Examples of this savagery include the retaliatory slaughter of human slaves (this was shown after the victory of the Black Watch), the nuclear destruction of San Diego (also in response to the Black Watch's assassination of the Earth Commander of the Horde Forces), and the decapitation of children (especially by literally ripping their heads off) in order to establish dominance over newly captured human slaves (one particularly brutal terror-tactic favored by the Horde early in the war was to capture large numbers of humans in order to take them just outside the Earth's atmosphere and then eject them from the ships, allowing them to burn up in re-entry so watchers on the ground could see the streaks representing their burning forms. This tactic became known to humans as 'a Highdive').

It was later discovered that they had stolen their technology from a kindly alien race that visited their planet who were attempting to rescue the Horde species. The Horde had caused severe environmental damage to their planet due to excessive pollution which laid much of the world an uninhabitable wasteland. After pulling the Horde back from the brink of extinction the aliens planned to leave the Horde planet in peace once their rescue mission was accomplished. Before they could leave, however, the alien pacifists were ruthlessly and mercilessly attacked and slaughtered by the Horde. The Horde stole the aliens' ships and advanced technology for themselves and set out into space to establish their savage and war-like empire. The Horde traveled the galaxy in order to steal resources, food, and technologies, since they had no knowledge of how to fix the ships they used. They viewed the Earth and other such planets as a resource to be plundered and discarded once all resources have been used up. If the Horde had wanted to completely conquer mankind, then they could have easily done so. Instead, they satisfied themselves with brutal raids that left the Earth functioning, but reeling under their vicious onslaught. The Padeia Institute, which governed the entire planet at the time, began to organize Earth defenses against these attacks.

Humankind's best hope was discovered in 2072, when Dr. Kimmo Tuolema perfected the ''Morituri Process''. This was a two-step process that allowed people with a specific type of genetic structure to have a new metabolism overlaid on top of their original one, granting them enhanced physical attributes. The second phase of the process would allow for unique superhuman powers. However, there were three mitigating factors inherent in the use of the Morituri Process:

The process was compatible with very few persons; the estimate was that fewer than 5% of all humans had a compatible physiology for metahuman conversion through the Morituri Process. The optimal age for subjects for the Morituri Process was between 18 and 21; older subjects who underwent the process would suffer a significantly reduced lifespan than expected from optimal subjects (measurable in weeks). *The nature of the energy-based metabolism was such that, within one standard year, the human body would reject it. The rejection of the Morituri metabolism by the human body is 100% fatal. In most cases, the subject's imminent death was indicated by massive upsurges in the subject's power and ability levels.

The first group of test subjects, later known as "the Black Watch", were volunteer soldiers. Of the five members, two died before seeing active service during a power activation exercise in a specialized testing area known as 'Biowar Facility Alpha' (nicknamed 'The Garden'). The remaining three had their first field test in Cape Town, South Africa, taking on Horde forces there; though they were successful in battle, none of them survived (one was killed in battle, another succumbed to the Morituri Effect as they were escaping, and the last was killed with a Hordian nuclear device moments afterward). Commander of the program, Beth Luis Nion, had also secretly undergone the Morituri Process, after starting an affair with a member of the Black Watch, although she kept her powers a secret. Tuolema later deduced that the older the subject, the quicker their system would reject the process – it was at this point that Dr. Tuolema realized recipients between 18 and 21 were the optimal choice regarding maximized life expectancy.

The Morituri Process consisted of two distinct phases: In the first phase, candidates underwent a procedure which granted them an enhanced physicality (in some cases, Morituri gained physically impressive forms), as well as enhanced physical strength and endurance, which made it easier to endure the second phase of the Morituri Process (designed to grant actual metahuman powers). After completing this stage, the volunteers would be placed in 'The Garden', a booby-trapped test facility designed to heighten stress levels and precipitate the emergence of each candidate's powers (Dr. Tuolema based 'The Garden' on the vid-comics his daughter had shown him of the X-Men's Danger Room). In 2073, the first of the new Strikeforce: Morituri entered active service.

The Morituri suffered heavy fatalities during their conflict with the Horde – sometimes from enemy action, but principally through the ''Morituri Effect'', the term given to the body's rejection of artificial metabolism implanted by the Morituri Process. The threat posed by the Horde meant that there was never a shortage of volunteers willing to give up their lives defending mankind. Right from the start, the Morituri showed a propensity for disobeying orders in order to grasp opportunities to attack the enemy; knowing their time was short, they resented being kept out of action for any length of time.

It was the fourth generation of Morituri who saw a real change to the process. The fourth generation was sub-divided into two groups; one was created without the input of Dr. Tuolema, with disastrous results – the volunteers eventually choosing to be euthanized rather than continue in the twisted bodies they ended up with. The fourth generation of Morituri created under Dr. Tuolema's supervision benefited from a major breakthrough; Jason Edwards (a.k.a. Revenge), who had been a captive of the Horde prior to becoming a Morituri, contracted a virus which eventually proved to counter the body's rejection of the Morituri Process.''Strikeforce: Morituri'' #23 When this was discovered, the surviving Morituri regained a chance to live a full lifespan (too late for the first and second, and all but one of the third generation).''Strikeforce: Morituri'' #27

The war with the Horde was unexpectedly brought to a close. A new race of aliens, dubbed the ''VXX199'', entered Earth orbit, destroyed the Horde fleet, and then departed without explanation. Other problems soon arose: the Morituri process being performed on a trio of killers with the intent to assassinate the surviving members of the Strikeforce and the Prime Minister, and the fragmentation of the Paideia back into independent nation-states due to the exposure of the conspiracy (by a high-ranking government minister) to kill the Prime Minister in order to seize power.

Act 1

Mr Sloane is a young man looking for a place to board, who happens by the home of Kath, a middle-aged landlady whose home is on the outskirts of a rubbish dump. Kath is eager to have Mr Sloane as a tenant at her home, which she shares with her nearly blind father, Kemp. In getting to know Mr Sloane, Kath is open with Mr Sloane about a previous relationship she had, which led to her bearing a child, whom her brother insisted on her giving up for adoption as it was conceived out of wedlock. Mr Sloane reveals he is himself an orphan, though vague about his parents' death, except that they "passed away together". Kath's father has an immediate distrust of Mr Sloane, believing he is the same man who killed his employer some years earlier. After an altercation between Kemp and Sloane, resulting in Sloane being stabbed in the leg, Kath begins to make somewhat subtle advances toward the young man. When Mr Sloane attempts to reciprocate, Kath warns him facetiously not to betray his trust. Kathy's brother Ed arrives soon after to find the visitor staying with his sister, much to his dismay. Kemp has an estranged relationship with his son as he found him to be "committing some kind of felony in the bedroom" as a teenager. Despite Ed's initial opposition to Mr Sloane staying with his sister, after speaking with Sloane, Ed eventually relents and even goes so far as to offer him a job as his chauffeur. As Sloane recovers from his injury earlier in the evening, Kath returns wearing a transparent negligee and seemingly seduces Mr Sloane as the lights go down and Act One ends.

Act 2

The action resumes "some months later" and begins with Mr Sloane recounting an evening in which a young woman gave him her telephone number. Kath ambiguously hints at her jealousy, before ultimately revealing she is pregnant and concerned that her brother will strongly disapprove. Ed arrives soon after and discovers that Mr Sloane had taken his car out joyriding the night before with his friends. Upon finding out that they also had a woman with them, Ed divulges that he feels women are crude, and misleading. Ed advises Sloane to pack his things as he will be on call as his assistant at all hours. When Sloane leaves the room to pack, Kemp mildly attempts to reconcile with his son, and conveys that Kath and Sloane have been sleeping together and believes Kath is now pregnant. When confronted, Sloane confirms he has been sleeping with Kath, but claims she "threw herself" at him. A short time later, Ed departs to buy cigarettes, and Kemp returns to confront Sloane as his employer's murderer. Sloane eventually attacks Kemp, resulting in his death.

Act 3

Upon finding his dead father, Ed is initially insistent that justice be served and Sloane be turned over to the police. However, Sloane persuades Ed to fabricate a story to make the death appear an accident, in exchange for his servitude. When Kath discovers the dead body, she is apprehensive to stray from the truth especially given Sloane's intention to go and live with her brother. Sloane finds himself in a predicament: if he stays with Kath, Ed will report the murder to the authorities, and vice versa if he chooses to leave with Ed. Ultimately, a compromise is reached that will result in the pair "sharing" Mr. Sloane a few months at a time.

The show focuses on Willy Zilla, an ordinary timid teenage boy just trying to be a normal person, despite being the son of a flamboyant, rich, lively celebrity rock star named Rock Zilla.

Alex "Schlots" Schlotsky (Alex D. Linz) is a 14-year old freshman at Philadelphia Hebrew Academy, where he and his friends are on the school's struggling basketball team, the Lions. The Lions dream of winning the Liberty Tournament and defeating their school's rivals, the Warriors, but the basketball team doesn't have a good coach. Schlots and his friends are determined to find their own Judah Macabee to coach their team. During one day of practice at a local park, Schlots finds the man he believes is the right coach for the basketball team: coach Lamont Carr (Richard T. Jones), a college basketball star whose knee injury prevented him from getting into the NBA. There are many hurdles Schlots and Lamont must overcome over the course of the movie. Lamont is homeless after leaving his wife and son in Virginia with the hopes of being signed by the Philadelphia 76ers. Schlots must balance his own desires with his mother's wish for him to become a doctor rather than a basketball star. Also, among the challenges they must face is the school's principal, Mrs. Klein, who tries to see if Lamont is safe to be with the players. Schlots and Lamont's relationship doesn't get off to a good start, as Schlots interrupts practice. The next day, however, Schlots offers to pay Lamont to coach their team for a while; Lamont reluctantly agrees. During the boys' first days of practice under Lamont's coaching, they become exhausted and frustrated with his coaching style, but intervention by Schlots inspires Lamont to help the team love the game of basketball. One day, Mrs. Klein tries to inconspicuously tail Lamont to follow Lamont when he drives off in his van after practicing. Aware of both this and Lamont's homelessness, Schlots tells him to go to a modern apartment complex where his dad is trying to get a tenant for a room he owns.

Then Schlots opens the door for Lamont, Mrs. Klein is outside the apartment complex. Lamont and Schlots' dad come to an agreement: Lamont can live in the room Schlots' dad is renting for free until Schlots' dad can find a tenant. Later, when the Lions players are anticipating the big Liberty Tournament, Lamont tells the team that he received an offer for a 10-day contract from the Philadelphia 76ers and he is going to accept it. This means the Lions must try to win the tournament without their coach. The Lions prove successful, winning every game in the tournament.

On the day of the final game, Schlots' finally confronts his mother and gets her to appreciate his love for basketball. Schlotz's mother ends up convincing his best friend Julie to forgive him.

