The book's protagonist is an English scientist and gentleman inventor living in Richmond, Surrey in Victorian England, and identified by a narrator simply as the Time Traveller. The narrator recounts the Traveller's lecture to his weekly dinner guests that time is simply a fourth dimension, and his demonstration of a tabletop model machine for travelling through it. He reveals that he has built a machine capable of carrying a person, and returns at dinner the following week to recount a remarkable tale, becoming the new narrator.In the new narrative, the Time Traveller tests his device with a journey that takes him to A.D. 802,701, where he meets the Eloi, a society of small, elegant, childlike adults. They live in small communities within large and futuristic yet slowly deteriorating buildings, doing no work and having a frugivorous diet. His efforts to communicate with them are hampered by their lack of curiosity or discipline, and he speculates that they are a peaceful communist society, the result of humanity conquering nature with technology, and subsequently evolving to adapt to an environment in which strength and intellect are no longer advantageous to survival. Returning to the site where he arrived, the Time Traveller is shocked to find his time machine missing, and eventually works out that it has been dragged by some unknown party into a nearby structure with heavy doors, locked from the inside, which resembles a Sphinx. Later in the dark, he is approached menacingly by the Morlocks, ape-like troglodytes who live in darkness underground and surface only at night. Within their dwellings he discovers the machinery and industry that makes the above-ground paradise possible. He alters his theory, speculating that the human race has evolved into two species: the leisured classes have become the ineffectual Eloi, and the downtrodden working classes have become the brutish light-fearing Morlocks. Deducing that the Morlocks have taken his time machine, he explores the Morlock tunnels, learning that they feed on the Eloi. His revised analysis is that their relationship is not one of lords and servants but of livestock and ranchers. The Time Traveller theorizes that intelligence is the result of and response to danger; with no real challenges facing the Eloi, they have lost the spirit, intelligence, and physical fitness of humanity at its peak. Meanwhile, he saves an Eloi named Weena from drowning as none of the other Eloi take any notice of her plight, and they develop an innocently affectionate relationship over the course of several days. He takes Weena with him on an expedition to a distant structure that turns out to be the remains of a museum, where he finds a fresh supply of matches and fashions a crude weapon against Morlocks, whom he fears he must fight to get back his machine. He plans to take Weena back to his own time. Because the long and tiring journey back to Weena's home is too much for them, they stop in the forest, and they are then overcome by Morlocks in the night, and Weena faints. The Traveller escapes only when a small fire he had left behind them to distract the Morlocks catches up to them as a forest fire; Weena is presumably lost in the fire, as are the Morlocks. The Morlocks use the time machine as bait to ensnare the Traveller, not understanding that he will use it to escape. He travels further ahead to roughly 30 million years from his own time. There he sees some of the last living things on a dying Earth, menacing reddish crab-like creatures slowly wandering the blood-red beaches chasing butterflies in a world covered in simple lichenous vegetation. He continues to make short jumps through time, seeing Earth's rotation gradually cease and the sun grow larger, redder, and dimmer, and the world falling silent and freezing as the last degenerate living things die out.

Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871) is a novel by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). The themes and settings of Through the Looking-Glass make it a kind of mirror image of Wonderland: the first book begins outdoors, in the warm month of May (4 May), uses frequent changes in size as a plot device, and draws on the imagery of playing cards; the second opens indoors on a snowy, wintry night exactly six months later, on 4 November (the day before Guy Fawkes Night), uses frequent changes in time and spatial directions as a plot device, and draws on the imagery of chess. In it, there are many mirror themes, including opposites, time running backwards, and so on. Short Summary: Alice is playing with a white kitten (whom she calls "Snowdrop") and a black kitten (whom she calls "Kitty")—the offspring of Dinah, Alice's cat in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland—when she ponders what the world is like on the other side of a mirror's reflection. Climbing up on the fireplace mantel, she pokes at the wall-hung mirror behind the fireplace and discovers, to her surprise, that she is able to step through it to an alternative world. In this reflected version of her own house, she finds a book with looking-glass poetry, "Jabberwocky", whose reversed printing she can read only by holding it up to the mirror. She also observes that the chess pieces have come to life, though they remain small enough for her to pick up. Upon leaving the house (where it had been a cold, snowy night), she enters a sunny spring garden where the flowers have the power of human speech; they perceive Alice as being a "flower that can move about." Elsewhere in the garden, Alice meets the Red Queen, who is now human-sized, and who impresses Alice with her ability to run at breathtaking speeds. This is a reference to the chess rule that queens are able to move any number of vacant squares at once, in any direction, which makes them the most "agile" of pieces. The Red Queen reveals to Alice that the entire countryside is laid out in squares, like a gigantic chessboard, and offers to make Alice a queen if she can move all the way to the eighth rank/row in a chess match. This is a reference to the chess rule of Promotion. Alice is placed in the second rank as one of the White Queen's pawns, and begins her journey across the chessboard by boarding a train that literally jumps over the third row and directly into the fourth rank, thus acting on the rule that pawns can advance two spaces on their first move.

In “True Ghost Stories,” Mr. Carrington presents a number of startling cases of this character; but they are not the ordinary “ghost stories”—based on pure fiction, and having no foundation in reality. Here we have a well-arranged collection of incidents, all thoroughly investigated and vouched for, and the testimony obtained first-hand and corroborated by others. The chapter on “Haunted Houses” is particularly striking. The first chapter deals with the interesting question, “What is a Ghost?” and attempts to answer this question in the light of the latest scientific theories which have been advanced to explain these supernatural happenings and visitants. It is a book of absorbing interest, and cannot fail to grip and hold the attention of every reader—no matter whether he be a student of these questions, or one merely in search of hair-raising anecdotes and stories. He will find them here a-plenty! The following little book endeavors to bring together a number of “ghost stories” of the more startling and dramatic type,—but stories, nevertheless, which seem to be well authenticated; and which have been obtained, in most instances, at first hand, from the original witnesses; and often contain corroborative testimony from others who also experienced the ghostly phenomena. Some of these incidents, indeed, rise to the dignity of scientific evidence; others are less well authenticated cases,—but interesting for all that. These have been grouped in various Chapters, according to their evidential value. Chapters II. and III. contain well-evidenced cases, some of which have been taken from the Proceedings and Journals of the Society for Psychical Research (S. P. R.), or from Phantasms of the Living, or from other scientific books, in which narratives of this character receive serious consideration. Chapter V., on the contrary, contains a number of incidents which,—striking and dramatic as they are,—cannot be included in the two earlier Chapters, as presenting real evidence of Ghosts; but are published rather as startling and interesting ghost stories. Chapter IV., devoted to “Haunted Houses,” contains brief accounts of the most famous Haunted Houses, and of the phenomena which have been witnessed within them. Appendix A gives a list of a few of the important “Historical Ghosts,” Appendix B describes the “Phantom Armies” lately seen by the Allied troops in France—while Appendix C lists a number of books of Ghost Stories which the interested reader may care to peruse. A short Glossary, at the beginning of the book, explains the meaning of certain terms used,—which are not, perhaps, ordinarily met with in books of this character. In the Introductory Chapter, I have endeavored to explain, very briefly, the nature and character of Ghosts; what they are; and the various scientific theories which have been brought forward, of late years, to explain Ghosts. I hope that this may prove of interest to the reader; in case it does not do so, he is invited to “skip” directly to Chapter II., which begins our account of “True Ghost Stories.” I wish to express my thanks in this place to the Council of the English S. P. R. for special permission to quote and to summarize several striking cases here reproduced; also to Miss Estelle Stead, for permission to utilize several cases previously printed at length in Mr. Wm. T. Stead’s collections of Ghost Stories. H. C. [Author]

