Kaidu and Rat race to prevent a war when diplomatic efforts fail to resolve the conflicts of the Dao nation, but their task is complicated by Kaidu's discovery of a formula for a lost weapon. "Kaidu and Rat have only just recovered from the assassination attempt on the General of All Blades when more chaos breaks loose in the Nameless City: deep conflicts within the Dao nation are making it impossible to find a political solution for the disputed...

Eleven-year-old Gina Sparks, aspiring journalist, and her fellow GEEKs, Edgar, Elena, and Kevin, live in Elmwood, New Hampshire, a small town in serious danger of vanishing completely--unless the four friends can find the Van Houten fortune, which was supposedly promised to the town by Maxine Van Houten, a famous toymaker who loved complicated puzzles.

"The Nameless City--held by the rogue Dao prince Erzi--is under siege by a coalition of Dao and Yisun forces who are determined to end the war for the Nameless City once and for all. And the people of the city--the 'Named'--are caught in between. Meanwhile, Rat and Kai must infiltrate Erzi's palace and steal back the ancient and deadly formula for napatha, the ancient weapon of mass destruction Erzi has unearthed--before he can use it to destroy everything...