The final game in the Liberty Tournament takes place on a stormy night. While it is going on, Schlots' mother drives Julie to it. Then she goes to a 76ers game Lamont is playing to try to convince him to come to the Liberty tournament final, offering to drive Lamont, whose van has broken down to the tournament before he can leave for the airport with the rest of the 76ers. Once Schlots' mother arrives to the game, she speaks to one of Lamont's opponents about Schlots' dreams, and she comes to understand him even more afterward. After she finds Lamont, his car works again and she seems to have begun to understand everybody.

The storm eventually knocks out the power in the school's gymnasium. After the school mobilizes an emergency generator for the remainder of the game, the Lions and the Warriors agree to continue the game with the understanding that whenever the fuel in the generator runs out, the game will end and the team with the most points at that time will win. The Warriors devise a plan to make sure it is them: when they are ahead in the game and it becomes clear that the fuel in the generator is moments away from running out, the Warriors will call a timeout that will last until the remaining fuel in the generator is exhausted. The Lions are outraged and discouraged until Lamont appears in the gym and encourages them to not lose faith. The power then once again goes out in the gym – and the Warriors celebrate what they believe is their victory – until the generator restarts despite being out of gas, and the power comes back on. The final moments of the game consist of the Lions catching up to the Warriors, and with the final seconds on the clock ticking down, Schlots passes the ball instead of trying to take the final shot himself, per his usual self, leading to the Lions scoring the winning basket.

The entire school celebrates, and Lamont's wife and son enter the gym and announce plans to stay with Lamont, who reveals to the Lions that he plans to become their full-time coach. In the end, Schlots has convinced his mother to let him play basketball and in fact only showed up at the end of the game so she could bring Lamont's family to him while Lamont helped the Lions. The final scene of the movie consists of Schlots and Lamont's families playing a game the basketball with Julie, and Schlots' mother turns out to be a pretty good player. Rabbi Lewis' story of Hanukkah and how it relates to the basketball game plays over the scene.

Dilvish is the descendant of both elves and humans, a scion of a prominent Elven house and "the Human House that hath been stricken" which lost its peerage for mixing Elven and Human blood. Hundreds of years before the main story, he comes across a dark ritual being performed by the sorcerer Jelerak who is sacrificing a human girl. He attempts to stop the ritual but is turned into stone, with his soul banished to Hell. His body becomes a statue, and for many decades it resides within the square of a nearby town that he had formerly saved from enemy conquerors. When this town is again in need of a hero, their citizens' plight allows Dilvish the passage he needs to escape from Hell. He returns to the world of the living with his steed, the metal demon horse Black, and a burning desire for revenge against Jelerak, but must first repulse the assault against the endangered town. Dilvish then goes to call upon the Shoredan - a cursed people bound to his family. He searches for Jelerak in the Tower of Ice and finds the sorcerer's apprentice and his sister trapped there. The two of them believe him to be a servant of Jelerak, sent to kill them.

In Roman times, Macey is a soldier with a group of deserters. He has berserker fits in which he fights like ten men, using an old stone axe. Escaping from a local tribe, the "Cats" at Rudheath, the soldiers find a stockaded Cat village at Barthomley, which they pillage, killing the inhabitants except for a young girl, whom they take as a slave. They try to "go tribal", pretending to be members of another tribe, the "Mothers", and settle on Mow Cop. This is a sacred site to the Cats and the girl is their corn goddess. The Cats mine millstones on Mow Cop and bring food as offerings. The soldiers think they have engineered a truce, but the girl poisons their food and they have hallucinations, killing themselves. Only Macey is spared, as he never touched the girl, who was raped by the others. He and the girl leave together after he returns to Barthomley to bury the axe head in the burial mound, asking forgiveness for killing the villagers.

In the English Civil War, Thomas Rowley lives in Barthomley with his wife Margery. They find the stone axe head buried in a mound and call it a "thunderstone", believing it to have been created by lightning striking the ground. They intend to build it into a chimney to guard against future strikes. The village is besieged by Royalist troops, who have fought in Ireland, searching for John Fowler, the village leader who has sided with Parliament. The troops eventually kill Fowler and other men of the village. Thomas and Margery are rescued by Thomas Venables, a villager serving with the Royalists who once desired Margery. He leads them to a shanty town settlement at Rudheath and tells them to go to his family on Mow Cop once Thomas has recovered from his wounds. They take the thunderstone with them and embed it in the chimney of their new home.

In the modern day Tom is a teenager living cooped up in a caravan at Rudheath with his parents. He is sustained by his relationship with his girlfriend Jan, who is leaving to become a student nurse in London. They agree to meet regularly in Crewe railway station. One day they follow an ancient path from Crewe to the village of Barthomley. Returning next time on bicycles, they go further to Mow Cop, a hill dominated by a folly tower. Here they find the stone axe head embedded in an old chimney. They decide to make it a symbol of their love. Tom and Jan have been avoiding sex, but Jan reveals that she had an affair while working as an au pair in Germany. After this, Tom becomes unstable. He insists on having sex but becomes even more self-destructive and unbalanced. He tells Jan that he has sold the axe head to a museum, as it was a valuable Neolithic artefact. Their relationship dissolves and they bid a final farewell as Jan's train leaves for London.

Pieces of the three narratives are alternated in an inconsistent pattern, calling attention to their similarities beyond the landscape: themes, circumstances, visual descriptions and even lines of dialogue echo throughout.

Ten years prior to the game's events, President Hughes, head of the Republic of Mercies, is assassinated. The Ruth Liberian Army, a terrorist organisation led by Roger Tense, takes responsibility for the act. The previously friendly relations between Mercies and Ruth deteriorate and war breaks out. Major powers intervene in the conflict on both sides, and the war spreads to engulf the world. A decade later, Ruth's army is at the gates of Vaxan, capital of Mercies, and the war begins to draw to a close.

If the player is successful and captures Remerje, capital of Ruth, the war ends and the two countries sign a peace treaty five years later.

The novel follows five days in the life of Moses E. Herzog who, at the age of forty-seven, is having a midlife crisis following his second divorce. He has two estranged children, one by each wife, and is in a relationship with a vibrant woman, Ramona, but finds himself running away from commitment.

Herzog spends much of his time mentally writing letters he never sends. These letters are aimed at friends, family members, and famous figures, including recipients who are dead or who Herzog never knew. The one common thread is that Herzog is always expressing disappointment, either his own in the failings of others or their words, or apologizing for the way he has disappointed others.

Herzog's second wife Madeleine has recently left him for Valentine Gersbach, who Herzog considered a close friend. While still married, Madeleine convinced Herzog to move her and their daughter Junie to Chicago, and to arrange for Gersbach and his wife, Phoebe, to move as well. The plans were a ruse, and shortly after arriving in Chicago, Madeleine throws Herzog out and attempts to have him committed to an asylum.

The novel opens with Herzog in his house in Ludeyville, a (fictional) town in the Berkshires in western Massachusetts. He is contemplating returning to New York to see Ramona, but instead flees to Martha's Vineyard to visit some friends. He arrives at their house, but writes an actual note saying that he has to leave.

Herzog then heads to New York and, after spending a night with Ramona, he heads to the courthouse to discuss with his lawyer the possibility of regaining custody of his daughter, Junie. He subsequently witnesses a series of court hearings, including one where a woman is charged with beating her three-year-old to death by flinging him against a wall. Moses, already distraught after receiving a letter from Junie's babysitter about an incident in which Valentine locked Junie in the car while he and Madeleine argued inside the house, heads to Chicago. He goes to his stepmother's house and picks up an antique pistol with two bullets in it, forming a vague plan to kill Madeleine and Valentine and run off with Junie.

The plan goes awry when he sees Valentine giving Junie a bath and realizes that she is in no danger. The next day, after taking his daughter to the aquarium, Herzog crashes his car and is charged with possession of a loaded weapon. His brother, the rational Will, picks him up to try and help get him back on his feet. Herzog heads to Ludeyville, where his brother meets him and tries to convince him to check himself into an institution, which Herzog has considered but ultimately decides against. To Will's surprise, Ramona joins them for dinner and Herzog begins making plans to fix up the house, which, like his life, needs repair but is still structurally sound. Herzog closes by saying that he doesn't need to write any more letters.

In flashbacks throughout the novel, other critical details of Herzog's life come to light, including his first marriage to Daisy, their son, Marco, the life of Herzog's father, and Herzog's sexual molestation by a stranger on a street in Chicago.

Disillusioned of playing the fall guy to Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck demands his own cartoon from Warner Bros., but is promptly fired by the "Vice-President of Comedy", Kate Houghton. Security guard and struggling stuntman DJ Drake is asked to escort Daffy off the studio lot, but the ensuing chase leads to the Batmobile demolishing the studio water tower, resulting in DJ also being fired. He returns home with Daffy following him, where he receives a message from his father, film star, Damian Drake, who is actually a secret agent. Damian instructs his son to travel to Las Vegas, find his associate, Dusty Tails, and find a mystical diamond called the "blue monkey", he is shortly thereafter captured by the Acme Corporation, led by the eccentric Mr. Chairman. DJ and Daffy head for Vegas. Meanwhile, Bugs' routines fail without Daffy, so Kate is forced to locate and rehire Daffy or face being terminated herself. Bugs informs Kate of the situation, so they head to DJ's home where they find Damian's spy car, and use it to pursue DJ and Daffy.

In Las Vegas, DJ and Daffy meet Dusty in a casino owned by Yosemite Sam, who happens to be an associate of the Acme Corporation. Dusty gives them a strange playing card, which is a clue to finding the diamond. Sam and his henchmen attempt to kill them and take the card, but they manage to elude him and flee in the spy car with Bugs and Kate. The spy car, which can also fly, crashes in the Nevada desert. As they travel through the desert, Wile E. Coyote tries to stop them, but is foiled. The group eventually stumbles upon Area 52, run by a woman called 'mother', who informs them of the situation. She plays a video recording, which reveals that the Blue Monkey has the power to devolve humans into monkeys and evolve them back again. Acme intends on using the blue monkey on all of mankind to manufacture their products, and then turn them back to purchase them. Marvin the Martian, who was imprisoned in the facility, escapes and leads a group of fellow alien inmates to obtain the playing card, but the heroes escape. Seeing that the card has Mona Lisa's face on it, the group conclude they must view the painting in the Louvre, located in Paris.

At the Louvre, they discover that the card contains a viewing window, and looking through it, the window reveals that the Mona Lisa has a map of Africa hidden beneath. Bugs and Daffy's co-star, Elmer Fudd, appears, revealing himself as an Acme henchman, and chases Bugs and Daffy through the gallery to obtain the card whilst Kate is kidnapped by Mr. Chairman's bodyguard, Mr. Smith with help of Beaky Buzzard. DJ rescues Kate while Elmer is disintegrated by Bugs after jumping out of a pointillism artwork. Bugs and Daffy reunite with DJ and Kate, and they leave Paris.

DJ, Kate, Bugs, and Daffy travel to Africa, meeting Granny, Sylvester, and Tweety, who escort them to the ruins of a jungle temple where they find the blue monkey. However, Granny and company reveal themselves to be Mr. Chairman, Smith, and the Tasmanian Devil in disguise. Mr. Chairman uses a disintegration gun to transport himself and the heroes to the Acme headquarters where he forces DJ to give him the diamond, when Damian is revealed to be his prisoner, but goes back on his word to release him.