This book is called The White Spark as the white spark or vacuum cell in Nature IS THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD—it is a ubiquitous principle of the universe and is the cause and parent of electricity, combustion, radium, snow-flakes, flowers, trees, leaves, crystallization, wireless telegraphy, animal forms and EVEN LIFE ITSELF. This book is the key to every department of human endeavor, as it enunciates the basic principle and THE PRIME MOVER of the universe.?It tells the road to health, the cause and cure of disease, the truth about the germ humbug and drug treatments, serums and antitoxins. It shows why luminosity is produced on the flesh of various organisms, why a slice of pollock when first iced, then heated to 100 degrees and then thrust into a temperature of 50 degrees becomes luminous. It shows the farmer that he can become a magician of agriculture—tells that the nitrogen of the air is only a dust of quartz rocks, like the invisible moisture of the air is "a dust of water"—that the nodules on the roots of the clover and legumes do not abstract nitrogen from the air, for if they did nature would have placed these bacteriological growths on the vine and not the root, the scientists have the cart before the horse in this case and the nodular cells form the proteids from sand or silica, this book tells how it is done. It tells what a trance is and how the soul can leave the body temporarily. How JESUS CHRIST is carrying out the biblical prophesy by TELEPATHY. Gives the truths about the ideal society, alcohol, drunkenness, causes of crime, longevity and law.

Te még hiszel a fogtündérben?! Vigyázz, kész, horror! Legyen saját m?fogsorod! Ha kivágod, máris használhatod! KLAFF-KLAFF. David Walliams szó szerint berobbant a gyerekirodalomba. Patkányburger cím? regénye azonnal els? lett a legkeresettebb gyerekk?nyvek listáján. A nálunk is méltán népszer? Gengszter nagyiból pedig t?bb mint félmillió példányt adtak el világszerte. Az Egyesült Királyságban David Walliams jelenleg az egyik legismertebb kortárs gyerekk?nyv-szerz?. ?rásait t?bb mint harmincnégy nyelvre fordították le, regényeivel sorra zsebeli be a díjakat. Legt?bben mindenkori példaképéhez, Roald Dahlhoz hasonlítják. A városra s?tétség borult. Fura dolgok t?rténtek az éjszaka kell?s k?zepén, amikor már mindenki aludt. A gyerekek lefekvéskor a párnájuk alá tették kipottyant tejfogukat, hogy azt elvihesse a fogtündér. De reggel, mikor felébredtek, ajándék helyett egészen mást találtak a kiesett fog helyén. D?gl?tt meztelen csigát. ?l? pókot. Vagy épp száz meg száz fülbemászó mászott el? a párnájuk alól. Mer? gonoszság, ugye?! De ki vagy mi állhat e csúnya tréfák m?g?tt? Olvasd el a k?nyvet, és megtudod! ?Walliams született tehetség és sziporkázóan szellemes” – Evening Standard. Vigyázat! Ez egy horrort?rténet. Elég sok kitalált szóval. A Gengszter nagyi és a Patkányburger bestseller-szerz?je újabb végtelenül vicces és roppant rémiszt? t?rténettel lepi meg olvasóit, mely Alfiról, a fiúról szól, akinek nagy a szíve, de még ennél is hatalmasabb a fogorvostól való félelme. David Walliams eddigi leggonoszabb cselsz?v?jét mutatja be hátborzongató regényében, amelyt?l vacogni kezd a fogunk, az állkapcsunk pedig megfájdul a nevetést?l! ?Igazi élvezet… egy új Roald Dahl!” – The Times. ?David Walliams k?nyvei olyanok, mint egy szippantásnyi csodás, friss leveg?” – Sun. ?Jól megírt, vicces, megható” – Observer

