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Wolfbreed by S. Andrew Swann - 978-0553807387 - Spectra; Original Edition (August 25, 2009) ~ When a monk inadvertently discovers a lair of werewolf young, he unleashes what will become the Church’s most powerful—and secret—weapon. Clandestinely raised by the Teutonic Order, these lupine creatures serve as instruments of God against pagan unbelievers. Trained to slip into villages cloaked in human form, they are all but unstoppable. Only one, called Lilly, has cunningly fled her brutal master.
Uldolf is too young to remember the massacre eight years earlier that claimed his village, his arm, and his kin. But he knows the pain of loneliness. When he sees what appears to be a beautiful young woman, injured and cowering in the woods, he races to her aid. Uldolf and his adoptive family will do anything to protect the terrified girl, but the danger is greater than they can possibly imagine. For death is the only life Lilly has ever known—and if their humanity can’t pierce the darkness Lilly harbors in her soul, they’ll soon come to know it, too.
The Moreau Quartet: by S. Andrew Swann
In Forests of the Night: 978-0886775650 - DAW 1993 ~ When Nohar accepts a commission from a frankenstein to investigate the death of the campaign manager of a local politico, all hell breaks loose. Nohar finds himself targeted by everyone from local cops to federal agents to a drug-running gang to an assassin with a 100% kill rate.
In Emperors of the Twilight: 978-9994935086 - DAW 1994 ~ Evi is a frankenstein—the next step beyond human, her physiology bioengineered to make her the best Agency special operative in the business. When she’s forced to go on the run from an unidentified hit team ready to destroy a skyscraper just to take her out, Evi’s only hope is to evade her stalkers long enough to make contact with her superiors. But she soon discovers that even the Agency may not be able to save her.
In Specters of the Dawn: 978-0886776138 - DAW 1994 ~ A moreau of rabbit stock, Angel Lopez is the last survivor of a Cleveland street gang. A tough street fighter in search of a haven, she’s come to “tolerant” San Francisco only to find that even the old-fashioned kind of humans aren’t keen on moreaus. Still, she thinks she’s found a home and safety until Byron the fox barges into her life, dragging her into the deadly underground of information-peddling, and a series of confrontations that may blow not just San Francisco but the whole planet wide open.
In Fearful Symmetries: - 978-0886778347 - DAW 1999 ~ Nohar retired from the private eye business ten years ago, and just wants to spend his remaining time in the peace and quiet of his wilderness homestead. So when a human lawyer asks him to take on a missing moreau case, he refuses—and soon after is attacked by a paramilitary team. Now Nohar must find the missing moreau and discover why some- one wants him dead.
The Dragon Princess Trilogy by S. Andrew Swann ~ In this humorous and offbeat fantasy, magic is rarely perfect, heroes are rarely honorable, and you just might wake up in a body that's not your own…
Dragon Princess - 978-0756409579 - DAW 2014 ~ Frank Blackthorne's most recent heist did not end optimally. The sacrificial virgin survived, but the whole incident left Frank, a respectable career thief, on the run from a kingdom full of evil cultists eager to replace their sacrifice.
So, when the Court Wizard of Lendowyn, Elhared the Unwise, comes to him intending to hire someone to save Lendowyn’s princess from an evil dragon in return for riches, glory, and help with the bloodthirsty cultists problem, Frank is rightfully suspicious. Frank is also not in a position to refuse.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Frank’s rescue fails—in an explosion of spectacularly misapplied magic. When the dust settles, all parties involved find themselves body-swapped. Frank is left stranded in the Princess Lucille’s body, halfway across the kingdom. The understandably angry Princess Lucille finds herself inhabiting the body of the dragon. In order to set things right, they will have to team up and face down thugs, slavers, elvish bookies, knights in shining armor, an evil Queen, and the hordes of the Dark Lord Nâtalc.
Dragon Thief - 978-0756410131 - DAW 2015 ~ All Frank Blackthorne wants is a little vacation from being the princess. The involuntary swap in gender has been bad enough, but being a figurehead for the Royal Court of Lendowyn is becoming downright oppressive. In a fit of drunken self-pity, Frank turns to using a cursed artifact, hoping to become a man again, if only temporarily.
The good news is he becomes a man again, a kingdom away from Lendowyn court.
The bad news is the man whose body he now occupies belongs to a notorious thief wanted by every kingdom in the known world. A man of ruthless ambition who has left unimaginable destruction in his wake. A man who Frank has inadvertently deposited in the middle of the Lendowyn court in the body of the princess.
Now he’s stranded, his only allies a group of outcast teenage girls convinced that he’s the legendary master thief Snake. He must get back to Lendowyn—avoiding the armies of thieves, mercenaries, and assassins after the bounty on his new head.
Dragon Wizard - 978-0756411244 - DAW 2016 ~ It has been a year since former thief Frank Blackthorne became Princess of Lendowyn and married a dragon. He's coming to terms with his new life, but during the royal anniversary banquet, an elven prince reads a scroll of evil magic and Frank's world is turned upside-down. Again.
The scroll's spell causes a murderous rampage in a palace full of noble dignitaries, so it's no surprise Frank's visitors are angry. The Elf-King Timoras threatens war but Frank can't do anything about it: because of the same bit of scroll magic, the ex-Dragon Lucille has taken over the princess's body, unaware that Frank is still there, locked in her skull. And worst of all, the fate of everyone may soon rest on the shoulders of the man responsible for the whole mess, someone who should be safely dead...