Marvin is sent to place the blue monkey on an Acme satellite which will emit an energy beam around the world to turn everyone, except Mr. Chairman, into monkeys. DJ and Kate rescue Damian from a death trap, whilst Bugs and Daffy chase Marvin into space. Bugs is thwarted by Marvin, prompting Daffy to become Duck Dodgers, in order to destroy the blue monkey. The transforming energy beam only strikes Mr. Chairman, turning him into a monkey. Bugs and Daffy return to Earth, where Daffy discovers the whole adventure was staged to make a film. However, Bugs promises Daffy they will be equal partners, but just as Daffy's luck seems to be improving, he is crushed by the Looney Tunes iris, where Porky Pig attempts to close the film with "That's all folks!" only for the studio to shut down before he can finish, and he bitterly tells the audience to go home.

Six months after the conclusion of ''Cheers'', Dr. Frasier Crane is divorced from Lilith Sternin and has moved back to his hometown of Seattle, Washington, looking for a fresh start. Since the move, Frasier has been hosting a talk-radio show on KACL 780 AM Talk Radio as an on-air psychiatrist, alongside producer Roz Doyle.

Frasier is approached by his brother, Niles, who informs him that their father, Martin, a retired police officer injured in the line of duty, can no longer live by himself due to his injuries. In hopes of renewing their father-son relationship, Frasier offers to take his father in.

Martin moves into Frasier's apartment but Frasier is appalled when Martin brings in his thread-bare recliner and Parson Russell Terrier Eddie, both of which greatly upset Frasier. Some time afterwards, Niles and unseen his wife, Maris, offer to help Frasier take care of Martin by jointly paying for a health care provider. Martin convinces Frasier to hire Daphne Moon, an eccentric immigrant from Manchester, England, who claims to be "a bit psychic,” much to Frasier's displeasure. After Daphne reveals that she needs to move in, Frasier, who doesn't want more people living in his apartment, rejects her. This leads to an argument with Martin, which ends with Frasier walking out of the apartment.

The next day at work, Frasier confides his troubles with Roz. In turn, she tells him the story of Lupe Vélez; she points out that although things might not go as planned, they can work out anyway. Frasier then takes his next call, only to find an apologetic Martin on the line. Frasier then atones for his arrogance and reconciles with his father. The next call is from a woman, upset and tearful about breaking up with her boyfriend. Frasier proceeds to tell her the story of Vélez. The episode ends with Daphne, Martin, and Frasier watching TV in his apartment in the evening while Eddie silently stares at a disturbed Frasier.

Story

In 2016, a jumbo jet carrying Senator Hach, an important politician and likely future presidential candidate, is hijacked by terrorists. In exchange for the senator the terrorists demand from the United States government Pythagoras, a research project being conducted in the Moloni Republic in southern Africa. In efforts to identify these terrorists, the government begins an investigation of Pythagoras.

The Moloni government refuses to cooperate and work with the United States, saying that it doesn't want to interfere in its current affairs. In response, the US sends in a covert special forces team to investigate, but the team is obliterated by armed resistance. With no other options and time running out, the US government calls Solid Snake to infiltrate the laboratory, discover the nature of Pythagoras, and to rescue Senator Hach.

Characters

• '''Solid Snake''' - The main character. A member of FOXHOUND who has achieved legendary status, he is brought to duty to infiltrate the Lobito Physics and Chemistry laboratory compound. Snake is led to believe that he is actually '''Hans Davis''', a researcher involved in the development of the new Metal Gear model.
• '''Teliko Friedman''' - A female Japanese-American member of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Hostage Rescue Team that was sent to the Lobito compound prior to Snake. She rendezvous with Snake and teams up with him as a second playable character in the game. She reappears in ''Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops'' as a hidden playable character.
• '''Roger McCoy''' - A Central Intelligence Agency operative from New Jersey who serves as Snake's commanding officer in the game. He previously served in the Green Berets and is an acquaintance of Roy Campbell, Snake's former commanding officer.
• '''Alice Hazel''' - An English girl who has aided the FBI and CIA in the past with her psychic abilities. She is one of Snake's radio contacts in the game.
• '''Lt. Leone''' - The leader of a mercenary group hired by an anti-government militia in the Moloni Republic. He was once known as '''Jeff Jones''' and served under McCoy's unit during the Vietnam War until he was suspected of treason.
• '''Gary Murray''' - A lab worker who requests Snake's help. He is actually '''William L. Flemming''' and is involved in the development of the new Metal Gear.
• '''Elsie''' and '''Frances''' - A pair of marionettes that carry out the hijacking of Flight 326
• '''La Clown''' - An assassin of unknown gender with the ability to disguise their appearance.
• '''Viggo Hach''' - A Dutch-American United States Senator from New York who is a presidential candidate. Taken hostage by terrorists during his flight.
• '''Lena Arrows''' - Hach's secretary, who was also caught in the hijacking.
• '''Minette Donnell''' - A young girl on the same flight as Hach. She is actually '''Constance Flemming''', the daughter of William L. Flemming.
• '''Charles Schmeiser''' - A CIA agent from Toronto, Canada who works under McCoy.

The book starts with a 4:37 a.m. phone call from Mike Daniels to Kathryn (Kate) Telman. He has been drugged, and about half of his teeth randomly and expertly extracted, just before an important meeting in Japan.

'''The Business''' is a powerful (yet democratic) multinational commercial organisation, secretive (but not too sinisterly so), and very long-lived. It predates the Roman Catholic Church, and descends from a consortium of merchants in the Roman Empire which it even owned for sixty-six days (it hired a man to become emperor, but he lasted less than a month before being assassinated; a reference to the Emperor Didius Julianus). It is now considering taking over a country in order to gain a seat at the United Nations.

The story follows the heroine, Kate Telman, who is 38 and lusts after Stephen Buzetski, who is married. Starting from poverty, she has risen through the Business under the tutelage of her mentor, who adopted her at an early age, and her 'uncle Freddy', the man who invented the portable milk container (named the "chilp").

She is investigating a possible case of someone stealing from the company, starting with strange happenings at a silicon chip manufacturing plant. Although she discovers evidence of wrongdoing at a high level in the Business, she continues to believe in what they are doing as an organisation.

She travels the world, at one point being summoned by a weapon-collecting higher-up in Nebraska to talk his nephew out of writing an incendiary anti-Islamic screenplay. A scene of the book takes place on a ship on its way to be broken up at a shipyard in Sonmiani Bay. She has several telephone conversations with her therapy-damaged friend Luce in California, who provides a cynical, suspicious, foul-mouthed counterpoint to Kate's goodheartedness. She is given a DVD of Stephen's wife having extramarital sex in an attempt to influence her.

She also becomes involved in the acquisition of the small Himalayan country of Thulahn. Small and underdeveloped, bleak and vulnerable, the football pitch doubles as the airport, "the royal palace is heated by yak dung" and the "national sport is emigration". It resembles an exaggerated version of Bhutan.

Under the Business's plan, Thulahn would be utterly changed, if not destroyed, and its people thrust into the modern world. Kate is given the job of negotiating with Thulahn's Crown Prince Suvinder Dzung, who when he last met her had fallen in love with her.

In late 1969, Billy Covington (Robert Downey Jr.) works as a helicopter traffic pilot for a Los Angeles radio station. When he breaks several safety regulations by flying too low, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration suspends his pilot's license. However, his piloting skills, bravery and disregard for the law are noticed by a mysterious government agent, who tells Billy that he can get his license back if he accepts a job in Laos, working for a "strictly civilian" company called Air America. It is readily apparent that Air America is a front for CIA operations in Laos.

Unemployed and unable to find work, Billy takes the job. In Laos, he is introduced to Air America's unorthodox pilots and aircraft, being taken under the wing of Gene Ryack (Mel Gibson), a cynical and eccentric pilot and an arms dealer who uses official flights to buy black market weapons for his private cache. His dream, which he refers to as his "retirement plan," is to make a sale big enough so that he can afford to quit his job at Air America.

The next day, Senator Davenport (Lane Smith) arrives in Laos on a "fact-finding mission," to investigate rumors about Air America transporting drugs on behalf of Laotian forces. Major Lemond (Ken Jenkins) and Rob Diehl (David Marshall Grant), CIA leaders of Air America, show the Senator around refugee camps, shrines, temples, and major cities in a careful deception to hide from him that Air America is indeed transporting drugs.

While airdropping livestock into rural villages in their C-123 cargo aircraft, Billy and Jack Neely (Art LaFleur) are shot down. The Pilatus PC-6 of General Soong (Burt Kwouk) arrives at the crash site and his soldiers load bags of opium on board, but leave Billy and Jack behind with Communist forces moving in. Gene and another pilot arrive and rescue them; Billy boards Gene's helicopter while the rest of the crew escape in another aircraft.

Billy and Gene's helicopter is shot down on the way back, and they are captured by a rural tribe. Gene notices that the tribe is using obsolete and unreliable guns and strikes a deal to supply them with better weapons. Allowed to go free, Billy and Gene retreat to Gene's house, where Billy is surprised to discover that Gene has a wife and children. Already disillusioned with U.S. actions in Laos, Gene convinces Billy to quit his job with Air America, but Billy wants to get even with General Soong for betraying him when he crashed.

Meanwhile, Senator Davenport is losing patience with Lemond and Diehl, and demands to know who is smuggling heroin. Soon after their return to base, the pilots learn that during his search for Billy and Gene, Jack was killed and Lemond and Diehl claim that he was the ring leader behind the drug trafficking. Enraged, Billy purchases grenades on the black market and uses them to blow up the heroin factory, but guards see him running away. Davenport is still unsatisfied, and demands more concrete evidence.

The next day, Gene finds a buyer for his arsenal, allowing him to leave gunrunning, quit Air America, and take his family out of the country. Meanwhile, Billy accepts one more flight before he actually quits. With co-pilot Babo (Tim Thomerson), he is assigned to transport flour to a refugee camp but they are instructed to divert to a nearby airstrip for "routine inspection." Billy immediately suspects a setup, and a search reveals several kilos of heroin hidden in the flour-sacks. With his fuel gauge tampered with, Babo and Billy decide to crash-land on the same airstrip where Billy crashed a few days earlier, and use the wreckage of the previous crash to hide the smaller aircraft.

Gene, on his way to make his final, largest weapons delivery, flies in to rescue Babo and Billy after wondering why Billy can't seem to keep anything in the air. Billy convinces him to respond to a distress call from a refugee camp caught in the crossfire between General Soong's men and local rebels. Gene tries to rescue the United States Agency for International Development official (Nancy Travis) in charge of the camp; however, she refuses to leave without the refugees. After some initial resistance, Gene dumps the weapons to make room for the refugees, blowing up the weapons cache to cover their escape.