Neked talán sikerül, mert fiatal vagy, én nem fogok visszatérni.” Marceline Loridan-Ivens édesapjának szavai ezek, amelyeket 1944 tavaszán a franciaországi Drancyban mondott az akkor 16 éves lányának, mieltt az auschwitzi, illetve a birkenaui haláltáborba deportálták volna ket. A férfinak igaza lett, lányát pedig azóta is kísértik ezek a szavak. Soha nem tudta feldolgozni, ami trtént, így most megírta, egyszeren, szikár stílusban annak az embernek, akit a világon a legjobban szeretett: haláltáborban meggyilkolt édesapjának. Loridan-Ivens gynyr vallomása az elmúlt évek egyik legnagyobb irodalmi sikere volt. Loridan-Ivens az apa-lánya kapcsolat legmélyére hatol. Precíz, visszafogott mesterm…” - Financial Times Mély, megragadó, és mégis knnyed. Mintha minden egyes mondat az emberi szenvedés és túlélés gondolatát sugározná.” - Sunday Times Hátborzongató és gynyr knyv.” - Independent Az egyik legremekebb, legknyrtelenebb knyv, amit valaha írtak.” - Guardian

Das Buch enth?lt drei wundersch?ne M?rchen. ?Die Hirtin und der Schornsteinfeger“ ist eine fr?hliche Geschichte über Porzellanfiguren, die eine alte Kommode bewohnen. ?Das kleine M?dchen mit den Schwefelh?lzern“ ist eine traurige Erz?hlung über ein M?dchen, das Streichh?lzer am Heiligabend verkaufen muss. “Fünf aus einer Schote“ ist eine rührende Geschichte über ein krankes M?dchen, in dessen Leben unerwartet ein kleines Erbsenkorn auftaucht. Alle Erz?hlungen sind sch?n und farbig illustriert. Die Hirtin und der Schornsteinfeger Die Helden des M?rchens sind Porzellanfiguren: eine Hirtin, ein Schornsteinfeger und ein alter? Chinese, der will, dass die hübsche Hirtin einen geschnitzten Feldwebel heiratet. Das M?dchen ist damit nicht einverstanden, weil sein kleines Herz schon lange für den?? Schornsteinfeger schl?gt. Was passiert weiter?? Das k?nnt ihr hier erfahren. Die Erz?hlung ist sch?n und farbig illustriert. Das kleine M?dchen mit den Schwefelh?lzern Dies ist eines der berühmtesten M?rchen,? das jedes Kind lesen sollte. Es ist eine berührende? Geschichte über? ein armes M?dchen, das? an einem kalten Heiligabend versucht Schwefelh?lzer an die? Passanten zu verkaufen. Was wird mit dem M?dchen weiter geschehen? Ihr k?nnt es hier lesen. Die Erz?hlung ist sch?n und farbig illustriert. Fünf aus einer Schote Es ist eine Erz?hlung über eine kleine Erbse, die durch einen Spalt im Dachgeschoss in eine Wohnung reinf?llt. Dort lebt eine Frau mit ihrer kleinen Tochter, Karolina. Das M?dchen ist? schwer krank und kann seit langem? sein Bett nicht verlassen. Karolina beobachtet mit Neugier die Pflanze, die aus dem Korn w?chst. Was passiert im Leben des M?dchens?? Lest weiter!? Die Erz?hlung ist sch?n und farbig illustriert.?

Die Hirtin und der Schornsteinfeger Die Helden des M?rchens sind Porzellanfiguren: eine Hirtin, ein Schornsteinfeger und ein alter? Chinese, der will, dass die hübsche Hirtin einen geschnitzten Feldwebel heiratet. Das M?dchen ist damit nicht einverstanden, weil sein kleines Herz schon lange für den?? Schornsteinfeger schl?gt. Was passiert weiter?? Das k?nnt ihr hier erfahren. Die Erz?hlung ist sch?n und farbig illustriert.

Stella Fregelius was written in the year 1904 by Henry Rider Haggard. This book is one of the most popular novels of Henry Rider Haggard, and has been translated into several other languages around the world.This book is published by Booklassic which brings young readers closer to classic literature globally.

The Wizard was written in the year 1896 by Henry Rider Haggard. This book is one of the most popular novels of Henry Rider Haggard, and has been translated into several other languages around the world.This book is published by Booklassic which brings young readers closer to classic literature globally.