Novels of the Cleveland Portal by S. Andrew Swann ~ Kline Maxwell was a serious political reporter. He wasn't interested in working on "fuzzy gnome" stories, or any of the other unbelievable tales that should end up only in sensationalist rags. But twelve years ago a magical Portal had opened into Cleveland, a Portal that had ruined much of Cleveland's modern-day technology even as it released magical energy all over town. And suddenly there was a shift in the population as humans fled the burg while dwarves, elves, dragons, ogres, gnomes, mages, and every other denizen of the fantasy realm on the other side of the Portal began moving into town.
And whether he wanted to or not, Maxwell had found himself covering stories that sometimes took him far from his political beat and into way too much danger both magical and mundane. Still, he took his job seriously, and when he was assigned to cover a dragon's death by crash-landing into the Cuyahoga, he headed over to the accident site with only a few curses. But what should have been a simple accident report soon led Maxwell in search of a much bigger story—one that would see him kidnapped by elves, framed for murder, holding secret meetings with dragons, and fleeing not only from the cops but from pretty much everybody!
The Dragons of the Cuyahoga - 978-0756400095 - DAW 2001 ~ Sent to cover a story about the death of a dragon who had crash-landed in the Cuyahoga River, Kline Maxwell, a reporter for the Cleveland Press is introduced to a strange and magical world of the Portal as he is kidnapped by elves, framed for murder, holds secret rendezvous with dragons, and becomes a fugitive.
The Dwarves of Whiskey Island ~ 978-0756403157 - DAW 2005 ~ In this sequel to "The Dragons of Cuyahoga," political reporter Kline Maxwell receives information about the unexplained suicide of the former City Council President, drawing Kline into a case that has dark spells, destruction, and death written all over it.
And anything else by S. Andrew Swann
Star of the Guardians by Margaret Weis
The Lost King - 0553286005 - Bantam Spectre 1990 ~ A galactic revolution has toppled the Starfire dynasty, and swept into power the harsh Democratic Republic. To support the murdered king is now punishable by death. But on distant worlds, the few surviving Guardians carry a dangerous secret: Somewhere in the galaxy, they shield the rightful heir to the throne.
Stalking the hidden king is the Warlord, a ruthless Republican general who wields the bloodsword. Only a few brave rebels dare to oppose him: young Dion, who fights to find his destiny; the mercenary Tusk; the outlaw commander Dixter; and the beautiful Lady Maigrey, the only person alive who can match the Warlord’s cunning. Theirs is the ultimate battle against a star-spanning corruption—the ultimate sacrifice for the glory of the lost king’s throne.
Kings Test - 0553763431 - Bantam Spectre 1991 ~ By calling a temporary truce, Derek Sagan and the rebels thwarted the alien Corasian invasion. Enemies once again, the rebels have resumed their defiance and Sagan has retumed to his campaign to topple the corrupt galactic government. He plans to set up Dion as king of the Starfire dynasty—and to place himself as the ruling power behind the throne.
On a remote planetary sinkhole of sin and corruption, a small weapon-barely ten centimeters on a side—is hidden. If activated, this seemingly harmless crystal cube could tear a hole in the universe . . . and destroy the fabric of creation. Sagan wants it. Lady Maigrey wants it. And so does Abdiel, a cruel genius who commands a drugged army of mindless slaves. And now Dion is caught in this momentous struggle as he faces his greatest trial yet in his battle to gain the interstellar throne.
Kings Sacrifice - 055376344X - Bantam Spectre 1991 ~ The spellbinding conclusion to the star-spanning saga of adventure and intrigue. At the end of King's Test, Sagan--the man who overthrew Dion's father--pledged his allegiance to Dion as the new king. Now, Dion battles alien and human enemies, and must give up both his lover and one of his men as he learns what it truly means to be king.
Ghost Legion - 0553763458 - Bantam Spectra 1993 ~ Young Dion Starfire is the ruler of a galaxy that is finally at peace after years of strife and bloodshed. Yet the peace is an uneasy one. Dion has fallen desperately in love with a woman who is not his queen, and suddenly the fragile alliances that rest of his marriage are threatened. Then real violence erupts as an illegitimate son of the dead king, in hiding on a forgotten planet, plots Dion's overthrow. At his command is an army of unseen “ghosts”—alien presences that can roam the galaxy and kill at will.
Dion must turn to an old mentor and enemy, Derek Sagan, as the one man who can help him battle the bastard prince and his dark minions. And at Derek's side hovers the powerful, shadowy presence of his lost love, Lady Maigrey. If Dion can only win their aid, he may have one last chance to preserve his throne—and peace for the galaxy.
Phaid the Gambler by Mick Farren - 0441662323 - ACE 1981 ~ When tomorrow's Earth is divided into savage belts of extreme cold and unbearable heat... When the human race mutates into three distinct, and often dangerous, life forms... When reactionary androids dream of playing the exhilarating, but forbidden, Life Games... When telepathic cats and dogs watch your every move... Then it is time to play against the odds - and gamble with your life - in tomorrow's deadliest game of survivial.
Citizen Phiad by Mick Farren - 0441106021 - ACE 1981 ~ When a gambler named Phaid hustles across the fractured zones of tomorrow's Earth... When a convict named Phaid bust out of the toughest cooler in the world... When a rebel named Phaid is hailed as a low-life hero of future legend... Then it's time to lay the cards on the table - and call all the bluffs - before "Citizen Phaid" plays his final and deadliest game.