In the air, Gene and Billy come up with a scheme to sell the aircraft to give Gene his money back. Senator Davenport recognizes the setup for what it was, and the Senator threatens to reveal Lemond and Diehl's operation to Washington.

The novel opens with the civilian Dr. Catherine Halsey and Lieutenant Jacob Keyes traveling to meet John, a six-year-old boy. Dr. Halsey reveals to Keyes that John is one of 150 children who possess rare genetic markers making them suitable for conscription into the SPARTAN-II program, a secret experiment with the aim of creating super soldiers for the UNSC to quell rebellions. Seventy-five of the children are kidnapped by operatives of the Office of Naval Intelligence and replaced by clones engineered to die of natural causes shortly thereafter. From this point on, the recruits are known only by their first name and a three-digit number. John-117 and the rest of the children are drilled and trained by Franklin Mendez; John demonstrates leadership of his fellow Spartans, leading to his promotion to squad leader. In 2525, the Spartans undergo a series of surgical enhancements which turn them into highly efficient super soldiers - but more than half of the original 75 conscripts are paralyzed or killed. The Spartans are also equipped with powerful MJOLNIR battle armor, designed to respond as quickly as the soldier's thoughts. John-117 is further promoted to Master Chief Petty Officer. The Spartans are highly successful, but they experience a priority shift after a collective of alien races known as the Covenant begin obliterating human colonies, declaring humanity's destruction as the will of their gods. Mendez leaves the group to train the next generation of Spartans as John and his comrades first face the Covenant.

By 2552, the war against the Covenant is going poorly. The technological superiority of the Covenant means that space battles heavily favor the Covenant, and the UNSC can only win engagements by suffering tremendous losses. To prevent the discovery of Earth or other human colonies, Vice Admiral Cole creates the "Cole Protocol", which forbids direct slipspace jumps to Earth or any other population center, and mandates the destruction of a ship before it can be captured by the Covenant. Jacob Keyes, now commander of the destroyer ''Iroquois'', discovers four Covenant ships arriving at the Sigma Octanus System, and single-handedly destroys three of them; his heroics earn Keyes the rank of captain. The Covenant proceed to overrun Sigma Octanus IV, searching for a mysterious ancient artifact. Despite a costly fight, the humans manage to repel the Covenant, and Keyes intercepts a coded Covenant transmission from the surface before the Covenant retreat. The ''Iroquois'' heads to Reach, unwittingly bringing a Covenant tracking device with it.

Soon after, Keyes is given the command of the UNSC cruiser ''Pillar of Autumn'' for a secret mission: the Spartans are to capture one of the Covenant's religious leaders and barter a truce. Dr. Halsey also introduces John to the artificial intelligence Cortana, who would assist the Spartans by residing in their MJOLNIR armor. Before the mission can begin, however, Reach is attacked by a massive Covenant fleet. John and Cortana reach the ''Pillar of Autumn'', but most of the other Spartans are presumed killed as the Covenant vitrify the surface of Reach, turning the landmasses into glass. Cortana initiates a slipspace course based on the ancient glyphs intercepted by the Covenant at Sigma Octanus; the course takes them to a massive ringworld known as Halo, setting the stage for the events of ''Halo: Combat Evolved''.

The novel, like the video game it is based on, begins as the ''Pillar of Autumn'' exits slipspace, discovering an unexpected massive ringworld hidden by a moon in orbit around a gas giant. In the system are a host of Covenant, who notice the lone ship. A Covenant leader forbids the fleet to fire on the ''Autumn'', for fear of damaging the ring. Instead, they board and capture the ship. Meanwhile, technicians on the ''Autumn'' prepare for battle and awaken a single soldier from cryo sleep—a Spartan known as the Master Chief.

The Covenant board the ''Autumn''; deprived of defensive options, the ''Autumn'''s captain, Jacob Keyes, tells the crew to abandon ship. The Master Chief is entrusted with the artificial intelligence Cortana; given the wealth of tactical information the A.I. contains, Keyes cannot allow Cortana to fall into enemy hands. The Master Chief leaves for the surface of Halo in a lifeboat; other soldiers, including a squad of shock troops led by Antonio Silva and his second-in-command, Melissa McKay, land by special drop pods, and take a strategic bluff from the Covenant to use as a base of operations. Captain Keyes is captured by the Covenant, and taken aboard the Covenant cruiser ''Truth and Reconciliation''; the Master Chief and a squad of Marines board the ''Truth and Reconciliation'', rescuing the captain. Keyes has learned that the ringworld they are on has vast significance to the Covenant- they believe that "Halo", as they call the ring, is a weapon of unimaginable power. Escaping from the Covenant cruiser, Keyes gives the Master Chief the mission of finding the Control Room of Halo before the Covenant. The Master Chief and Cortana discover the location of the Control Room, and with the help of some Marines, insert Cortana into Halo's computer network. However, Cortana realizes that the ring is not a weapon as they understood at all- but before the Chief can press her with questions, Cortana tells the Master Chief to find Captain Keyes.

Dropped into the swamp where Keyes and his squad disappeared, the Master Chief discovers that the Captain has been captured and both human and Covenant soldiers have been turned into zombie-like creatures by bulbous aliens. One soldier, Private Wallace Jenkins, is left still semi-conscious and painfully aware of his predicament, unable to control his movement or actions as his former friends and he attack McKay's troops. Jenkins intends on ending his life, but is instead captured by McKay for study. The Chief is approached by Halo's resident A.I., 343 Guilty Spark, who informs the Chief that the creatures he has encountered are called the Flood, a virulent parasite that infects hosts and converts them into either forms for combat, or for reproduction. To activate Halo's defenses, Guilty Spark needs the Master Chief's help. In Halo's Control Room, Guilty Spark gives the Master Chief the key to activate Halo, but is stopped by a furious Cortana. Cortana explains that Halo ''is'' a weapon, but it doesn't kill the Flood- it kills their ''food'', meaning humans, Covenant, and any other sentient life. Realizing that they have to stop Guilty Spark from activating Halo, Cortana and the Master Chief decide to destroy Halo by detonating the crash-landed ''Pillar of Autumn'' s fusion reactors. In order to do this, they need Captain Keyes' neural implants. Cortana discovers the Captain is still alive, held prisoner once again aboard the ''Truth and Reconciliation'', now in the hands of the Flood who are trying to escape Halo. The Chief fights Covenant and Flood to the Captain, but finds out he is too late—the Captain has been assimilated into the parasite. The Chief retrieves the implants and leaves the ''Truth'' for the ''Autumn''.

While the Chief and Cortana head to the Autumn, Alpha Base is evacuated. Silva decides to retake the ''Truth and Reconciliation'' and pilot the ship away in order to avoid being on Halo when the ''Autumn'' blows. The ship is taken successfully, but McKay realizes that Silva is blinded by the thought of promotion and glory to the danger of the Flood; if even ''one'' Flood specimen escaped containment on Earth, the entire planet could fall. Jenkins draws McKay's attention to a vital energy line on the ship, and realizing that the destruction of the Flood is more important than Silva's promotion, cuts the cable, sending the ''Truth and Reconciliation'' crashing into Halo, killing all aboard.

At the ''Autumn'', the Master Chief is forced to destabilize the fusion reactors manually as 343 Guilty Spark and his robotic drones try to stop them. Once the countdown until detonation has begun, Cortana directs the Chief to a fighter still docked in the ''Pillar of Autumn'' hangar. Gunning the engines, the Chief and Cortana escape the ring just as the ''Autumn'' explodes, ending the threat of the Flood. Cortana scans for survivors and realizes that they are seemingly the only two who have survived. Cortana tells the Master Chief that the fight is finished, to which the Chief replies, "No. The Covenant is still out there, and Earth is at risk. We're just getting started."

The novel begins in orbit above planet Reach, as humanity fights the Covenant invasion forces. The last line of defense for the planet is an array of magnetic accelerator cannons (MACs) orbiting the planet. The Master Chief sends a team of Spartans to the surface of Reach to protect the MAC's planet-based power generators. Ultimately, the Covenant are able to destroy the generators and begin bombarding the planet's surface - melting its surface to glass ('glassing the planet'). The surviving Spartans flee underground to the hidden headquarters of the Office of Naval Intelligence. There they meet Dr. Halsey who, with help of some of the surviving Spartans, uncovers a strange crystalline shard in a cavern built by the ancient Forerunners. Pursued by the Covenant, the Spartans retrieve the shard and collapse the passage behind them, which saves them from the pursuing Covenant forces, but also traps them deep under the surface of Reach.

The book then shifts to events occurring soon after ''Halo'', as the Master Chief and Cortana drift through the ruins of Halo, they discover other survivors including Sergeant Johnson and Corporal Locklear. The group commandeer the Covenant flagship ''Ascendant Justice'' and use its slipspace capabilities to return to the Reach system. To prevent the Covenant finding Earth with a tracking device, the humans plan to find a suitably undamaged human ship to take them to Earth. Upon arrival the group receive a radio signal used by the Spartans in their training days. On the surface, they find three Spartans and Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb, the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations. The Vice Admiral arms a "Nova thermonuclear mine", a weapon that would destroy the planet. The Master Chief and his newly acquired team of Spartans then proceed to rescue Dr. Halsey and the other Spartans that were trapped under the surface of the planet. Meanwhile, Cortana, still aboard ''Ascendant Justice'', learns that the Covenant already know the location of Earth and are preparing an invasion fleet. For additional power, Cortana salvages the derelict UNSC frigate ''Gettysburg'', in effect creating a hybrid vessel referred to throughout the book as ''Gettysburg''-''Ascendant Justice''.

Seeking the Forerunner shard, the Covenant attack, severely damaging ''Ascendant Justice'', but are temporarily defeated. In order to make repairs, the UNSC forge an alliance with human separatists hidden in an asteroid field whose help also allows them to partially repair the crippled ''Gettysburg''. Halsey, after saving the clinically-dead Spartan Linda-058, abducts Spartan Kelly-087 and flees in a stolen ship, leaving Corporal Locklear with instructions to stop the crystal from falling into Covenant hands. Locklear decides to destroy the crystal, inadvertently killing himself, but stopping the Covenant from tracking the crystal's radioactive emissions and by extension the ''Ascendant Justice''. However, the Covenant attack the asteroid base in overwhelming force, forcing the UNSC forces to flee into slipspace and abandon the separatists to destruction.

With the knowledge that the Covenant are en route to Earth, the Master Chief and his fellow Spartans decide to disrupt the invasion force at their rendezvous point. The Spartans successfully infiltrate the Covenant space station, ''Unyielding Hierophant'', set it to self-destruct and escape in a drop-ship. On board the ''Ascendant Justice'', Whitcomb tricks the Covenant fleet into following the ship closer to the ''Unyielding Hierophant''; when the station explodes the entire Covenant armada is destroyed or damaged. Master Chief and the surviving Spartans take the partially repaired ''Gettysburg'', which has been equipped with ''Ascendant Justice's'' slipspace drive, back to Earth with Sgt. Johnson and Cortana to warn of the approaching invasion. Meanwhile, the Covenant leadership discuss the fate of the "incompetent one," an Elite who allowed Halo to be destroyed and ''Ascendant Justice'' to be captured; setting the stage for ''Halo 2''.

