Nate Wilderstern's brother has been killed, and the finger is pointed at him . . . After nearly two years, eighteen-year-old Nate returns home to the family empire ruled by his father - the ruthless Wildenstern Patriarch. But Nate's life is soon shattered by his brother's death, and the Rules of Ascension, allowing the assassination of one male family member by another, means he's being blamed. He knows that he is not the murderer, but who is? With the aid of his...

On the world of Palace, political intrigue is the rule of the day and the repercussions of an old war between humans and the reptilian Lep are still having their effect. When the last surviving member of the old ruling family is discovered and speedily betrothed to the military usurper's son, this young woman becomes the focal point of all the simmering unrest on Palace.

Fellowship of the Ring Book I: The Ring Sets Out. The first chapter in the book begins in a light vein, following the tone of The Hobbit. Bilbo Baggins celebrates his 111th (or eleventy-first, as it is called in Hobbiton) birthday on the same day, September 22, that his relative and adopted heir Frodo Baggins celebrates his coming of age at 33. At the birthday party, Bilbo departs from the Shire, the land of the Hobbits, for what he calls a permanent holiday. He leaves Frodo his remaining...