Forbidden Boarders by W. Michael Gear ~ This rich and exciting sci-fi trilogy follows the search of one man—raised to be the ultimate general, the penultimate killing machine—for his own humanity and for the son he's never known.
Requiem for the Conqueror - 978-0886774776 - DAW 1991 ~ The final conflict is about to begin....
The Forbidden Borders form a seemingly unassailable gravity-powered barrier, cutting humankind off from the wider universe, confining rival empires to a few star systems, and leaving them to strive endlessly against one another for total control. But now the weakest have fallen, only two mighty empires remain, and each must once again turn to the man both fear more than they fear one another. The man each is determined to hire—or, failing that, to assassinate—Staffa kar Therma, Lord Commander of the Companions.
Trained to be the ultimate killing machine, the penultimate general, Staffa has led his crack Companion mercenary troops to victory time and again. Throughout the human worlds, the Lord Commander is cursed as the Star Butcher, bringer of death and destruction. And never before has he turned his back from undertaking a new contract. But along with his most recent victory has come a discovery that will have repercussions throughout all the star systems within the Forbidden Borders. For Staffa has learned that the son stolen from him in infancy may still be alive, and nothing will stand between Staffa and the search for his son—even though his quest may well lead to his own destruction....
Relic of Empire - 978-0886774929 - DAW 1992 ~ Seeking to blackmail Staffa into fighting for them, The Regans kidnap Skyla Lyma, Staffa's second-in-command and the women he loves. And suddenly Staffa is forced to choose between Skyla's life and the possible end of the universe. Yet perhaps the choice will not be left to him at all. For Sinklar, the son stolen from the Lord Commander as an infant, now a general who has become Staffa's sworn enemy, is already mobilizing his own forces for the inevitable conflict.
But others, too, are weaving strategies of intrigue and betrayal as they reach out to sieze control of the known worlds. And only time will tell if anyone will survive to claim the title of victor....
Counter-Measures - 978-0886775643 - DAW 1993 ~ In the stunning conclusion to Gear's remarkable sci-fi trilogy, the rift between father and son—both trained killing machines—will reach an explosive climax.
The Forbidden Borders—an unassailable gravity-powered barrier—confines rival human empires to a few star systems, leaving them to strive endlessly against one another for domination. Now the long-dreaded final war between Rega and Sassa, the last surviving empires, has been fought, and Staffa kar Therma, Lord Commander of the Companions, the finest of mercenary soldiers, is struggling to keep what remains of human civilization alive long enough to find a way to break free of the alien-created Forbidden Borders.
But Staffa’s own son and former enemy hasn’t decided whether to stand against the Lord Commander or to rally to Staffa’s cause. And the only two women Staffa has ever loved may soon become his unwitting betrayers as pawns of the one opponent who will stop at nothing to destroy the Lord Commander.
Yet beyond all these dangers waits the greatest challenge of Staffa’s career—the Mag Comm, the alien-created computer that has spread its net through all of human-inhabited space. The Mag Comm, which could make Staffa its unwilling slave—or free all of mankind from this alien prison.
The Spider Trilogy by W. Michael Gear
The Warriors of Spider - 0886772877 - DAW 1988 ~ The Directorate was run by the powerful few—genetically-altered humans permanently linked with the GI-net, the massive computer network that contained everything there was to know about the planets and space stations claimed by humankind. For centuries, the Directorate had ruled over countless star systems, its authority absolute and unquestioned. But now stirrings of rebellion were being felt in the far-flung commercial empire.
And at this crucial time, the Directorate had discovered a planet out beyond its farthest reaches, a place known only as World, where the descendants of humans stranded long ago by a starship crash had survived by becoming a race of warriors, a race led by its Prophets, men with the ability to see the many possible pathways of the future. Men who had already foreseen the coming of the Directorate’s Patrol ship Bullet—and were preparing their warriors for this first contact in which even one wrong choice could destroy both World and empire....
The Way of the Spider - 0886773180 - DAW 1989 ~ Rebellion on Sirius threatened to become the spark that would set the galaxy ablaze, bringing on the destruction of the Directorate-run empire—a tyranny powered by an elite corps of human, computer-linked brains. The Directorate’s only hope of overthrowing the Sirian rebels rested with three of its once-mighty but now battle-damaged Patrol ships, three backup warships, and a rate of primitive, long planet-bound warriors—the Romanans.
For the Directorate had spent many centuries breeding initiative and the capability for violent action out of the human race. And only on the lost colony of World did true warriors of spider still exist. But would the Romanans willingly join the cause of the star men who had once attempted to destroy their world? And even if they did, could warriors so newly exposed to the weapons of deadly technology defeat a world and a leader ready to utilize legendary tools of destruction more lethal than any humankind had ever known?
The Web of Spider - 0886773563 - DAW 1989 ~ The Sirian rebellion had proved the catalyst for the rise of two powerful new forces in the galaxy. Ngen Van Chow, leader of the failed rebellion, had fled to a distant world, establishing a base from which he would launch an interstellar holy war of destruction, a war fueled by the discovery of a long-hidden technology that could transform ordinary men and women into fanatical soldiers of Deus.
While on the long-lost colony planet of World, the Romanans, known as the warriors of Spider, and their Patrol allies—formerly part of the military and police force that kept order among the worlds and stations controlled by the computer network of the Directorate—prepared for civilization’s final stand against this seemingly unstoppable conqueror.
