In fifteenth-century England, when his father's murderer is revealed to be his guardian, seventeen-year-old Richard Shelton joins the fellowship of the Black Arrow in avenging the death, rescuing the woman he loves, and participating in the struggle between the Yorks and Lancasters in the War of the Roses.

Set in Coketown, a fictional industrial town in the north of England, Hard Times was born of its author's indignation at the soul-crushing conditions of the industrial age, and yet it vibrantly transcends the stock situations and polemical weaknesses typical of social protest fiction of the time. The indelible characters-Mr. Gradgrind, whose utilitarian educational philosophy emotionally cripples his own children; the hypocritical factory owner Josiah...

Tara and Gahan are each Barsoomian royalty, residing in two prominent cities, Helium, and Gathol. Hoping to align the cities and enjoy the advantages of a romantic union, Gahan wishes to marry Tara. However, Tara does not reciprocate this love. After rejecting the engagement, Tara sets out in her flying ship. When she flies into a turbulent storm, Tara crashes her ship in an unknown territory. Unharmed but still in danger, Tara is forced to run from...