The game starts with the user assuming the role of a lowly Ensign Seventh Class on the ''S.P.S. Feinstein'', a starship of the Stellar Patrol. Overbearing superior Ensign First Class Blather assigns the player to mop decks, not exactly the glorious adventures promised by the recruiters on Gallium. In the diary provided in the "feelies", the player is on the verge of deserting ship. But a sudden series of explosions aboard the ship sends the player scrambling for an escape pod, which eventually crash-lands on a nearby planet. There are signs of civilization, but curiously no traces of the beings that once lived there. Eventually encountering a helpful but childlike robot named Floyd, the player must unravel the mysteries of the single deserted structure on the planet, Resida, and find a way to get back home. As the fate of the planet's former inhabitants becomes clearer, a time limit also imposes itself.

The adventurer does not remain on ''S.P.S. Feinstein'' for long. Talking to the alien ambassador and performing the assigned task of scrubbing the floor don't accomplish much. Wandering to other parts of the ship merits demerits from Blather and an ultimately fatal run-in with the Brig unless the player returns to work. Soon, an explosion occurs and an escape pod door opens. The pod safety netting breaks the player's fall and an escape kit is produced, which proves critical to survival. With great exertion, the adventurer swims out of the pod and climbs up to a mysterious deserted base.

By putting together various clues, slowly the player realizes that the nearly uninhabited island is in fact one of the last remaining landmasses on a planet on the verge of destruction. A deadly plague for which no cure existed threatened to kill off all inhabitants of the world. The inhabitants initiated a planetwide project to place everyone under suspended animation while automated systems of robots and computers worked towards finding a cure. Once the cure was found, the inhabitants could be revived.

By the time the player arrives, it is clear that the project is on the edge of success, but the planet itself is on the verge of destruction. The planetary orbit has decayed, leading to massive global warming and an enormous rise in the oceanic levels. Meteorites bombard the planet with ferocious intensity, and the project to find a cure for the plague is itself threatened by the failure of the main computer and repair systems. Adding to the challenge is the fact that some of the puzzles are not solvable. Determining which ones are impossible and avoiding even trying is essential.

Early on in the game, the player finds what at first appears to be the only remaining inhabitant of the island: Floyd, a childish yet endearing robot. He is both a constant source of comic relief (e.g. "Oh, boy! Are we going to try something dangerous?" when the player saves the game in his presence), and also critical in advancing the plotline. Once Floyd realizes that the ProjCon repair robot (aptly named Achilles) is non-functional, and that the Project is close to completion, he performs the ultimate sacrifice and gives his life to retrieve the vital Miniaturization Card from the Bio-lab (the mutants within kill the player if he tries to get it himself). As Floyd lies dying, the player sings the "Ballad of the Starcrossed Miner" to him (itself an allusion to the earlier Infocom game ''Starcross'').

The adventurer then uses the Miniaturization Booth to access malfunctioning Relay Station #384 and repairs the main computer by removing an offending speck of dust with a laser. After defeating a giant microbe, the adventurer is informed that the primary Miniaturization Booth is malfunctioning and is rerouted to the Auxiliary Booth. Unfortunately, this puts a room full of mutants between the player and the endgame.

With a biomask and the help of the Laboratory's poison gas system, the player makes it through the Bio-lab but emerges with the mutants on his tail. However, the adventurer makes it to the Cryo-Elevator which is hidden behind a mural. The elevator takes the adventurer to a secret room where the survivors of the infection were cryogenically frozen, just as the entire facility staff is reanimated by the antidote discovered by the ProjCon Computer. The adventurer is proclaimed a hero, Floyd is repaired, and Blather is demoted.

There are 41 ways to die. The adventurer must sleep in a Dormitory each night and eat when hungry. Taking more than a few days causes the adventurer to succumb to the infection which apparently has ravaged the facility unless the antidote is obtained at the underground site. But even taking the antidote only buys a little time as the planet is nearing its sun. To achieve the optimum ending, the adventurer also must repair the three Planetary systems: the Communications System, the Planetary Defense System, and the Course Control System.

The game's plot begins with a military spaceship crashing to Earth in an unknown location, leaving the craft's controlling artificial intelligence or AI damaged. This AI, known as the "Operator" or "Melissa", is not alone; other AI programs share its system. In an effort to survive and contact any surviving allies, Melissa transfers herself to a San Francisco-area web server, which happens to host a bee enthusiast website known as [http://www.ilovebees.com ''I Love Bees''] . To the distress of Dana Awbrey, the website's maintainer, Melissa's attempts to send signals began to appear largely as codes, hidden in images or other text, interfering with the operation of the ''I Love Bees'' site and corrupting much of the content.

Dana, attempting to regain control over the corrupted website, accidentally erases data which comprises part of Melissa's memory. Furious, Melissa lashes out at the webmaster, obtaining pictures of her using the webcam on her computer and promising to take revenge. Alarmed, Dana announces that she is removing herself from the situation and is taking a previously planned trip to China earlier than expected.

All AI units contain a program called SPDR, short for System Peril Distributed Reflex. As SPDR attempts to fix Melissa, random dumps from Melissa's memory began to spill into the website, largely detailing Melissa's history and revealing the presence of a malicious Trojan-horse virus known as the "Pious Flea." The Spider tries to erase the Flea but is outwitted, as Melissa erases the Spider instead of the Flea. The Flea continues to overwrite Melissa's programming with its own mysterious goals, with it eventually being revealed that it is actually an espionage AI more properly called the Seeker, built by the Covenant.

With the assistance of other characters revealed by audio chapters, the fictional protagonists break into a secure military installation and manage to deactivate a Forerunner device which is implied to begin the firing sequence of the Halo installations. However, the price paid for the deactivation is a powerful energy transmission alerting the Covenant to the location of Earth. Whole again, Melissa sees how she has been manipulated by the Pious Flea, and returns to her time. ''I Love Bees'' ends with the Covenant invading Earth, corresponding to a major plot point in ''Halo 2''.

Due to Bungie's commitment to the development of ''Halo 2'' during ''I Love Bees'' run, they were unable to assist 42 Entertainment with story creation, and so the ARG's story is only tangentially related to the main ''Halo'' storyline. The events of ''I Love Bees'' were, therefore, originally not considered to be ''Halo'' canon. In a 2006 interview, however, Bungie's content manager Frank O'Connor expressly confirmed that ''I Love Bees'' is part of "things that we embrace as canon." References to elements of ''I Love Bees'' have since appeared in the 2006 Halo Graphic Novel and the 2009 Halo Encyclopedia, both of which are official canon.

The series reveals that Wolverine was born James Howlett, the son of rich plantation owners in late-19th-century Canada. He is a sickly child who suffers from allergies, so his loving father, John Howlett, Jr., brings an orphaned girl named Rose up from the town to be his companion. The two children also often play with '''Dog Logan''', son of the Howletts' cruel groundskeeper, Thomas Logan (who looks a lot like the fully-grown Wolverine). Readers are led to believe that Dog was the young Wolverine, but this is later revealed to be not the case. The children's friendship is spoiled by the tension between the boys' fathers centering on James' mother, Elizabeth, who went mad after her first son, John, died under mysterious circumstances years earlier. Rose later stumbles upon Elizabeth changing, and sees that she has three parallel scars along her ribs, hinting that John Howlett III had claws.

James Howlett first uses his claws in ''Origin #2''.As a result of beatings and alcohol, Dog, over the next few years, becomes increasingly like his father, and his misdeeds, including an attempted assault on Rose and the killing of James' dog, become so violent that he and his father are expelled from the manor. Thomas returns for the purpose of robbing the Howlett estate and to convince Elizabeth to leave with him (it is implied that they had an affair and that Thomas may be the biological father of Elizabeth's sons).

John Howlett enters the bedroom after hearing noises. Thomas kills John Howlett with a shotgun blast in front of all three children and Elizabeth. The horror of his father's death causes James' powers to manifest for the first time, and he uses his claws to kill Thomas and injure Dog, before lapsing into shock. Elizabeth tells James "Not you too" (implying that something similar had happened to his deceased brother), rejecting him with disgust. James escapes and Rose follows him. Meanwhile, Elizabeth, surprisingly, cradles the body of Thomas Logan rather than that of her husband. After a few moments, with her shallow grip on reality shattered, she picks up Thomas' shotgun and kills herself in front of Dog.

Questioned by the police, Dog accuses Rose of the killings and the fact that she fled the scene with James appears to confirm this. James is still in shock and appears to have no recollection of what happened. This loss of memory is due to Wolverine's/James' healing factor which, in effect, "healed" (by putting up a mental block) the mentally devastating traumas of witnessing his father's death, the confusion at his mother's anger towards him and the pain and surprise caused by the sudden manifestation of his claws.

Rose seeks help from her aunt, her only relative, who rejects her, and even James' grandfather drives them both from the house due to the manifestation of James' powers, mentioning he has had to deal with this sort of thing before. They are given some money and take the train from Alberta to British Columbia, where they are given work in a stone quarry by the foreman, Smitty. Rose claims that her male companion is her cousin and, since they are on the run, calls him Logan to conceal his identity; though why she should choose the name of their enemy remains unexplained.

Over several years James/Logan strengthens physically, to the point where he no longer resembles the sickly child he had been, although his memory is still shattered. He often goes into the woods to hunt game, typically among a pack of wolves. He quickly becomes the head of the pack, and begins using his claws to hunt. He turns down Rose's offers to tell him about his past, and reacts angrily when the subject comes up. She therefore keeps detailed notes in her diary.

James becomes close to the foreman, Smitty, who, in turn, develops romantic feelings toward Rose, which she returns. He courts her with books, including poetry by William Blake and a history of the samurai (warriors whom Wolverine of the X-Men would later model himself after). Logan's public identity as her cousin makes it impossible for him to declare his own feelings for her. He seems to deal with his feelings by working hard at the quarry, and is given the nickname Wolverine by the local population, who compare his intense digging to a wolverine going after a root. He also develops a deep resentment of the camp's obese cook, "Cookie" Malone, who goes out of his way to cause trouble for Logan from the time he and Rose arrive. After years of enduring Malone's abuses, Logan eventually gives him a beating after the cook provokes an explosion in the quarry.

Smitty eventually asks Rose to marry him, which she accepts, and Smitty informs her that the cage fights are a fast and easy way to earn some extra money. He asks her to leave with him, which she is reluctant to do because of Logan. Logan sees Rose kissing Smitty and, feeling betrayed, later confronts her and confesses his feelings to her, though she rejects him for Smitty after he turns down her offer for him to go with them. Just before the couple leaves to be wed, Dog comes to the bar, originally sent by Old Man Howlett, on his deathbed, to find his heir. Logan works out his violence in a series of cage fights, and confronts Smitty at the last cage fight after venting his fury on Malone, and quickly has him at his mercy. Despite mixed feelings, Logan wishes Rose to be happy and allows Smitty to defeat him purposely.