The Rings of the Master series by Jack L. Chalker
Lords of the Middle Dark - 978-0345325600 - DEL REY 1986 ~ Grave Reservations: Long ago, the machines had rebelled, wiping out most of humanity and exiling the survivors in widely scattered reservations where they lived according to their ancient cultures. Master System ruled unchallenged, since the key to breaking its control--five microchips disguised as gold rings--was long forgotten. And Master System was careful to keep it that way.
Then an Amerindian called Hawks stumbled across information about the five rings and their purpose. And the other side of the world, A Chinese girl genious dared to interfere with a computer system to avoid an unhappy future as a humble and obedient Oreiental wife.
Suddenly Master System was after them both--and it loked as if their only hope lay in fidding the ring themselves...
Pirates of the Thunder - 978-0345325617 - DEL REY 1987 ~ Unsafe Haven: Hawks had refused to help the ambitious Lazlo Chen in his quest to find the five gold rings that could break Master System's hold over humankind--and that refusal had landed him on the deadly prison planet Melchior.
But when Hawks and some fellow prisoners engineered a bold escape, it seemed almost too easy. Hawks guessed that Chen was pulling the strings, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was another, greater power involved. And that scared him.
Now the stakes were rising, and Hawks was more determined than ever to find the gold rings. But Master System was out to capture him, and Chen was trying to follow him--and the only place his small band of rebels could hide was smack in the middle of pirate territory...
Warriors of the Storm - 978-0345325624 - DEL REY 1987 ~ Guardian Devil: For centuries, Master System ruled mankind unchallenged. Then a small band of renegades commandeered the spaceship Thunder and fled into pirate territory. Now they were prepared to sieze the five coded rings that together could shut down Master System--and return human destiny to human control.
With them went the one variable that didn't figure in Master System's equations: Vulture, a shapechanger capable of absorbing the body and memories of any other organic being. Without the information Vulture could collect, the rebels could never infiltrate the worlds where the rings hidden.
Each ring was better protected than the last. And as each ring drew the band further into Master System's web, Vulture became aware of a possibly more insidious danger. An unknown entity with the power to elude Master System seemed to be giving the rebels an unseen hand. But the question was--whose side was it on...
Masks of the Martyrs - 978-0345343093 - DEL REY 1988 ~ Enigmatic Solution: Even before the renegade pirates of the giant spaceship Thunder had collected all five of the rings that would eliminate the threat of Master System forever, Hawks knew that they still faced even greater problems.
The shapechanger, Vulture, was lost on the waterway planet of Chanchuk, his fate unknown. Master System's space fleet dogged the renegades' every step. Hawks suspected that the group was harboring a traitor, but he was powerless to act. And, most important, the rebels had not yet figured out how the rings were used--a riddle that seemed to have no solution!
Somewhere back on Earth lay the original computer interface, and somewhere in the distant past lay the secret to Master System's demise. As a historian, Hawks had the knowledge to solve the riddle; yet he had to be absolutly sure--for one mistep would destry them all.
G.O.D. INC. (Triligy) by Jack L. Chalker
The Labyrinth of Dreams - 978-0812508628 - TOR 1987 ~ Spade and Marlowe Never Took a Case Like This!
I'm Sam Horowitz, My wife Brandy and I are private eyes--and belly-up broke. That's why we agreed to trace Martin Whitlock, a hotshot banker who'd skipped town with over two million dollars in launered drug money. Not ourusual case, but even filthy mob lucre pays bills.
Whitlock's trail led from a posh mansion to a hick burg called McInerney, Oregon--and to G.O.D. Inc., those geeks who hawk overpriced garbage on lat night TV. That's where we found our boy...too often. There were three Marty Whitlocks: same prints. But one female. One was dead. We got busted. That wasn't the worst.
The mob ripoff was only one move in a caper to take over crime--not the Mafia, but something a hell of a lot bigger. Because two-bit McInerney, Oregon, wasn't just off the map... it was off the edge of the earth.
And Brandy and I were being taken for a ride--into "The Laybrinth of Dreams"
The Shadow Dancers - 978-0812533088 - TOR 1987 ~ the Ultimate Case:To Stop the Ultimate Drug...
I'm Horowitz. Brandy HoIrowitz. My husband Sam and I are private eyes who take cases for G.O.D. Inc.--the outfit that runs the Labyrinth to infinite alternate earths filled with crime, danger...and murder.
Power-mad fanatics are running a narcotic V.D. that spreads like a bug, works like a drug, and one touch hooks you for good. You don't become a junkie, you become a zombie. 'Cause this monkey's not just on your back, but in your brain, it's got a mind, and if you kick it, it kicks back with madness and death.
So the beautiful black PI and wonderful Jewish sleuth have to smash the source before the drug-bug reaches our client's Home World. But the opposition's got fake Sams and Brandys set up in headquarters on two worlds that hold any possible leads: one that never heard of civil rights... And one ruled by the Nazis.
The Mirror in the Maze - 978-0812533170 - TOR 1989 ~ Infinite Murder: I'm Horowitz. Private eye. I work for G.O.D. Inc.--the Company that rules the Layrinth between infinite alternate Earths. Only now I've got new clients--vengeful rebels ot to wreck the Labyrinth. But their Big Plans on hold: one of the inner circle's dead, leaving eight conspiritor/prime suspects on eight private worlds.
