LIKE THE THEATER DISTRICTS OF so many great cities across the Imajica, whether in Reconciled Dominions or in the Fifth, the neighborhood in which the Ipse stood had been a place of some notoriety in earlier times, when actors of both sexes had supplemented their wages with the old five-acter-hiring, retiring, seduction, conjunction, and remittance-all played hourly, night and day. The center of these activities had moved away, however, to the other side of the city, where the burgeoning numbers of middle-class clients felt less exposed to the gaze of their peers out seeking more respectable　

　　 HIS NAME WAS THORNE. In the ancient language of the runes, it had been longer-Thornevald. But when he became a blood drinker, his name had been changed to Thorne. And Thorne he remained now, centuries later, as he lay in his cave in the ice, dreaming.　 When he had first e to the frozen land, he had hoped he would sleep eternally. But now and then the thirst for blood awakened him and using the Cloud Gift, he rose into the air, and went in search of the Snow Hunters.　 He fed off them, careful never to take too much blood from any one so that none died on account of him. And when he neede　

This tale grew in the telling, until it became a history of the Great War of the Ring and included many glimpses of the yet more ancient history that preceded it. It was begun soon after The Hobbit was written and before its publication in 1937; but I did not go on with this sequel, for I wished first to plete and set in order the mythology and legends of the Elder Days, which had then been taking shape for some years. I desired to do this for my own satisfaction, and I had little hope that other people would be interested in this work, especially since it was primarily linguistic in inspi　

　　THOMAS COVENANT is a happy and successful author until an unfelt infection leads to the amputation of two fingers. Then his doctor tells him he has leprosy. The disease is arrested at a leprosarium, but he returns home to find himself an outcast. His wife has divorced him and ignorant fear makes all his neighbors shun him. He bees a lonely, bitter pariah.　In rebellion, he goes to town. There, just after he meets a strange beggar, he stumbles in front of a police car. Disorientation overes him. He revives in a strange world where the evil voice of Lord Foul gives him a mocking message of doo　

Guy Manneringby Sir Walter ScottINTRODUCTION TO GUY MANNERING.The Novel or Romance of WAVERLEY made its way to the public slowly, of course, at first, but afterwards with such accumulating popularity as to encourage the author to a second attempt. He looked about for a name and a subject; and the manner in which the novels were composed cannot be better illustrated than by reciting the simple narrative on which Guy Mannering was originally founded; but to which, in the progress of the work, the production ceased to bear any, even the most distant resemblance. The tale was originally told me b　

　　IT WAS THE PIVOTAL TEACHING of Pluthero Quexos, the most celebrated dramatist of the Second Dominion, that in any fiction, no matter how ambitious its scope or profound its theme, there was only ever room for three players. Between warring kings, a peacemaker; between adoring spouses, a seducer or a child. Between twins, the spirit of the womb. Between lovers, Death. Greater numbers might drift through the drama, of course-thousands in fact-but they could only ever be phantoms, agents, or, on rare occasions, reflections of the three real and self-willed beings who stood at the center. And e　

Book ICHAPTER I.MASLOVA IN PRISON.Though hundreds of thousands had done their very best todisfigure the small piece of land on which they were crowdedtogether, by paying the ground with stones, scraping away everyvestige of vegetation, cutting down the trees, turning away birdsand beasts, and filling the air with the smoke of naphtha andcoal, still spring was spring, even in the town.The sun shone warm, the air was balmy; everywhere, where it didnot get scraped away, the grass revived and sprang up between thepaving-stones as well as on the narrow strips of lawn on the...　

The French Revolution, Volume 1.The Origins of Contemporary France, Volume 2by Hippolyte A. TaineCONTENTS:ANARCHYPREFACEBOOK FIRST. Spontaneous Anarchy.CHAPTER I. The Beginnings of AnarchyCHAPTER II. Paris up to the 14th of JulyCHAPTER III. Anarchy from July 14th to October 6th, 1789CHAPTER IV. PARISBOOK SECOND. The constituent Assembly, and the Result of its LaborsCHAPTER I. The Constituent Assembly...　