After the last cage fight, Dog confronts Logan. Dog blames Logan for the events that led to his father's death and is actually there for revenge. In the ensuing fight, Logan gives Dog a beating, but as he is about to kill him, Rose is accidentally impaled on Logan's claws. Logan goes mad with grief (his healing factor throwing up another mental block due to accidentally killing his first love) and runs into the woods, where he stays for an as yet unknown amount of time, living like a wild animal. Smitty attempts to find him during this period and bring him back to humanity, but fails as Logan no longer wishes to be found.

Logan would not let Rose tell him about his past, which he had forgotten anyway. Malone steals Rose's few belongings, and contemptuously burns her diary which contains the truth of Logan's past.

Set in a futuristic, matriarchal world of warring clans which vaguely recalls feudal-era Japanese culture, the action centers on the eponymous Spider Garden, a palace-fortress populated by concubines, human pets, and the spider-like automatons who give the Garden its name. The Garden's ruler is Shaalis the Sacred Androgyne, a seemingly immortal hermaphrodite who is referred to by the pronouns 'Hir' and 'S/He' (pronounced as "her" and "she" respectively) to denote Hir multi-gendered status.

The main plot follows the socio-political intrigues between Shaalis' Metal Spider Clan and the Serpentine Sisters, Squamata and Lichurna - incestuous twins who command the rival Water Serpent Clan which is based in an aquatic palace, Hydrophidian. Caught in the middle are former lovers Sasaya Nijan, a female courtesan who enters service in the Spider Garden in order to settle a gambling debt, and Lord Verio, head of the Double Ibis Clan who, following a failed assassination attempt on the Sacred Androgyne, finds himself deposed and forced into an alliance with the Serpentine Sisters.

Also appearing in the story are the Tengu, a non-human race of horse-like bipeds. Inspired by but not identical to the tengu of Japanese legend, it is implied that these creatures once held humanity in bondage in the distant past.

The novel is divided into four parts: Wave; Argil and Mold; Plant and Phantom; and Wake. Within these parts are chorus sections, consisting of play-like dialogue between characters, as well as Time Machine sections, which give brief histories and flashbacks of individual characters’ lives.

The story takes place on Anopopei, a fictional island somewhere in the South Pacific. American forces are faced with a campaign to drive out the Japanese so that Americans can advance into the Philippines. The novel focuses on the experiences of one platoon.

Part One - Wave

Staff Sergeant Sam Croft, Woodrow Wilson, and Roy Gallagher are playing cards the night before a scheduled attack. They are members of a recon platoon fighting in the Asian theater of World War II on a fictional island named Anopopei. The next morning, as the platoon takes boats to the island, they are nervous. Sgt. William Brown and Cpl. Stanley talk about women and the other men in their squad. The assault begins, and as the platoon waits for their scheduled turn to come to the island, they nervously joke amongst themselves. Once the squad reaches the beach, they begin digging foxholes. Stanley picks a fight with Oscar Ridges and Red Valsen, but ultimately Red knows the time is not right for a fight, and he backs down. Croft leaves to find his commanding officer. Once they’ve begun to settle in on the beach, the Japanese begin to attack. The platoon splits up. Cpl. Toglio, Hennessey, and Ridges have completed their foxholes, so they stay on the beach. Brown, Gallagher, Wilson, Red, Stanley, and Sgt. Julio Martinez run after Croft. As the beach is shelled, Hennessey panics and soils himself. He runs down the beach in an attempt to clean his pants, but he is killed by shrapnel.

Part Two - Argil and Mold

Croft pleads with higher officers to give him more men to replace those lost. He ultimately earns an extra replacement man, bringing the depleted platoon up to fourteen out of an intended twenty. Roth and Goldstein, two of the new men in the platoon, bond over their shared Jewish heritage.

Lt. Robert Hearn snaps at the officers' table, towards a couple other officers. Major General Edward Cummings steps in to prevent the situation from escalating further. Hearn and Cummings form an odd friendship. The two talk in Cummings’ tent at night. They discuss philosophy and Cummings analyzes Hearn’s personality based on his behavior. Cummings tells Hearn that, as an officer, he must develop resentment for the enlisted men.

An intense storm comes in, destroying all the work the enlisted men had done the previous week building a bivouac. Tents go flying and everyone tries to stay as dry as they can. In an effort to keep the men’s spirits up during the storm, Red leads them in song. General Cummings makes the rounds to evaluate the storm damage and good-naturedly tells the men to expect a Japanese attack. Cummings makes further preparations up and down the line for the attack.

Roth and Minetta are separated from the rest of the squad, and when they hear gunfire, they assume recon must be in the middle of a firefight. As Roth keeps watch, he falls asleep at his post and wakes up Stanley a half hour late. The next day, the other half of the platoon moves anti-tank guns, which is difficult because of all the mud. Wyman drops his leg of the gun, and it rolls all the way back down a hill. When he tries to take responsibility, Croft thinks he’s covering for Goldstein, who he blames instead. Ironically, Goldstein, who had been doing more than his share of work, comes to believe that he himself was responsible for the failure to move the gun.

The entire platoon meets back up, and as they sleep, they’re attacked by Japanese soldiers. Luckily, Croft is one of the men on watch when they attack, and he leads the platoon in repelling the Japanese, killing multiple Japanese soldiers. Toglio gets hit in the arm during the battle, which means he’ll get to go home. The soldiers say he’s lucky because his wound won’t prevent him from doing anything once it heals, but he still gets to return to America. The Japanese attack up and down the American lines, but the Americans fend off the attack at all points.

Cummings and Hearn continue their antagonistic relationship and Cummings assigns Hearn to oversee the construction of a recreation tent for the officers. Hearn realizes he is feeling the resentment towards the enlisted men that Cummings predicted. The two discuss the nature of war, soldiers, and fighting. They also discuss politics and philosophy, and Cummings beats Hearn in a game of chess. Cummings tells Hearn, “My wife is a bitch.” It is implied that Cummings is gay. “Between [Cummings and Hearn]...was the uncomfortable realization that they did not like each other at all.”

Croft, Red and Gallagher run into four Japanese soldiers in the forest, who don’t notice them. Croft throws a grenade, killing three of the soldiers. Red goes to finish off the remaining soldier, but his gun jams. The soldier rushes Red with a bayonet, and Red trips and falls. Croft comes out and stops the soldier from killing Red, and the Japanese man surrenders. Red goes back to camp, and Croft and Gallagher take the soldier prisoner. Croft gives the prisoner a cigarette and some chocolate. The prisoner shows them a picture of his family, and Gallagher tells him that his wife is going to have a baby shortly. Croft gives him another cigarette and then shoots him in the face, which brings him a perverse sense of pleasure.

Wilson hears about a sergeant in another platoon who makes good liquor. He borrows money from a few other men to buy some. Wilson buys four canteens and brings three back to the squad, hiding one for himself. The men get drunk together. Wilson offers Goldstein a drink, but he refuses, saying that he is in the middle of writing a letter to his wife. The men mock Goldstein for being Jewish, and he realizes he hates everyone around him. He writes to his wife that he cannot remember why he is fighting. The drunk members of the platoon look for corpses to loot, but only find bodies that have been picked clean of “souvenirs.” Wilson drinks the canteen he stashed away before he goes on watch. As he stands by the machine gun, drunk, he sees a bush that he thinks would be a good hiding spot for a Japanese soldier, so he shoots the bush. The men wake up in a rush, thinking they are under attack. When Croft realizes that Wilson is the only one shooting, he yells at him.

Hearn sits on a beach relaxing with the other officers as the enlisted men work in the forest. He realizes he does not like any of the other officers, and he has stronger feelings of resentment towards the enlisted men. The men discuss all the important men they knew back in the States, and one of them claims to have known Hearn’s father. Hearn quickly realizes that this man did not know his father, and he likely didn’t know any of the other important people he claimed to know either. Major Dalleson makes an officer with a camera take pictures of him shooting pebbles with his carbine to send back to his skeet shooting club back home.

A load of mail comes in. Wyman is upset because he didn’t get anything from his girl back home. Red comforts him. Wilson’s wife is angry that he doesn’t send more money, and Wilson has Gallagher transcribe an angry response for him. Gallagher reads his own letters and feels a pang of jealousy to discover that an old friend earned a promotion that he was once up for. The chaplain calls Gallagher in and reports to him that his wife has died in childbirth, but his child survived. He continues to get letters from his wife, however. When the last letter arrives, Gallagher freaks out. He wonders what the point of fighting is. “He thought of Hennessy and his mouth tightened. Get your head blown off...for what, for what?”

Stanley, who just made corporal, clashes with Sgt. Brown. The two are unsure how to relate to each other. Stanley tells a story about a time he stole and then repaid money from a store he worked at to buy cheap furniture. From the beach, Croft spots a couple Japanese soldiers in the forest. The platoon, led by Croft, shoots them both, but Minetta is hit in the leg. Brown expresses a contempt for women to Stanley, who begins to wonder if his own wife is being faithful.

The fighting settles down for a few weeks, and the lines begin to become stagnant. Cummings worries that the men are getting too comfortable in one place, which will make them unwilling to fight. He fears that if he cannot shift the front line, he will be replaced. His anxiety leads to health problems and constant outbursts directed at Hearn. Cummings commands Hearn to have Clellan, an enlisted man, put flowers in his tent each morning. This inspires conflict between Hearn and Clellan, which is what Cummings intends.

Hearn becomes frustrated and easily provoked. Cummings instructs him to go pick up supplies for the officers’ mess hall, but secretly pays off the seller to keep the goods from Hearn. Hearn bribes an assistant to get the supplies and later realizes what Cummings has done. The incident reframes Hearn’s past experiences with Cummings, which he realizes have all been aimed to anger him. Furious, Hearn extinguishes a cigarette on the floor of Cummings’s tent when Cummings is gone.

Cummings discovers that a sergeant has been falsifying his patrol reports and realizes that his entire command has likely been doing the same thing. He vows to crack down on disciplinary issues. He returns to his tent to discover Hearn’s cigarette. He summons Hearn to his tent for the first time since they played chess. They have an intense discussion about the war and what will happen afterwards. Cummings reiterates his distaste for women. Cummings explains to Hearn that he wants to be a type of god. Cummings smokes a cigarette and throws it on the ground, just as Hearn did. He commands Hearn to pick up the cigarette or he will be court-martialed. Hearns asks him for a transfer to another division and Cummings denies his request and tells him to work labor under Dalleson. Hearns cuts Cummings back by asking, “Short of bringing in every man in the outfit, all six thousand of them, and letting them pick up your cigarettes, how are you going to impress them?”

Minetta is in the hospital from his gunshot wound, which is healing quickly. He worries that he will be sent back to the front lines, so he deliberately re-opens his own wound. When he realizes he will likely be discharged, he decides that he would rather feign insanity in order to get sent home than return to the platoon. Minetta fires his gun in the medical tent and yells about enemy soldiers. A doctor is skeptical, but Minetta is sent to a separate tent for mental patients.