And finding the killer's the least of my problems. The rebel play for high stakes--and I know too much to live. If I succeed, they'll will kill me. If I stall, they'll blow up a planet--ours. If I escape, the Company will kill me. If I stop the rebel scheme, my wife and child will be turned into mindless drug-sex slaves.
But if I don't stop them, they'll unleash a force that might well cremate Earths. All Earths. In all universes. Throughout all creation...
Riverworld by Phillip Jose Farmer
To Your Scattered Bodies Go - 0425064883 - Berkley 1971 ~ Reborn. All huanity--including Sir Richard Burton, Alice in Wonderland and yourself!--on the banks of a ten million mile river. And so begins the search for rge Ethicals, and the most incredable voyage ever undertaken...
The Fabulous Riverboat - 042550122 - Berkely 1971 ~ It is the day after death. All humanity has awakened on the banks of of a 10 million mile river, where the famous and the obscure--from Sam Clemmens to cavemet to yourself!--are throne together in the search for Existence itself..
The Dark Design - 0425055469 - Berkely 1977 ~ Welcome to Riverworld. Where everyone who ever died, from Karl Marx to Tom Mix to Joan of Arc, wakes up the day after death on the banks of a giant river, to take part in what many consider to be the greatest adventure in all Science Fiction.
The Magic Labyrinth - 042506219 - Berkely 1980 - You are in this book. So is everyone else who ever lived or ever will--all humanity simultaneously reincarnated on the banks of the 10 million mile river that forms the setting for what many consider to be crowning achievement of modern science fiction.
Gods of Riverworld - 042507448X - Berkely 1983 ~ Pillip Jose Farmer's previous bestseller, The Magic Labyrinth, climaxed but did not conclude the saga of Riverworld, where everyone who has ever lived-- including Tom Mix, Alice in Wonderland and even yourself!--awakens in a mysterious world. In this exciting sequel to one imaginative literature's grandest creations, some of the mysteries of Riverworld have been solved...but even stranger one have arisen...
Dayworld by Phillip Jose Farmer - 0425084744 - Berkly 1985 ~ Just one day. That's all you get. The world's crowded, and the government appreciates your cooperation. Your allowed one day a week to live your life. The rest of the week, your "Stoned"-frozen solid.
Unless, of course, you're a daybreaker. Then youcan live every day of the week. You can assume seven different personalities and work seven different jobs. You can slip from culture to culture, in seven different worlds.
Unless of course, you get caught...or go crazy.
Dayworld Rebel - 0441140025 - ACE 1987 ~ Jeff Caird was once a daybreaker: a criminal who avoided government-required suspended animation by living seven different identities. Now he goes by the name William St.-George Duncan, and he’s suppressed the memory of his past, and even his real identity, in order to avoid harsh punishment by the government of the Organic Commonwealth of Earth. But the danger is far from over, and the authorities continue to hunt him—because among the things he’s forgotten there’s something very important . . .
In the wilderness of northern New Jersey, Dunc has fallen in with a group of rebel daybreakers. As he struggles to retrieve the memory that’s so valuable—and dangerous—to the government, he learns from his new allies that there’s a larger movement to break free from the control of the corrupt World Council that limits citizens to one day of consciousness per week. And the knowledge buried deep within him may be the key to their success.
Hugo award–winning Science Fiction Grand Master Philip José Farmer returns to the Dayworld universe for the second installment of his richly imagined trilogy, in which Earth’s overpopulation has led to the most stringent government restrictions on personal freedom imaginable.
Dayworld Breakup - 0812508890 - TOR 1990 ~ Before the dawn of the New Era, the world was divided into nations with separate governments that engaged in wars, and populations ravaged by poverty, starvation, and disease. After a final bloody conflict, a single government emerged and took drastic measures to control the dangerous overpopulation in the Organic Commonwealth of Earth: Each citizen is “stoned” in suspended animation for six days each week and closely monitored at all times. Thus, resources are plentiful, and there’s peace and prosperity—or is there?
It seems the World Council has been lying. Now, rebel daybreaker Jeff Caird and Panthea Snick, formerly of the organic police force, must risk their lives to expose the truth about the corrupt government and rally the citizens of Earth to rise up against the powers that are robbing them of their freedom—and their lives. But what will become of Jeff and his multiple identities as the struggle draws to a close?
The breathtaking finale in the Dayworld Trilogy reveals the truth about the perverse government of Earth in the New Era, and the ramifications of its fall, along with a deeper understanding of the man who dares to challenge it.
A Barnstormer in OZ by Phillip Jose Farmer - 0425062740 - Berkley 1982 ~ Hank had a Felling he wasn't in Kansas anymore:
Hank Stover was one of the two people in the world who knew that OZ really existed...but he never expected to go there. He Never expected his plane would be forced down by a green cloud that April day in 1923. Nor that he would meet the witch who had befriended his mother. Dorothy. Nor that she would be so beautiful...
The Giants Novels - 978-0345388858 - DEL REY 1994 ~ Discover the first three books in the ground-breaking 21st century hard-science fiction saga by James P. Hogan:
Inheret the Stars
The skeletal remains of a human body are found on the moon. His corpse is 50,000 years old, and nobody knows who he was, how he got there, or what killed him.
The Gentle Giants of Ganymede
A long-ago wrecked ship of alien giants is discovered by Earth's scientists on a frozen satellite of Jupiter. Then, spinning out of the vastness of space, a ship of the same strange, humanoid giants has returned....