The Lesser Bourgeoisieby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Katharine Prescott WormeleyDEDICATIONTo Constance-Victoire.Here, madame, is one of those books which come into the mind,whence no one knows, giving pleasure to the author before he canforesee what reception the public, our great present judge, willaccord to it. Feeling almost certain of your sympathy in mypleasure, I dedicate the book to you. Ought it not to belong toyou as the tithe formerly belonged to the Church in memory of God,who makes all things bud and fruit in the fields and in the...　

HISTORY OF FLORENCEAND OF THE AFFAIRS OF ITALYFROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THEDEATH OF LORENZO THE MAGNIFICENTby Niccolo MachiavelliWith an Introduction byHUGO ALBERT RENNERT, Ph.D.Professor of Romanic Languages and Literature,University of Pennsylvania.INTRODUCTIONNiccolo Machiavelli, the first great Italian historian, and one of themost eminent political writers of any age or country, was born atFlorence, May 3, 1469. He was of an old though not wealthy Tuscanfamily, his father, who was a jurist, dying when Niccolo was sixteen...　

A Face Illuminedby E. P. RoePrefaceAs may be gathered from the following pages, my title was obtaineda number of years ago, and the story has since been taking formand color in my mind. What has become of the beautiful but discordantface I saw at the concert garden I do not know, but I trust thatthe countenance it suggested, and its changes may not proveso vague and unsatisfactory as to be indistinct to the reader. Ithas looked upon the writer during the past year almost like the faceof a living maiden, and I have felt, in a way that would be hard...　

OLIVERTWISTCharles DickensELECBOOK CLASSICSebc0012. Charles Dickens: Oliver TwistThis file is free for individual use only. It must not be altered or resold.Organisations wishing to use it must first obtain a licence.Low cost licenses are available. Contact us through our web site. The Electric Book Co 1998The Electric Book Company Ltd20 Cambridge Drive, London SE12 8AJ, UK+44 (0)181 488 3872 www.elecbookOLIVER TWISTCharles DickensOliver TwistContentsClick on number to go to chapterChapter 1. Treats Of The Place Where Oliver Twist...　

　　And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,　　And the dry stone no sound of water. Only　　There is shadow under this red rock,　　(e in under the shadow of this red rock),　　And I will show you something different from either　　Your shadow in the morning striding behind you　　Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;　　I will show you fear in a handful of dust.　　-T. S. ELIOT "The Waste Land"　　　　If there pushed any ragged thistle-stalk　　Above its mates, the head was chopped; the bents　　Were jealous else. What made those holes and rents...　

　dedicates this book to　Barry and Jody Turkus.　　Lincoln Child　dedicates this book to　his daughter, Veronica.　　Acknowledgments　　Lincoln Child would like to thank Bruce Swanson, Mark Mendel, Pat Allocco, Chris and Susan Yango, Jerry and Terry Hyland, Anthony Cifelli, M.D., Norman San Agustin, M.D., and Lee Suckno, M.D., for their friendship and assistance. Ongoing thanks to Special Agent Douglas Margini for his advice on New York, New Jersey, and federal law enforcement matters. Thanks to Jill Nowak for an insightful reading of the text. Bob Przybylski was very useful in nailing down some of th　

　　I would like to thank everyone who encouraged or tolerated me during this project. Thanks to Mark, who gave me the initial push to get started, Carol McCleary for seeing the potential, Bob Gleason and Greg Cox for many good suggestions and for pushing me to a new level, and to my wife, Gale, for hours of reading and rereading.　Abby, Katie, and Bethany-this is why Dad sat at the puter all those hours.　　DRAMATIS PERSONAE　　OREGON　　Kenny Randall-Student at Oregon Institute of Technology, and a member of the group.　Dr. George Coombs-Former professor of anthropology, now a chiropractor....　

A Far CountryBy Winston ChurchillI.My name is Hugh Paret. I was a corporation lawyer, but by no means atypical one, the choice of my profession being merely incidental, anddue, as will be seen, to the accident of environment. The book I amabout to write might aptly be called The Autobiography of a Romanticist.In that sense, if in no other, I have been a typical American, regardingmy country as the happy hunting-ground of enlightened self-interest, as afunction of my desires. Whether or not I have completely got rid of thisromantic virus I must leave to those the aim of whose existence is t