The Farseer Triliogy by Robin Hobb
Assassin's Apprentice - 978-0553573398 - Bantam Spectre 1996 ~ Young Fitz is the bastard son of the noble Prince Chivalry, raised in the shadow of the royal court by his father's gruff stableman. He is treated like an outcast by all the royalty except the devious King Shrewd, who has him sectetly tutored in the arts of the assassin. For in Fitz's blood runs the magic Skill--and the darker knowledge of a child raised with the stable hounds and rejected by his family. As barbarous raiders ravage the coasts, Fitz is growing to manhood. Soon he will face his first dangerous, soul-shattering mission. And though some regard him as a threat to the throne, he may just be the key to the survival of the kingdom.
Royal Assassin - 978-0553375633 - Bantam Spectre - 1996 ~ Fitz has survived his first hazardous mission as king's assassin, but is left little more than a cripple. Battered and bitter, he vows to abandon his oath to King Shrewd, remaining in the distant mountains. But love and events of terrible urgency draw him back to the court at Buckkeep, and into the deadly intrigues of the royal family. Renewing their vicious attacks on the coast, the Red-Ship Raiders leave burned-out villages and demented victims in their wake. The kingdom is also under assault from within, as treachery threatens the throne of the ailing king. In this time of great danger, the fate of the kingdom may rest in Fitz's hands--and his role in its salvation may require the ultimate sacrifice. Praise for Robin Hobb and Royal Assassin " Robin] Hobb continues to revitalize a genre that often seems all too generic, making it new in ways that range from the subtle to the shocking." -- Locus " Royal Assassin ] reaches astonishing new heights. . . . The Farseer saga is destined for greatness--a must-read for every devotee of epic fantasy." -- Sense of Wonder
Assassin's Quest - 978-0553565690 - Bantam Spectre - 1998 ~ King Shrewd is dead at the hands of his son Regal. As is Fitz--or so his enemies and friends believe. But with the help of his allies and his beast magic, he emerges from the grave, deeply scarred in body and soul. The kingdom also teeters toward ruin: Regal has plundered and abandoned the capital, while the rightful heir, Prince Verity, is lost to his mad quest--perhaps to death. Only Verity's return--or the heir his princess carries--can save the Six Duchies. But Fitz will not wait. Driven by loss and bitter memories, he undertakes a quest: to kill Regal. The journey casts him into deep waters, as he discovers wild currents of magic within him--currents that will either drown him or make him something more than he was.
The Wraith King Triliogy by Grace Draven
Radiance - 978-1506119717 - Self Published 2015 ~ ~THE PRINCE OF NO VALUE~
Brishen Khaskem, prince of the Kai, has lived content as the nonessential spare heir to a throne secured many times over. A trade and political alliance between the human kingdom of Gaur and the Kai kingdom of Bast-Haradis requires that he marry a Gauri woman to seal the treaty. Always a dutiful son, Brishen agrees to the marriage and discovers his bride is as ugly as he expected and more beautiful than he could have imagined.
~THE NOBLEWOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE~
Ildiko, niece of the Gauri king, has always known her only worth to the royal family lay in a strategic marriage. Resigned to her fate, she is horrified to learn that her intended groom isn’t just a foreign aristocrat but the younger prince of a people neither familiar nor human. Bound to her new husband, Ildiko will leave behind all she’s known to embrace a man shrouded in darkness but with a soul forged by light.
Two people brought together by the trappings of duty and politics will discover they are destined for each other, even as the powers of a hostile kingdom scheme to tear them apart.
Eidolon - 978-1533263650 - Self Published 2016 ~ **Sequel to RADIANCE and Book #2 in the Wraith Kings series**
In a bid for more power, the Shadow Queen of Haradis unleashes a malignant force into the world. Her son Brishen, younger prince of the Kai royal house, suddenly finds himself ruler of a kingdom blighted by a diseased darkness. His human wife Ildiko must decide if she will give up the man she loves in order to save his throne.
Three kingdoms on the verge of war must unite to save each other, and a one-eyed, reluctant king will raise an army of the dead to challenge an army of the damned.
A tale of alliance and sacrifice.
The Ippos King - 978- - Self Published 2020 ~ The WRAITH KINGS saga continues.
The demonic horde that threatened to devour the world has been defeated, but at great cost.
Plagued by guilt and nightmares, Serovek Pangion sets out to deliver the soulless body of the monk Megiddo to the heretical Jeden Order for safekeeping. Accompanying him is sha-Anhuset, the Kai woman he admires and desires most--a woman barely tolerant of him.