Giants' Star
Humans finally thought they comprehended their place in the universe...until Earth found itself in the middle of a power struggle between a benevolent alien empire and a cunning race of upstart humans who hated Earth!
The World is Round by Tony Rothman - 0345273137 - DEL REY 1978 ~ The Planet of Starless Nights:
Their world was 50 times bigger than any world had a right to be.
Their days were a year long. They had no moon. Normal seasons didn't exist, and when the natives weren't worried about being roasted alive they lived in dread of freezing to death. Paddlelack wasn'y a native of Patra-Bannk, but he had been trapped there long enough to hate its insanity with every fiber of his being.
Then a crew from far-off Two-Bit arrived to search for a fantastic city and its fabulous treasures. Paddelock greeted them with a vengeance and begged for passage off this crazy world. But the mission commander had something else in mind, and he needed Paddlelack's help.
So Paddelack stayed on the world he hated, an unwilling captive of a mercenary band. Together they traversed the face of this bizarre planet--plagued by unpredictable natives, beset by irrational weather, and thorougly confused by the enormity of their predicament.
The Starwolf Trilogy by Edmond Hamilton - 0441784240 - ACE 1982 (pictured 1968 covers) ~ The Only Mercy a Starwolf could expect was death...
Morgan Chane was a Starwolf--a member of the most infamous band of interstellar pirates in the gallaxy. He had flown with the raiding packs, rockets screaming, to plunder the rich and slaughter the helpless.
But Morgan Chane was also a Terran, adopted as a child into the Starwolf clan. And when a quarrel erupted, Chane discovered that the Starwolves weighed his alien birth more heavily than all the years of comradeship. Now he is cast out of the clan, and running for his lfe.
But where, in all the galaxy, can a Starwolf expect to find refuge?
The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper
Over Sea, Under Stone - 978-0689840357 - McElderry - 1965 ~ On holiday in Cornwall, the three Drew children discover an ancient map in the attic of the house that they are staying in. They know immediately that it is special. It is even more than that -- the key to finding a grail, a source of power to fight the forces of evil known as the Dark. And in searching for it themselves, the Drews put their very lives in peril.
The Dark is Rising - 978-0689829833 - McElderry Books - 1973 ~ On the Midwinter Day that is his eleventh birthday, Will Stanton discovers a special gift -- that he is the last of the Old Ones, immortals dedicated to keeping the world from domination by the forces of evil, the Dark. At once, he is plunged into a quest for the six magical Signs that will one day aid the Old Ones in the final battle between the Dark and the Light. And for the twelve days of Christmas, while the Dark is rising, life for Will is full of wonder, terror, and delight.
Greenwitch - 978-0689840340 ~ McElderry Books - 1974 ~ Simon, Jane, and Barney, enlisted by their mysterious great-uncle, arrive in a small coastal town to recover a priceless golden grail stolen by the forces of evil -- Dark. They are not at first aware of the strange powers of another boy brought to help, Will Stanton -- nor of the sinister significance of the Greenwitch, an image of leaves and branches that for centuries has been cast into the sea for good luck in fishing and harvest.
Their search for the grail sets into motion a series of distubing, sometimes dangerous events that, at their climax, bring forth a gift that, for a time at least, will keep the Dark from rising.
The Grey King - 978-0689829840 - McElderry Books - 1975 ~ There is a Welsh legend about a harp of gold, hidden within a certain hill, that will be found by a boy and a white dog with silver eyes -- a dog that can see the wind. Will Stanton knew nothing of this when he came to Wales to recover from a severe illness. But when he met Bran, a strange boy who owned a white dog, he began to remember. For Will is the last-born of the Old Ones, immortals dedicated to saving the world from the forces of evil, the Dark. And it is Will's task to wake-with the golden harp -- the six who must be roused from their long slumber in the Welsh hills to prepare for the last battle between the Dark and the Light.
Silver On the Tree - 978-0689840333 - McElderry Books - 1977 ~ The Dark is rising in its last and greatest bid to control the world. And Will Stanton -- last-born of the immortal Old Ones, dedicated to keeping the world free -- must join forces with this ageless master Merriman and Bran, the Welsh boy whose destiny ties him to the Light. Drawn in with them are the three Drew children, who are mortal, but have their own vital part in the story. These six fight fear and death in the darkly brooding Welsh hills, in a quest through time and space that touches the most ancient myths of the British Isles, and that brings Susan Cooper's masterful sequence of novels to a satysfying close.
The Green Rider Series by Kristen Britain
The Green Rider - 978-0886778583 - DAW 2000 ~On her long journey home from school after a fight that will surely lead to her expulsion, Karigan G'ladheon ponders her uncertain future. As she trudges through the immense Green Cloak forest, her thoughts are interrupted by the clattering of hooves, as a galloping horse bursts from the woods.
The rider is slumped over his mount's neck, impaled by two black-shafted arrows. As the young man lies dying on the road, he tells Karigan he is a Green Rider, one of the legendary messengers of the king of Sacoridia.
Before he dies, he begs Karigan to deliver the “life and death” message he bears to King Zachary. When she reluctantly he agrees, he makes her swear on his sword to complete his mission, whispering with his dying breath, "Beware the shadow man...".
Taking on the golden-winged horse brooch that is the symbol of the Green Riders, Karigan is swept into a world of deadly danger and complex magic, her life forever changed. Compelled by forces she cannot understand, Karigan is accompanied by the silent specter of the fallen messenger and hounded by dark beings bent on seeing that the message, and its reluctant carrier, never reach their destination.