Minetta spends a couple days in the mental ward and realizes he can’t take it anymore, so he claims to have woken up with no memory of the past week. The doctor who was skeptical pulls him aside and tells him that he knew Minetta was faking. When Minetta goes back to the platoon, he reports that the hospital was nicer than the front, so Red and Wilson try to report as sick. The doctors dismiss Red, but they caution Wilson that he’ll need surgery after the war.

Cummings tries to devise a new attack plan. He thinks long and hard about the most effective ways to outmaneuver the Japanese army. He comes up with a plan that he thinks will be militarily successful and also inspire the men to fight hard. Cummings asks Dalleson what he would think if Cummings transferred Hearn to another unit, which Dalleson perceives as odd, since generals usually wouldn’t be concerned with such minutiae.

Hearn is doing busywork recording patrol logs when Dalleson comes in. The two begin to scrap, but Cummings interrupts. He asks Hearn to bring him a large and heavy map, which Hearn semi-accidentally drops on Cummings’s foot.

When Cummings hears that he will not get naval support, he has to adjust his attack plan. He comes up with a new strategy. The plan is to send a recon squad, led by Hearn, who Cummings will transfer, to scout a trail from the backside of the island towards the beach, thereby allowing Cummings to send in a full company through that route from the back. The secondary company would then overpower the beach defenses, allowing for a full invasion from the beach.

Part Three - Plant and Phantom

Hearn joins the recon platoon on the boat to the other side of the island. He immediately realizes that Croft knows more than he does, and he doesn’t want the rest of the squad to realize that. Croft immediately dislikes Hearn because Hearn tries to befriend the men in the squad. Stanley tells Croft that he wishes Croft were still in charge. All the men are anxious about their own standing within the platoon, particularly the noncommissioned officers. Brown and Martinez discuss their fears. Croft and Hearn struggle for control of the platoon early in the mission, and Croft takes what Hearn will give him.

Roth and Minetta struggle to keep up with the rest of the platoon as they try to bushwack through the jungle. Croft gets on them for being slow, and Minetta snaps at Croft. Croft realizes Hearn will soon get comfortable around the platoon and take more control. Goldstein and Ridges end up doing most of Roth and Minetta’s work. Minetta picks on Roth for being Jewish, and Goldstein, who is also Jewish, takes Minetta’s side. The platoon slowly works their way through the jungle, cutting leaves at a rate of about two yards a minute. It takes them five hours to get through the jungle to open fields.

Hearn and Croft continue to subtly struggle for power. Hearn wants to try to go through a pass in the mountain range, but Croft wants to go over the mountain. Hearn continues to try to befriend the men in the platoon, which further angers Croft. Martinez, as the best at forging a trail, walks in front. Hearn stays in the back of the squad and realizes that no matter what he does he will not be able to get the men to like him.

The platoon comes across an exposed field. Hearn and Croft decide to split the platoon into two groups, one to lead the way and the other to provide cover. Croft offers to lead the first group, but Hearn elects to do it himself. The first group gets about halfway through the field when they begin taking fire. Hearn freezes when the shooting stops and realizes he is waiting for Croft to give an order. This realization frustrates him enough to get him to move. He leads the group in a retreat. They move away from the field for ten minutes before they realize Wilson is missing.

Wilson was shot in the stomach during the skirmish. He hides in a patch of tall grass, unseen to Japanese soldiers who he can hear talking. Croft, Red, Gallagher, Ridges, and Goldstein go back to the field to get Wilson. They bring him back to the rest of the platoon and realize his injury is too severe for him to continue the mission.

Polack, Roth, and Minetta are getting materials to build for a stretcher for Wilson, but Roth gets distracted by a baby bird. Everyone is looking at the bird as Croft builds the stretcher. Croft sees them gathered around the bird and goes into a rage. He crushes the bird and throws it. The men are furious about it, and Red decides that enough is enough and challenges Croft. Hearn breaks up the fight and orders Croft to apologize. He does so reluctantly and only becomes more angry at Hearn.

Brown, Stanley, Ridges, and Goldstein are assigned to carry Wilson back to the beach, and four more men (Minetta, Wyman, Polack, and Gallagher) go with them to help until they’re far from Japanese lines, leaving just five men: Hearn, Croft, Red, Roth, and Martinez. After Minetta, Wyman, Polack, and Gallagher return to the rest of the platoon, Brown stresses over the responsibility that he has been given. He realizes how important it is to him that they bring Wilson back alive.

Back on the other side of the island, Cummings is pleasantly surprised by how well the attacks are going. He realizes he has misjudged his men’s morale, but it has worked out for the best since the men are more inclined to fight when they are restless. He receives word that he will receive more naval support than he expected, and he wonders if the recon mission was necessary.

Roth is experiencing extreme anxiety, which is causing him stomach problems and keeping him from sleeping. He talks to Red and tries to thank him for standing up to Croft over the bird. Red recognizes that if he allows himself to become close with Roth, Roth’s death will be more painful, so he deliberately snaps at Roth to keep him distant. Red thinks to himself about the nature of the war. “‘Did the GIs die in vain?’ [Red] snorted. Who didn’t know the answer? Of course they died in vain, any GI knew the score.”

Hearn realizes that the mission has almost no chance of succeeding now that the Japanese know they’re there. He considers turning back, but he decides that he could not face Cummings empty handed. He finally understands that his whole motivation throughout the entire mission was to get back at Cummings.

That night, Hearn admits that there is nothing left to be gained, and he decides to turn around the next morning. However, Croft persuades him to send out a single man to see if the Japanese are still in the field where they were ambushed. They agree that if the recon man sees anything, they’ll turn back. They pick Martinez as the recon man, but before he leaves, Croft tells Martinez to report to Hearn that he saw nothing when he gets back.

At first, Martinez sees nothing. However, he soon realizes he has wandered into the middle of a Japanese camp, full of sleeping soldiers. He quietly kills the guard and escapes. He makes his way further through the valley and finds another Japanese camp. At this point, Martinez returns to the platoon and reports his findings to Croft. Croft warns him not to say anything about what he has seen to Hearn. Croft tells Hearn that Martinez saw nothing on his recon mission, and Hearn feels obligated to try to go through the valley.

Hearn is leading the men back through the valley when he is unceremoniously shot and killed. Croft feels a sense of relief. “No longer was there that confusion, that momentary internal pause before he gave an order.” The men are generally apathetic about Hearn’s death, seeing him as just another officer. Croft takes control of the platoon and decides to take the platoon up and over the mountain.

Brown, Stanley, Ridges, and Goldstein are still carrying Wilson back to the beach, which is difficult given the terrain, heat, and fatigue. The group moves about a hundred yards at a time. Wilson is drifting in and out of consciousness and swearing at the men carrying him. Brown and Stanley fight. Wilson wants water, but Brown says he can’t have any because he has a stomach wound. Wilson begins to hallucinate. Wilson demands that they leave him, and each man individually considers it. Stanley collapses, and Brown stays with him, while Ridges and Goldstein continue to carry Wilson back to the beach.

Croft cracks down on discipline to reassert himself as the leader of the platoon. Martinez tells the other men that he saw Japanese soldiers on his recon mission the night before, but when he reported it to Hearn, he didn’t believe it. Martinez believes that this is the truth. Martinez and Gallagher, as the Catholics of the group, discuss their fear of death, particularly with no priest around to confess their sins to if something were to happen to them. Croft knows that he must reach the top of the mountain, or the trick he pulled that got Hearn killed would be for nothing. But the mountain is extremely difficult, and the men are not motivated.

Goldstein and Ridges continue to carry Wilson. They are exhausted beyond conversation and can only carry Wilson for ten to fifteen yards at a time. Wilson continues to mutter nonsense. By the end of the day, they’ve advanced five miles since they left Brown and Stanley.

Cummings leaves the island for Army headquarters to appeal for more naval support. Major Dalleson is left in charge. Dalleson receives a report indicating a large breach in the Japanese lines and sees no choice but to attack. He finds himself hoping that the report is untrue, because he is unsure of what to do in the case that the report is correct. He realizes he is unqualified to be leading the Army in such a situation, and he wishes Cummings had not left. Dalleson quickly throws together an attack plan, and as the plan is executed, he realizes there are many things he has not considered. Despite this, Dalleson employs the attacking units well, and arranges for effective support.

Dalleson’s attack is wildly successful. The Japanese general is killed, along with much of his support staff. Cummings returns with the destroyer he just begged for, only to find that there is no longer much of a need for it. The destroyer provides a little bit of support from the sea, and the Americans essentially wrap up the campaign. Cummings has forgotten entirely about the recon mission.

Up on the mountain, the platoon has no idea what is happening with the rest of the campaign. The mountain proves more treacherous than even Croft expected, and every man in the platoon, including Croft, feels an internal desire to turn back. Minetta, Wyman, and Roth are dragging behind the rest of the squad. Roth begins to fall every hundred feet or so, to the increasing irritation of the rest of the platoon. Roth falls again and tells them to leave him behind. Gallagher hits him and yells, “Get up, you Jew bastard!” The comment angers Roth enough to motivate him to stand and continue.

The mountain terrain is becoming increasingly dangerous, and they come to a narrow ledge in front of a gap of about four feet. Croft sees no way over it but to jump, and everyone in the platoon achieves the jump with relative ease. Roth knows he cannot make the jump, but as he stands on the ledge, he hears Gallagher goading him. He jumps but comes up short and falls to his death.

Goldstein and Ridges continue to struggle with Wilson. Ridges can no longer remember why Wilson should not be allowed to have water and gives him some. Ridges comes to the realization that no matter what they do, Wilson is going to die. Both Ridges and Goldstein consider leaving Wilson, but they both decide that they cannot for religious reasons. Ridges asks Wilson to repent before he dies, and Wilson, who is no longer lucid, agrees. As they rest in preparation to cross a river, Wilson dies. Ridges and Goldstein continue to carry his body, but as they cross the river, they lose it. Ridges and Goldstein make it back to the beach and realize they have nothing to do but sit and wait for the rest of the squad.

The platoon is shaken after Roth’s death. They move a little bit farther and decide to camp for the night. Gallagher realizes the responsibility he has for Roth’s death. The next morning, Gallagher and Martinez turn on Croft and demand that they turn back. However, Croft will not waver and orders the men to continue on. Red declares that he will not continue either, and Croft threatens to shoot him. Red eventually backs down, bringing the lengthy power struggle between the two to a conclusion. Red admits to himself that the army “has him licked.”

Croft turns around a bend only to directly upset a hornets’ nest. The men run back to evade the hornets, and in their hurry, toss away their packs and rifles. Within fifteen minutes, they’ve made it back farther than the place they started that morning. Croft accepts defeat and wearily gives the order that they will go back to the beach and wait for the boat to bring them back to the American lines.

All the surviving members of the platoon meet back up on the beach. Stanley and Brown arrive only a few hours before Croft’s group. Once the boat picks them up, the men learn that the campaign is essentially over. They share laughter for a while, which is slowly replaced by a silent sadness, mixed with uncertainty and frustration that the entire patrol was for naught.