Tickets, Please!' was written in the year 1919 by David Herbert Lawrence. This book is one of the most popular novels of David Herbert Lawrence, and has been translated into several other languages around the world.This book is published by Booklassic which brings young readers closer to classic literature globally.

Un incredibile tornado si abbatte sul Kansas travolgendo la fattoria della piccola Dorothy e trasportandola, insieme con il suo cagnolino Toto, in un paese lontano e sconosciuto. Qui, dopo aver schiacciato la malvagia Strega dell'est, la bambina è accolta come un'eroina dal popolo che la megera teneva in ostaggio. Ma per tornare a casa Dorothy dovrà affrontare mille avventure accompagnata da uno Spaventapasseri, un Taglialegna di Latta e un Leone Vigliacco. Insieme sperano di incontrare il potente Mago di Oz nella splendida città di Smeraldo, l'unico che si dice sarà in grado di aiutarli.

Monkey Nuts was written in the year 1922 by David Herbert Lawrence. This book is one of the most popular novels of David Herbert Lawrence, and has been translated into several other languages around the world.This book is published by Booklassic which brings young readers closer to classic literature globally.

Creep, Shadow! was written in the year 1934 by Abraham Merritt. This book is one of the most popular novels of Abraham Merritt, and has been translated into several other languages around the world.This book is published by Booklassic which brings young readers closer to classic literature globally.

The Virgin and the Gipsy was written in the year 1930 by David Herbert Lawrence. This book is one of the most popular novels of David Herbert Lawrence, and has been translated into several other languages around the world.This book is published by Booklassic which brings young readers closer to classic literature globally.

Skye a világon mindennél jobban szereti az ikertesóját, Summert. Mindig mindent együtt csinálnak, ám a Skye újabban kezdi azt érezni, teljesen elt?nik testvére árnyékában, mellette mindig csak a második legjobb lehet. Emiatt is érinti annyira fájdalmasan, mikor kiderül, Alfie is csak azért barátkozik vele, hogy meghódíthassa Summer szívét. Skye szeretne ?nmaga lenni, megmutatni saját stílusát és egyéniségét. De nem k?nny? elszánnia magát, hiszen egy t?kéletes, men? és népszer? ikertestvér mellett miért lenne bárki pont rá kíváncsi? ?t lány, ?t néz?pont, ?t k?nyv. Cherry után a Mályvacukor égboltból megismerjük Skye t?rténetét. Egy k?nyvsorozat, melyben minden testvérnek megvan a maga t?rténete Neked melyik lány lesz a kedvenced? Talán a Mályvacukor égbolt f?h?se, Skye? ? az a lány, akinek sz?ke, hullámos a haja, kék a szeme, egy kissé talán kül?nc, de mindig vidám, kedves és barátságos. Igazi egyéniség. A szerz?r?l: Cathy Cassidy nyolc-kilencéves korában írta meg els? képesk?nyvét kis?ccsének, és azóta ontja magából a t?rténeteket. Magyarul els?ként a Csajok és csokik-sorozata jelent meg (a Cseresznyés ábrándot most a második k?tet, a Mályvacukor égbolt k?veti), melynek a vagány Tanberry-n?vérek a f?h?sei. De mellettük felt?nik néhány szupermen? srác is, valamint Cathy egyik legnagyobb szerelme, a csokoládé is fontos szerepet kap. Cathy Skóciában él a családjával. Az ?sszes munka k?zül, amivel valaha megpróbálkozott, az írást szereti a legjobban hiszen amikor ír, mást sem kell csinálnia, mint ébren álmodozni egész álló nap.