First Rider's Call - 978-0756401931 - DAW 2004 ~ Karigan G'ladheon was once a Green Rider, one of the king of Sacoridia's elite magical messengers. In the messenger service, she was caught up in a world of deadly danger, and though she defeated the rogue Eletian who cracked the magical D'Yer Wall—which had protected Sacoridia for a thousand years from the dark influence of Blackveil Forest, and Mornhavon the Black's evil spirit imprisoned within it—she had nonetheless been tainted by his wild magic.
Exhausted in body and spirit, and determined to take control of her own destiny, Karigan returned to her home in Corsa. But even Karigan's stubborn determination is no match for the Rider's call. Ghostly hoofbeats echo in the deep regions of her mind. When she awakes to find herself on horseback, halfway to Sacor City in her nightgown, she finally gives in.
Karigan returns to the court, only to find the Green Riders weakened and diminished. Rider magic has become unreliable, and she herself has ghostly visions of Lil Ambriodhe, First Rider, and founder of the Green Rider corps.
But why is the First Rider appearing to Karigan? And will Karigan be able to seek the help of a woman who has been dead for a thousand years?
The High Kings Tomb - 978-0756405885 - DAW 2009 ~ More than a thousand years ago, the armies of the Arcosian Empire, led by sorcerer Mornhavon the Black, crossed the great sea and tried to conquer the land of Sacoridia using terrible dark magic. Eventually, Mornhavon was captured, and his evil spirit imprisoned in Blackveil Forest.
Since that day, the perimeter of Blackveil—now a dark and twisted land—has been protected by the magical D’Yer Wall. But in the centuries since the war’s end, knowledge of the working of magic disappeared from Sacoridia, due to the fear and prejudice of a people traumatized by Mornhavon’s sorceries.
Karigan G’ladheon is now a seasoned Green Rider—a member of the magical messenger corps of the king. But during her first year as a Rider, a rogue magician cracked the mighty D’Yer Wall. The spirit of Mornhavon, sensing the weakness, began to wake, seeking vengeance, and causing frightening aberrations throughout the land.
Karigan managed to transport the spirit of Mornhavon into the future, buying valuable time for her king and country. But how far in the future is Mornhavon now? A hundred years? Ten? Only one year? There is no way to tell.
And though Karigan and her fellow Riders have scoured the land searching for lost magical knowledge, and members of Clan D’Yer are camped at the wall, hoping to uncover its lost secrets, they were unaware of a threat to their kingdom that lay far closer.
For there were Arcosian soldiers who survived the Long War, and the descendants of those ancient enemies spent generations honing their powers of dark magic—a force against which the Sacoridians have no defense....
Blackveil - 978-0756407087 - DAW 2012 ~ Over a millennium ago, Mornhavon the Black, heir to the Arcosian Empire, crossed the great sea hoping to conquer Sacoridia. Mornhavon and his armies were defeated—but not before their general had resorted to desperate, dark magic that rendered his twisted spirit immortal. Finally, Mornhavon was captured and imprisoned in Blackveil Forest, and the forest’s perimeter was sealed by the magical D’Yer Wall.
In the many centuries since, knowledge of magic has disappeared from Sacoridia due to the fear and prejudice of a people traumatized by the memory of Mornhavon’s terrifying sorceries. Even the protective magic that created and maintained the D’Yer Wall has been lost, and the once-impermaeable barrier has been breached, allowing Blackveil’s malignant influence to seep into the lands beyond once again.
Karigan G’ladheon is a Green Rider—a seasoned member of the elite messenger corps of King Zachary of Sacoridia. But Karigan is no ordinary Rider, for she can traverse the barriers of time and space. Because of this extraordinary ability, she was able to transport the spirit of Mornhavon into the future, buying precious time for her country. During the window of relative safety, King Zachary decides to send Karigan and a small contingent of scouts, accompanied by a small group of Eletians—a magical race who once lived in the lands now tainted by Mornhavon’s magic—into Blackveil Forest.
Though Mornhavon is gone, the forest is still a treacherous and unnatural place filled with monstrous creatures and deadly traps. Plus, no one knows how far in the future Mornhavon has been sent—Ten years? One? Maybe even less.
And unbeknownst to the band of Eletians and Sacoridians, another small group has entered the forest—Arcosian descendants who have kept Mornhavon’s dark magic alive in secret for centuries, and who now plan to avenge their long-ago defeat by bringing Sacoridia to its knees.
Mirror Sight - 978-0756409845 - DAW 2016 ~ Karigan G’ladheon is a Green Rider—a seasoned member of the elite messenger corps of King Zachary of Sacoridia. King Zachary sends Karigan and a contingent of Sacoridians beyond the edges of his nation, into the mysterious Blackveil Forest, which has been tainted with dark magic by a twisted immortal spirit named Mornhavon the Black.
In a magical confrontation against Mornhavon, Karigan is jolted out of Blackveil Forest and wakes in darkness. She’s lying on smooth, cold stone, but as she reaches out, she realizes that the stone is not just beneath her, but above and around her as well. She’s landed in a sealed stone sarcophagus, some unknown tomb, and the air is becoming thin.
Is this to be her end? If she escapes, where will she find herself? Is she still in the world she remembers, or has the magical explosion transported her somewhere completely different? To find out, she must first win free of her prison— before it becomes her grave. And should she succeed, will she be walking straight into a trap created by Mornhavon himself?
