An essential question hovers over this second volume of the Medina saga: what separates the humans from their adversaries the Drax? Karloff finally comes face to face with Boso 1, who will accept nothing less than Hadron and his unborn child. The conservator and Karloff agree to a meeting at the site of Alice, the nuclear generator that first spawned the Drax arrival, to hash out the terms of an unprecedented agreement. Meanwhile, Hadron has strong opinions, but whose side is the fierce adolescent really on?
The Drax contamination Karloff sustained in book 2 of the series continues to lie dormant in his body, while Medina battles mutants who threaten the city from the inside, and fends off ever-greater attacks to its exterior. The city's protective dome is at risk of total collapse. Kladia strikes off into the desert to find a better life, while Hadron, pregnant with Drax leader Boso 1's offspring, makes a bold decision that might alter the course of history...
Lord Nelson, Lady Nelson and Jade continue to enjoy their ménage à trois as they travel to Africa. Their boat is savagely attacked by the natives as they go up river, deeper into the heart of this vibrant but mysterious continent. But is this just an act of pure brutality? Or is there another reason, perhaps one connected to that black pearl that Jade wears in her ear, a pearl that exactly matches that of their goddess? This is the beginning of a second cycle of the grippingly exotic adventures of Jade, the mistress of the eminent Lord and Lady Nelson.
The young Britannicus is dead. Poisoned, just like his father, the Emperor Claudius. The will that could have put an end the Nero's ever-growing ambitions has been reduced to ashes. Nero remains alone on Rome's throne. Well, almost alone. Somewhere in the shadows lurks his mother, Agrippina, and she's willing to do whatever it takes to get a bite of that rotten fruit we call 'power.
Two women, in two different times, and for two very different reasons, choose to be initiated into the harem. One is the harem of the Black Sultan in 20th century Istanbul, dominated by the captivating Jade. The other is the only remaining one of its kind, an echo of a bygone era, hidden away in the middle of the Turkish desert, far from prying eyes. Both women must carry out certain rites of passage before they can truly attain the heart of the harem. Both women are doing it for Jade. Plots and manipulation abound within those dark and sensual spaces behind the walls of the harem...
In present day Turkey, Kim Nelson continues her quest to recover the long-lost treasure of the Black Sultan to which only her captivating ancestor, Jade, the Sultan's favorite, had the key. Meanwhile, we're flung back in time to the sumptuous era of the Ottoman Empire, where Jade has been kidnapped by a certain Lord Nelson in his efforts to retrieve his wife from the depths of the Sultan's harem. It's not long before the captive falls in love with the captor, and the pair experience an unprecedented passion. Nelson's name sinks into the djinn's skin, and, for the first time, the djinn's heart begins to beat...
It's stinking hot, and the crowd is beginning to lose interest in the last few gladiators still fighting for survival in the arena. Only the Emperor Claudius is still riveted, determined to stick it out until the death rattle of the last fighter announces the end of the day's frivolities. Life is just as ferocious outside the arena. Everyone wants the power; everyone is willing to kill to get it... For Agrippina, Claudius' second wife, her dear husband has served his purpose. Now that he has acknowledged her son, Nero, as his heir, it's high time he disappeared. But Agrippina has time against her: there's talk of Claudius wanting to renounce her in favor of the woman he loves, Lolia Paulina. Needless to say, it doesn't end well for poor Lolia...
Kim Nelson, the beautiful English granddaughter of the Sultan of Istanbul's favorite courtesan, gets ever more wrapped up in the mysteries of Africa in her quest to reclaim the black pearl that is the key to her ancestor's long-hidden treasure. Like her grandmother before her, she must go through initiations of fire and flesh to prove her worth, as she gets ever nearer the coveted and powerful jewel. The problem is she's not the only one who's after it...
The shadows of the crucified stretch over the empire, while rumors spread like wildfire throughout all Rome. It looks like Nero, the new emperor, did indeed poison his half-brother, Britannicus. Agrippina, in order to win the favor of her own son, is willing to open her bed to him. But Nero has eyes only for Acte, the beautiful prostitute whom he freed from the clutches of Pallas, the freed slave. Nero asks Acte to give word to Murena that he is pardoned, and that there is nothing stopping him from returning to Rome. But that's not all Murena wants... he also asks of his sovereign to give him Draxus' head... Draxus, who killed his mother... Draxus, who was acting on Agrippina's orders...
There is celebration throughout the realm of Middleland! The people have everything they could possibly need to be happy: Blanche, their queen, is back, the invader is vanquished and there is peace throughout the land. But this idyllic epoch won't last. Power, that indefinable poison, begins little by little to corrupt Blanche's soul. What's more, her feelings for Maldoror, the Lord of the World Below, will soon give way to an indifference he'd never have thought her capable of... Because love is no match for the ever powerful grip of power...
The Africa cycle comes to a close with this ninth volume of the Djinn series. Kim Nelson finally finds the black pearl of Anaktu and Jade fulfills her destiny by uniting with the legendary Gorilla King in order to create a force strong enough to lead the tribes for years to come. Travel, magic, romance and poison all combine in this gripping and sensual adventure.
Nero has just lost his little girl, Claudia Augusta. She was only four months old, and Nero is wracked by grief. As for Murena, having lost Acte, the woman he loved, he decides to leave Gaul and head back to Rome. But how will the ever-volatile Nero react when he finds out that Murena is defying his banishment to return once more to the city of seven hills?