t hulla. Egy tetthely. Egy kzs pont. Vagy mégsem Egy átlagosnak induló napon, a szennyvíztelepen t ni holttestet találnak. Látszólag egyetlen kzs ponttal: Lolával. Az ügy felgngylítését láthatatlan erk gátolják, így az lezáratlanul már-már a feledés homályába merül. Két év után, a váratlan helyrl érkez bizonyítéknak ksznheten, az ifjú nyomozón új fnkétl kap egy esélyt, hogy utána járjon a rejtélynek. Vajon választ kap élete egyik legfontosabb kérdésre Ki gyilkolta meg a legjobb barátnit Ahogy titokzatos segítjével egyre mélyebbre ásnak, úgy derül ki, hogy mindenkinek vannak titkai, amiket elrejtene a világ ell és, hogy valójában senki sem egészen az, akinek látszik… Lesz, akinek fontosabb az igazság, mint a titkok megrzése Vagy mindenki a saját érdekeit helyezi eltérbe Te mit tennél Dr. Cserjési Petra regényében egy szvevényes trténeten kalauzolja keresztül az olvasót, amit a korrupció, megfélemlítés és a bn itat át.

A t?kéletes házasság? Vagy a t?kéletes hazugság? A pszichilógiai thriller, amiért mindenki meg?rül Mindenki ismer olyan párokat, mint Jack és Grace. Jack jókép? és gazdag, Grace bájos és elegáns. Kedveljük ?ket, még ha nem is áll szándékunkban. ?s szeretnénk Grace-t jobban is megismerni. Csakhogy ez nem is olyan egyszer?, ugyanis Jack és Grace elválaszthatatlanok. Van, aki ezt igaz szerelemnek nevezné. Mások talán feltennék a kérdést, hogy Grace miért nem veszi fel soha a telefont. Vagy miért nem lehet vele beülni valahova egy kávéra, jóllehet nem dolgozik. ?s hogy marad olyan sovány, noha rafinált fogások sorát f?zi? ?s vajon miért van rács az egyik hálószoba ablakon? ?Briliáns, dermeszt?, félelmetes és letehetetlen." Lesley Pearse

In 1888 a client, Mary Morstan, comes with two puzzles for Holmes. The first is the disappearance of her father Captain Arthur Morstan in December 1878 and the second is that she has received 6 pearls in the mail from an anonymous benefactor once a year since 1882, since she answered an anonymous newspaper query inquiring for her. With the last pearl she has received a letter remarking that she has been a wronged woman and asks for meeting. Holmes takes the case and soon discovers that Major Sholto — Morstan's only friend who had denied seeing Morstan — had died in 1882 and that within a short span of time Mary began to receive the pearls, implying a connection. The only clue Mary can give Holmes is a map of a fortress with the names of Jonathan Small and three Sikhs, who are named Dost Akbar, Abdullah Khan, and Mahomet Singh. Holmes, Watson, and Mary meet Thaddeus Sholto, the son of the late Major Sholto and Capt Morstan's Army friend who has sent her the pearls. Thaddeus remarks that his father had a paranoid fear of one-legged men and confirms that Mary's father had seen the Major the night he died. That night, in a quarrel about an Agra Treasure, Morstan — who was in weak health — suffered a heart attack. Not wanting to bring attention to the object of the quarrel to public notice, Sholto disposed of the body and hid the treasure. However his own health became worse when he received a letter from India. Dying, he called his two sons and confessed to Morstan's death and was about to divulge the location of the treasure when he suddenly cried "Keep him out!". The puzzled sons glimpsed a face in the window but the only trace was a single footstep in the dirt. On their father's body is a note reading "The Sign of Four". Both brothers quarreled over whether a legacy should be left to Mary Morstan and Thaddeus left his brother Bartholomew, taking a chaplet and sending its pearls to Mary. The reason he sent the letter is that Bartholomew has found the treasure and possibly Thaddeus and Mary might confront him for a division of it. Bartholomew is found dead in his home from a poison dart and the treasure is missing. While the police wrongly take Thaddeus in as a suspect Holmes deduces that there are two persons involved in the murder: a one-legged man, Jonathan Small, as well as another "small" accomplice. He traces them to a boat landing where Small has hired a launch named the Aurora. With the help of his Baker Street Irregulars and his own disguise Holmes traces the launch. In a Police launch Holmes and Watson chase the Aurora and capture it but in the process end up killing the "small" companion after he attempts to kill Holmes with a poisoned dart shot from a blow-pipe. Small tries to escape but is captured. However the iron treasure box is empty; Small claims to have dumped the treasure over the side during the chase.