Firebrand - 978-0756411565 - DAW 2019 ~ Zachary Davriel Hillander, High King of Sacoridia, rues how much he has had to give up to lead his realm, including the freedom to live and love as he chooses. When an embassy from Eletia arrives to propose a joint venture between their realms to seek out an old ally in the north, he is dismayed to learn that the one Sacoridian they have in mind to accompany their guide is the woman he truly loves but cannot have: Green Rider Karigan G’ladheon.
Karigan has only just returned from a dark future where Sacoridia has been conquered and is ruled by a despotic emperor, and she has not recovered in heart or mind. As if that is not enough, the castle ghosts won’t leave her alone. Though Zachary is loath to part from her so soon after her return, he knows she is the best choice to undertake the mission to the north.
Each step on their journey places Karigan and her companions closer to enemy territory and danger, for northward lie the forces of Second Empire, Sacoridia’s longtime foe, and Grandmother, the necromantic leader of Second Empire, has not been idle. She uses her magic to summon a wild elemental spirit to wreak havoc upon Zachary and his wife, Queen Estora.
At first the Sacoridians succeed in fending off the creature, but it so covets Estora that it can’t stay away. It abducts Zachary, assuming his form and his place at Estora’s side—but when it is finally ousted, Zachary is still missing. Estora, alone and heavy with twins, must prepare her realm for the coming conflict from the confines of her bedchamber.
Meanwhile, the danger only deepens for Karigan and her companions as they journey north. When she finds herself caught in the midst of a clash between forces, Karigan must rescue and protect her king before she falls into a trap set by Grandmother—a trap that could give Second Empire the power to control the dead and all the demons of the hells.
Sword of Shadow Series by J. V. Jones (Julie Victoria)
A Cavern of Black Ice - 978-0446608176 - Aspect/Warner Books 2000 ~ As a newborn Ash March was abandoned--left for dead at the foot of a frozen mountain. Found and raised by the Penthero Iss, the mighty Surlord of Spire Vanis, she has always known she is different. Terrible dreams plague her and sometimes in the darkness she hears dread voices from another world. Iss watches her as she grows to womanhood, eager to discover what powers his ward might possess. As his interest quickens, he sends his living blade, Marafice Eye, to guard her night and day.
Raif Sevrance, a young man of Clan Blackhail, also knows he is different, with uncanny abilities that distance him from the clan. But when he and his brother survive an ambush that plunges the entire Northern Territories into war, he yet seeks justice for his own . . . even if means he must forsake clan and kin.
Ash and Raif must learn to master their powers and accept their joint fate if they are to defeat an ancient prophecy and prevent the release of the pure evil known as the End Lords.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
A Fortress of Grey Ice - 978-0765345493 - TOR 2004 ~ And Jones lives up to that praise in the highly charged epic adventure of Ash March and Raif Sevrance, two outcasts whose fate are entwined by ancient prophecies and need, in the cold, dark world that threatens to be torn asunder by a war to end all wars.
Isolated by their birthrights, they are but two who fight the dreaded Endlords, and their strength and courage will be needed if the world is to be saved from darkness."
Raif, wrongly accused and cut off from his clan by the treachery of their new headsman, has a talent for killing that is part of his curse and his burden. But he bears another burden of greater weight.
Ash is a sacred warrior to the Sull, an ancient race whose numbers have declined. Raised as a foundling, never knowing her true history, she must learn to accept the terrible gifts of her heritage.
But as Ash learns more of her greater fate, Raif's task looms dark and desperate, for he must journey through the nightmare realm of the Want, a place where even the Sull now fear to tread. For deep within the Want is the Fortress of Grey Ice, and there he must heal the breach in the Blindwall that already threatens the world. Should he fail, not even Ash's powers can save them. . . .
A Sword from Red Ice - 978-0765345509 - TOR 2008 ~ A thousand years ago, war shook the land. Now, chaos has erupted. Clans vie for dominance; dangerous, arrogant clan chiefs urge their followers into frenzied battles, killing each other and plotting the defeat of their rivals despite those among them who seek unity. But for all the vicious contention among the clans, a darker threat comes from Spire Vanis, a city with a black heart of evil, whose rulers have long sought to control the clanholds. In the midst of the chaos, a few extraordinary people wrestle with personal demons: A born killer with only love and loyalty in his heart; a young woman whose mystical destiny is shrouded in her unknown past; a young man betrayed by his own brother; and a clanswoman who would do anything to save her folk. Each alone seeks only survival, but together they hold the keys to a world's salvation.
Watcher of the Dead - 978-0765359308 - TOR 2011 ~ In this powerful saga of redemption and renewal, J. V. Jones brings to vivid life the magnificent tapestry of a world at once desperately fighting for survival against supernatural monsters and rent by internecine warfare. The frozen land at the north of the world was once ruled by a legendary nation of superhuman warriors. But that age has passed, leaving ancient clans to struggle for dominance as supernatural forces beyond their control threaten their very existence.
Amid the chaos of world-changing violence, unlikely heroes emerge. An unwanted warrior, a forsaken woman of power, the betrayed widow of a slain clan chief: these are the heroes rising to claim what has been taken from them and to reshape the world.
In a sharply observed narrative that illuminates these riven lives, Jones has crafted a human drama full of the excitement, suspense, and sheer storytelling power that have made the Sword of Shadows a fantasy series that transcends genre to become a memorable tale of human striving and triumph that speaks to readers as have few others.