Devoted to her regent, Anhuset reluctantly agrees to act as a Kai ambassador on the trip, even though the bold margrave known as the Beladine Stallion gets under her skin like no other, and Anhuset fears he'll worm his way into her armored heart as well.
But guilt and unwelcome attraction are the least of their problems. The demons thought vanquished are stirring again, and a warlord with blood-soaked ambition turns a journey of compassion into a fight for survival. When the Beladine king brands Serovek a traitor, Anhuset must choose between sacrificing the life of a man she's grown to love and abandoning lifelong fealty to the Kai people.
A tale of loyalty and acceptance.
The Death Gate Cycle by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Dragon Wing - 978-0553286397 - Bantam - 1990 ~ Ages ago, sorcerers of unmatched power sundered a world into four realms--sky, stone, fire, and water--then vanished. Over time, magicians learned to work spells only in their own realms and forgot the others. Now only the few who have survived the Labyrinth and crossed the Death Gate know of the presence of all four realms--and even they have yet to unravel the mysteries of their severed world...
In Arianus, Realm of Sky, humans, elves, and dwarves battle for control of precious water--traversing a world of airborne islands on currents of elven magic and the backs of mammoth dragons. But soon great magical forces will begin to rend the fabric of this delicate land. An assassin will be hired to kill a royal prince--by the king himself. A dwarf will challenge the beliefs of his people--and lead them in rebellion. And a sinister wizard will enact his plan to rule Arianus--a plan that may be felt far beyond the Realm of Sky and into the Death Gate itself.
Elven Star - 978-0553290981 - Bantam - 1990 ~ On steamy Pryan, never-ending sunlight and plentiful rain have created a jungle so vast that humans and elves dwell high in the trees and only dwarves live anywhere near the ground. From the treetops the aristocratic elves sell weapons to the other races, whose incessant warfare sends a steady steam of profits and essential resources skyward. Now, generations of dissent and race hatred will not heal -- not even under the threat of annihilation at the hands of legendary Titans. Armed with little more than their wits and prophecy, an elf, a human, and a dwarf must unite to try to save the world from destruction.
Fire Sea - 978-0553295412 - Bantam - 1991 ~ Abarrach, the Realm of stone. Here, on a barren world of underground caverns built around a core of molten lava, the lesser races -- humans, elves, and dwarves -- seem to have all died off. Here, too, what may well be the last remnants of the once powerful Sartan still struggle to survive. For Haplo and Alfred -- enemies by heritage, traveling companions by necessity -- Abarrach may reveal more than either dares to discover about the history of Sartan... and the future of all their descendants."
Serpent Mage - 978-0553561401 - Bantam - 1992 ~ After the four worlds Alfred has at last found his people on Chelstra, the realm of sea. But his travels have taught him to be cautious... and Alfred soon realizes his caution is justified, even among his own kind. The one person Alfred can trust is, strangely, Haplo the Patryn. But Haplo's lord has decreed all Sartan to be the enemy, and Haplo dares not go against his lord. Now the companions have arrived in a land where humans, elves, and dwarves have learned to live in peace. Unaware of an even greater threat to all the realms, it is Sartan and Patryn who will disrupt this alliance of the lesser races in their struggle to gain control of all four worlds. Only Alfred and Haplo realize that they have a much older -- and more powerful -- enemy than each other...
The Hand of Chaos - 978-0553563696 - Bantam 1993 ~ Chaos is everywhere as the Lord of the Nexus orders his servant Haplo and the human child known as Bane to further their master's work on Arianus, the realm of air. But their one time companion Alfred has been cast into the deadly Labyrinth. And somehow the assassin Hugh the Hand has been resurrected to complete his dark mission. More important, the evil force that Haplo and Alfred discovered on Arianus has escaped. As Haplo's doubts about his master grow deeper, he must decide whether to obey the Lord of the Nexus or betray the powerful Patryn...and endeavor to bring peace to the universe.
Into the Labyrinth - 978-0553567717 - Bantam - 1993 ~ From his army of the undead, Xar, Lord of the Nexus, learns of the existence of the mysterious Seventh Gate. It is said that this gate grants whoever enters it the power to create worlds—or destroy them. Only Haplo knows its location—but he doesn't know he knows it. Now an ex-lover has been sent to betray Haplo and bring back his corpse. Meanwhile, the assassin Hugh the Hand is also after Haplo, wielding the Accursed Blade. With his old companion Alfred, Haplo must seek sanctuary in the Labyrinth—a deadly prison maze whose inhabitants are condemned to death.
Millennia ago a battle raged between the Sartan and the Patryn, and the Sartan sundered the world into four realms—air, fire, stone, and water—and then vanished. But now the two races have rediscovered each other through the magic of the Death Gate—and war is about to erupt anew.