The War of the Worlds is a military science fiction novel by H. G. Wells. It first appeared in serialized form in 1897, published simultaneously in Pearson's Magazine in the UK and Cosmopolitan magazine in the US. The first appearance in book form was published by William Heinemann of London in 1898. It is the first-person narrative of the adventures of an unnamed protagonist and his brother in Surrey and London as Earth is invaded by Martians. Written between 1895 and 1897, it is one of the earliest stories that detail a conflict between mankind and an extraterrestrial race. The novel is one of the most commented-on works in the science fiction canon. The War of the Worlds has two parts, Book One: The Coming of the Martians and Book Two: The Earth under the Martians. The narrator, a philosophically-inclined author, struggles to return to his wife while seeing the Martians lay waste to southern England. Book One also imparts the experience of his brother, also unnamed, who describes events in the capital and escapes the Martians by boarding a ship near Tillingham, on the Essex coast. The plot has been related to invasion literature of the time. The novel has been variously interpreted as a commentary on evolutionary theory, British Imperialism, and generally Victorian superstitions, fears and prejudices. At the time of publication it was classified as a scientific romance, like his earlier novel The Time Machine. The War of the Worlds has been both popular (having never gone out of print) and influential, spawning half a dozen feature films, radio dramas, a record album, various comic book adaptations, a television series, and sequels or parallel stories by other authors. It has even influenced the work of scientists, notably Robert Hutchings Goddard. Plot SummaryYet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us.— H. G. Wells (1898), The War of the Worlds The Coming of the MartiansThe narrative opens in an astronomical observatory at Ottershaw where explosions are seen on the surface of the planet Mars, creating much interest in the scientific community. Later a "meteor" lands on Horsell Common, near the narrator's home in Woking, Surrey. He is among the first to discover that the object is an artificial cylinder that opens, disgorging Martians who are "big" and "greyish" with "oily brown skin," "the size, perhaps, of a bear," with "two large dark-coloured eyes," and a lipless "V-shaped mouth" surrounded by "Gorgon groups of tentacles." The narrator finds them "at once vital, intense, inhuman, crippled and monstrous." They briefly emerge, have difficulty in coping with the Earth's atmosphere, and rapidly retreat into the cylinder. A human deputation (which includes the astronomer Ogilvy) approaches the cylinder with a white flag, but the Martians incinerate them and others nearby with a heat-ray before beginning to assemble their machinery. Military forces arrive that night to surround the common, including Maxim guns. The population of Woking and the surrounding villages are reassured by the presence of the military. A tense day begins, with much anticipation of military action by the narrator.

Alexandra Lansing is looking forward to a vacation from her job as an operative with the Commonwealth’s counterterrorist task force.? She has three blissful weeks off, and plans to spend the entire time in France. After all, everyone needs a break from stress and worry. But when she’s snatched from the Left Bank in Paris she isn’t sure if her kidnapping is a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time or a direct plot against the task force. When she discovers Praed has also been abducted, the vacation is officially over, and the possibility of an informer at task force headquarters becomes a very real, very frightening possibility. The pair manages to escape, and flees to Praed’s family home where they are forced to defend his brother’s wife and children from armed terrorists determined to recapture the operatives. With no clue as to who is behind the plot, or even a motive to explain why someone wants to take Praed and Alex prisoner, and the identity of the informant at HQ is a complete mystery. While Henry Davison races to eliminate suspects at headquarters, Praed offers himself as bait to draw out the kidnappers, hoping to discover the mastermind behind the plot. ? Alex is in hot pursuit, but will she be able to reach him before his captors extract the information they want and execute him?