Davis, Mike, Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster, Vintage Books, 1999.

Critically acclaimed author Mike Davis exposes the foibles and wrongheadedness of the city of Los Angeles. Davis' insight into Los Angeles includes an examination of fictional self-destructions performed by films and novels in the city as well as an awareness of a secret of geology—the center of Los Angeles sits over a large aquifer. In this text, Davis focuses on the way the city deals with nature in the form of mountain lions, fire, and the landscape.

Herbert, Frank, Dune, Mass Market Paperback, 1999.

Herbert's classic science fiction tale revolves around Duke Paul Atreides and his struggle to avenge his father's death. Atreides exploits the myths of a desert people and leads them to take over the planet. He hopes to realize their dream of making the inhospitable planet into a world...