This is the first episode of a whole new cycle that chronologically takes place between the Ottoman and African cycles. This time we're swept off to colonial India. Jade, accompanied by Lord and Lady Nelson, arrives at the Palace of Eschinapur, having been summoned by the Rani, mother of the Maharajah. The Rani wishes for Jade to initiate the future bride of the young Maharajah, the daughter of the rebel Radjah Sing, to the art of love. This is in the hopes that the young bride will be able to wield this power to influence her son's politics, which are currently in favor of British rule. But there appears to be a strange presence in the palace. That presence turns out to be a child, who shows herself to no one but... the Djinn...
Nero dreamed of it. Lucius Murena did it: burning Rome. However, to atone for his act, the young patrician tries to save as many human lives as he can. Everyone, whether they be rich or poor, is seeking a way out. While some throw themselves into the river Tiber, others manage to get to the Campus Martius, although not without difficulty. One of the few areas spared from the devouring flames is the Christian neighborhood. More man than god, the emperor is consumed with doubt. While Rome's destruction kindles greed in some, it reveals great kindness in others.
Within the cool walls of the pavilion of pleasures, Jade instructs Tamila how to use her body to captivate a man. The man in question is the Maharajah and Tamila is the daughter of Raja Singh, a revolutionary who will stop at nothing to chase the English out of India. The more she becomes implicated in the politics of the country, the more dangerous Jade's games become... she finds herself having to watch her back...
In this ninth volume of the historical saga Murena, Dufaux and Delaby show Rome in reconstruction and expose the roots of the Judeo-Christian culture. Nero fears that the people of Rome, still reeling from the trauma of the great fire, will turn against him if he doesn't present them with the guilty party, and fast. He decides that the Christians would be the perfect scapegoats...
In this second and final installment of the Rain Wolf diptych, Blanche McDell is being held prisoner by the Cody family who are demanding vengeance. They say they'll free the young woman in exchange for Rain Wolf, the Indian who dared to defend himself against a white man, resulting in the white man's death. The McDells have one week to negotiate Blanche's return before all hell breaks loose. As for Rain Wolf, he's on the trail of the legendary White Bison...
While the subtle games of power, sex and manipulation continue within the palace of Echinapur, the spirit of revolt amongst the townspeople with regard to the English presence comes into full force, suddenly and brutally. Meanwhile, we discover a new and unexpected side to the Maharajah himself, who at last assumes his responsibilities, winning his honor in the eyes of those closest to him. It all comes down to a bloody struggle between the English and the locals, but who will be victorious?
We're in Rome, three days before the ides of October. The Emperor Cladius is dead, poisoned by his wife, Agrippina, who'd discovered his plans to renounce her so as to marry Lollia Paulina, Murena's mother. Thus Nero, Agrippine's son, becomes emperor. His mother, having bought the favor of the army and the Senate, believes that she'll be able to govern in her son's name. But, at 17-years-old, Nero is no longer a child, which she'll soon learn at her own expense...
Here, at long last, is the thirteenth and final volume of the epic Djinn series. We'll finally discover the circumstances that lead Kim Nelson from India to Africa and back again, back to the cursed child princess of Eschinapur, to fulfill a vow made by the elusive Djinn, Jade. Kim truly comes into her own, assuming her power as a temptress in the name of justice and vengeance... vengeance always cruel, but always sweet...
There's a treasure, long hidden, deep in the heart of the Turkish desert. All those who have tried to obtain it have never returned. But Kim Nelson, a young Englishwoman, has inherited the powers invested in her smoldering ancestor, Jade, the favorite of the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. These powers hold the key to a treasure that no one has ever laid eyes on. Following her escape from Turkey's last ever harem, Kim is finally ready to unlock the secret... but what's waiting for her in the depths of the desert cave isn't exactly what she was expecting...
The queen is dead. Killed by Blanche, her own daughter, driven to extreme measures by the bitterness of treachery. The devious sorceress Miranda is still fiercely lusting after Blanche's lover, Prince Maldoror of the World Below. The sly prince uses the witch's desire to his advantage, striking a sordid deal with her to help Blanche in her campaign to win back the throne of Middleland that is rightfully hers. Between them, they manage to summon a formidable fighting force unlike any other...
Rain Wolf, a young native American, is in trouble. He just killed a white man in an act of self-defense. Justifiable in the eyes of the law... when it's a white man who does it. Bruce, the son of influential railway magnate Vincent McDell, springs his friend Rain Wolf from jail and vows to protect him. Rain Wolf has no choice but to go into hiding. Sent along to accompany him by the tribe sages is Little Moon, the woman Bruce's brother Jack is in love with. Little Moon is at the age to marry, but she doesn't yet know who her husband will be. Her mystical grandfather gives her a monocle with strange powers that seems to be guiding her. Meanwhile, the Cody brothers are called upon by the dead man's mother to bring down the man who killed her son. They're hot on the trail of the two runaways, having first kidnapped Blanche McDell. But they're not the only ones...
The ruthlessly ambitious Poppea has usurped the beautiful Acte in Nero's heart. Nero is building up to a chariot race in Rome's Circus Maximus, in which his victory, naturally, is assured. The race kicks off. It's fast, and it's dangerous. And then, against all odds, it's not the emperor who finishes victorious, but a mysterious participant who turns out to be a woman...