Part Four - Wake

In the process of “mopping up,” Cummings discovers that a Japanese supply depot had been destroyed by artillery fire weeks before. The Japanese lines had been falling apart for months, and a week before the final attack, the Japanese had run out of ammo. Cummings looks back at his intelligence reports and sees that they gave no indication of Japanese weaknesses. “For a moment [Cummings] almost admitted that he had had very little or perhaps nothing at all to do with this victory, or indeed any victory -- it had been accomplished by a random play of vulgar good luck larded into a causal net of factors too large, too vague, for him to comprehend. He allowed himself this thought...but it caused him a deep depression.” The novel ends with Major Dalleson thinking of a new way to implement map training exercises, indicating that despite the lessons each character in the novel learned about the meaninglessness of war, the structures will remain unchanged.

The novels chronicle the life of Christopher Tietjens, "the last Tory", a brilliant government statistician from a wealthy landowning family who serves in the British Army during the First World War. His wife Sylvia is a flippant socialite who seems intent on ruining him through her sexual promiscuity. Tietjens may or may not be the father of his wife's child. Meanwhile, his incipient affair with Valentine Wannop, a high-spirited pacifist and women's suffragist, has not been consummated, despite what all their friends believe.

The two central novels follow Tietjens in the army in France and Belgium, as well as Sylvia and Valentine in their separate paths over the course of the war.

''The Moviegoer'' tells the story of Jack "Binx" Bolling, a young stock-broker in postwar New Orleans. The decline of tradition in the Southern United States, the problems of his family and his traumatic experiences in the Korean War have left him alienated from his own life. He day-dreams constantly, has trouble engaging in lasting relationships, and finds more meaning and immediacy in cinema and literature than in his own routine life.

The loose plot of the novel follows the Moviegoer himself, Binx Bolling, in desperate need of spiritual redemption. At Mardi Gras, he breaks out of his caged everyday life and launches himself on a journey, a quest, in a "search" for God. Without any mental compass or sense of direction, he wanders the streets of New Orleans' French Quarter, and Chicago, and then travels the Gulf Coast, interacting with his surroundings as he goes. He has philosophical moments, reflecting on the people and things he encounters on the road. He is constantly challenged to define himself in relation to friends, family, sweet-hearts, and career despite his urge to remain vague and open to possibility.

The narrative is based on two historical figures of the late 19th century, Jean-Baptiste Lamy and Joseph Projectus Machebeuf, and rather than any one singular plot, is the stylized re-telling of their lives serving as Roman Catholic clergy in New Mexico. The narrative has frequent digressions, either in terms of stories related to the pair (including the story of the Our Lady of Guadalupe and the murder of an oppressive Spanish priest at Acoma Pueblo) or through their recollections. The narration is in third-person omniscient style. Cather includes many fictionalized accounts of actual historical figures, including Kit Carson, Manuel Antonio Chaves and Pope Gregory XVI.

In the prologue, Bishop Ferrand, an Irish bishop who works in the New World, solicits three cardinals at Rome to pick his candidate for the newly created diocese of New Mexico (which has recently passed into American hands). Bishop Ferrand is successful in getting his candidate, the Auvergnat Jean-Marie Latour, recommended by the cardinals over the recommendation of the Bishop of Durango (under whose territory New Mexico had previously fallen). One of the cardinals, a Spaniard named Allende, alludes to a painting by El Greco taken from his family by a missionary to the New World and lost, and asks for the new Bishop to search for it.

The action then switches to the primary character, Bishop Jean Marie Latour, who travels with his friend and vicar Joseph Vaillant from Sandusky, Ohio to New Mexico. At the time of Latour's departure for New Mexico, Cincinnati is the end of the railway line west, so Latour must travel by riverboat to the Gulf of Mexico, and thence overland to New Mexico, a journey which takes an entire year (and includes losing most of his supplies in a shipwreck at Galveston). The names given to the main proponents reflect their characters. Vaillant, ''valiant'', is fearless in his promulgation of the faith, whereas Latour, ''the tower'', is more intellectual and reserved than his comrade. Vaillant, described as being ugly but purpose-filled, is given the nickname "Blanchet" ("Whitey") as well as "Trompe-la-morte" ("Death-cheater") for his complexion and his numerous instances of bad health, respectively. While the narrative speaks of Vaillant positively, it also alludes to his willingness to acquire (he "forces the hand" of a landowner into giving him and Latour two prize mules, Angelica and Contento, chastises the widow Dona Isabella Olivares for refusing to assert her rights under her husband's will and thereby blocking the church from its testamentary share, and goes on frank "begging trips" to acquire money) and near the end of the novel his questionable financial behaviour receives an investigation from Rome. Latour, again presented favourably, nevertheless does operate with a view to politics: he successfully canvasses donations to build a Romanesque cathedral in Santa Fe according to his own desires (he chooses the stone and brings the architect Molny from France to complete it), and bides his time to remove dissenting priests and help a poor Mexican slave-woman named Sada until he is in a position of political strength (his help of Sada is never described in the novel). The novel ends with the death of (retired) Archbishop Latour in Santa Fe: Vaillant has pre-deceased Latour as the first Bishop of Colorado after the Colorado gold rush (in reality Machebeuf was the first Roman Catholic Bishop of Denver).

Near the beginning of the novel, Latour and Vaillant are saved from being murdered by the villainous Buck Scales (at whose house they have sought shelter for the night) by Scales's abused wife Magdalena. All three escape, and Scales is hanged for the murder of four of his former guests, while Magdalena ultimately serves nuns whom Latour brings from Europe and who run a school in Santa Fe. While some of the clergy already established in New Mexico are portrayed favourably (such as the Padre of Isleta Pueblo, the blind priest Father Jesus de Baca, who collects parrots), several of the entrenched priests are depicted as examples of greed, avarice, and gluttony. The priest of Albuquerque, Father Gallegos, is removed for not being devout enough (he dances and enjoys fine food and hunting), replaced by Vaillant. Father Martinez at Taos is removed for denying the necessity of priestly celibacy (and having children, although he is also described as starting a revolt and then profiting from the executions of the rebels to seize their property) and his friend Father Lucero at Arroyo Hondo (described as a miser) is also removed when he joins Father Martinez's new church (Martinez dies an apostate while Lucero receives absolution from Vaillant after repenting near death).

Cather portrays the aboriginal people of the Pueblos, the Hopi and the Navajo sympathetically, including a discussion of the Long Walk of the Navajo (mentioned as a reminiscence of the dying Latour of his Navajo friend Eusabio and the Navajo leader Manuelito). Latour reflects that the removal of the Navajos was a wrong comparable to "black slavery," and the narrator describes Kit Carson's actions with the Navajo as "misguided" and "a soldier's brutal work." Cather's characters express the near futility of overlaying their religion on a millennia-old native culture. For example, while caught in a snowstorm with his native guide Jacinto (who dwells in the Pecos Pueblo, which in reality was already deserted by the time of Lamy), Latour and Jacinto are forced to spend the night in a cave sacred to Jacinto's people. Latour initially finds a disagreeable smell, and the unexplained actions of Jacinto with regard to the place make him uneasy.

The book begins with the death of Helen Carey, the beloved mother of nine-year-old Philip Carey. Philip has a club foot and his father had died a few months earlier. Now orphaned, he is sent to live with his aunt and uncle, Louisa and William Carey.

Philip's lives at his uncle's vicarage. Aunt Louisa tries to be a mother to Philip, but his uncle is cold towards him. Philip's uncle has a vast collection of books, and Philip enjoys reading to escape his mundane existence. After less than a year, Philip is sent to a boarding school. His uncle and aunt plan for him to attend Oxford. Philip's disability and sensitive nature make it difficult for him to befriend other students. Philip learns that he could earn a scholarship for Oxford, which both his uncle and school headmaster view as wise, but Philip insists on going to Germany.

In Heidelberg, Philip lives at a boarding house with other foreigners and enjoys Germany. Philip's guardians persuade him to move to London for an apprenticeship. His colleagues there resent him, believing he is a "gentleman". He goes on a business trip with one of his managers to Paris and is inspired to study art in France.

In Paris, Philip attends art classes and makes new friends, including Fanny Price, a poor and determined but talentless art student and a loner. Fanny Price falls in love with Philip, but he does not know and has no such feelings for her. She subsequently commits suicide.

Philip realizes that he will never be a professional artist. He returns to his uncle's house in England to study medicine, his late father's field. He struggles at medical school and meets Mildred, who works as a waitress in a tea shop. He falls desperately in love with her, and they date regularly, although she does not show him affection. Mildred tells Philip she will marry another man, leaving him heartbroken; Philip subsequently enters into an affair with Norah Nesbit, a kind and sensitive author of penny romance novels. Later Mildred returns, pregnant, and confesses that the man for whom she had abandoned Philip never married her, as he was already married with three children.

Philip breaks off his relationship with Norah and supports Mildred financially, which he can ill afford. To Philip's dismay, after Mildred has her baby, she falls in love with Philip's good friend Harry Griffiths and runs away with him. About a year later, Philip runs into Mildred and, feeling sympathy, takes her in again. Though he no longer loves her, he becomes attached to her baby. When he rejects her advances she becomes angry, destroys most of his belongings, and leaves forever. In shame, and quickly running out of money, Philip leaves the house for good. He meets Mildred once more, towards the end of the novel, when she summons him for his medical opinion. She is suffering symptoms of syphilis from her work as a prostitute. Philip advises Mildred to give up that life but she declines and exits the plot with her fate unknown.

While working at a hospital, Philip befriends a family man, Thorpe Athelny, who has lived in Toledo, Spain and is enthusiastically translating the works of St. John of the Cross. Philip invests in mines but is left nearly penniless because of events surrounding the Boer War. Unable to pay his rent, he wanders the streets for several days before the Athelnys take him in and find him a department store job, which he hates. His talent for drawing is discovered and he receives a promotion and a raise in salary, but his time at the store is short-lived.

After his uncle William dies, Philip inherits enough money to allow him to finish his medical studies and he finally becomes a licensed doctor. Philip is temporarily placed as locum with Dr. South, a general practitioner in Dorsetshire. Dr. South is an old, cantankerous physician whose wife is dead and whose daughter is estranged. However, Dr. South takes a shine to Philip's humour and personable nature, eventually offering Philip a partnership in his medical practice. Although flattered, Philip refuses because he plans to visit Spain.

He goes on a small summer holiday with the Athelnys, hop-picking in the Kent countryside. There he finds that one of Athelny's daughters, Sally, likes him. In a moment of romantic abandon one evening they have sex, and when she thinks she is pregnant, Philip decides to marry Sally and accept Dr. South's offer, instead of travelling the world as he had planned. They meet in the National Gallery where, though learning that it was a false alarm, Philip becomes engaged to Sally, concluding that "the simplest pattern – that in which a man was born, worked, married, had children, and died – was likewise the most perfect". He stops the pursuit of happiness and decides to be content with his lot.