The Seventh Gate - 978-0553573251 - Bantam - 1994 ~ The Seventh Gate is the thrilling conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Death Gate Cycle by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. In this tale of treachery, power, and heroism, Alfred, Haplo, and Marit embark on a journey of death and discovery as they seek to enter the dreaded Seventh Gate. Encountering enemies both old and new, they unleash a magic no power can control, damning themselves to an apocalypse of unimagined proportion in a final struggle between good and evil.
The Darkover Series by Marion Zimmer Bradley (1st 4 listed out of 24 plus titles)
Darkover Landfall - 978-0879970369 - DAW 1972 ~ Darkover, planet of wonder, world of mystery, has been a favorite of science fiction readers for many years. For it is a truly alien sphere--a world of strange intelligences, of brooding skies beneath a ruddy sun, and of powers unknown to Earth. In this novel, Marion Zimmer Bradley tells of the original coming of the Earthmen, of the days when Darkover knew not humanity. This is the full-bodied novel of what happened when a colonial starship crashlanded on that uncharted planet to encounter for the first time in human existence the impact of the Ghost Wind, the psychic currents that were native only to that world, and the price that every Earthling must pay before Darkover could claim him for itself.
Stormqueen! - 978-0879973810 - DAW 1978 ~ The great epic of Darkover did not begin with the Terrans' arrival. For in those years, the power of the matrix was first learned--and misused in a power struggle that could have made Darkover a duplicate of Terra.
Hawkmistress! - 978-0879977627 - DAW 1982 ~ She had rejected her noble birthright and embraced the freedom only a man could claim. She was Romilly who lived among the beasts of hill and forest and communicated with them, who tried humanity and turned it down for its evils and jealousies. She had the MacAran Gift, the rare Laran that conferred mastery over hawk and horse.
Two to Conquer - 978-0879975401 - DAW 1980 ~ What forces would operate if there were two objects that were absolutely identical in form and substance? This problem has occupied both workers in magic and the scientists of physics and psychology. It is the pivot of Marion Zimmer Bradley's novel of Darkover during the final flaming days of the Ages of Chaos.
This is the story of the era when the planet of the Bloody Sun was divided into a hundred warring kingdoms and civilization teetered on the edge of oblivion.
It is the story of Bard di Asturien, ambitious soldier-outlaw, and of his opponent, Varzil the Good, who struggled to establish the Compact. And it is also the story of a man from distant Terra named Paul Harrell who was the exact duplicate of Varzil's enemy.
Two to Conquer is a novel of social forces in combat, of the use and misuse of science, of war, of rape, and of witchcraft.
Falcons of Narabedla by Marion Zimmer Bradley - 978-0441225774 - ACE 1979 ~ Mike Kenscott is having a really bad vacation. One minute he's camping in the Sierra Mountains with his brother Andy, and the next minute he's on a different world - or in a different time - or both. He's also in a different body.
Now he's Adric, Lord of the Crimson Tower, of the Rainbow City of Narabedla. He has to cope with his fellow Narabedlans: the Dreamer Rhys, the mysterious veiled Gamine, the dwarf Idris, his brother Evarin the Toymaker (whose Toys are deadly), and Karamy, the golden witch, who is either his lover or his greatest enemy - with most of both his and Adric's memories gone, he's having trouble knowing what she is. Then there are the people outside the city, led by the man called Narayan. Mike/Adric knows that they are important to him, but he desperately needs to remember why.
Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper
Little Fuzzy - 978-0843959116 - AVON 1962 ~ The chartered Zarathustra Company had it all their way. Their charter was for a Class III uninhabited planet, which Zarathustra was, and it meant they owned the planet lock stock and barrel. They exploited it, developed it and reaped the huge profits from it without interference from the Colonial Government. Then Jack Holloway, a sunstone prospector, appeared on the scene with his family of Fuzzies and the passionate conviction that they were not cute animals but little people.
Fuzzy Sapians aka; The Other Human Race - 978-0441261963 - AVON 1964 ~ Are Fuzzies People?
Pendarvis' Decision had finally declared the Fuzzies to be intelligent beings, and that meant some drastic changes for the Earthmen who had colonized their planet, changes that a lot of people weren't going to accept easily. But why worry? said others.
The Fuzzies seemed lovable, fun-loving creatures, only two feet high, and covered with soft, golden fur. Give them plenty of extee-three and they'd do anything you asked.
What ruling race of invaders could ask for a more ideal native population?
Fuzzies and Other People - 978-0441261772 - ACE 1984 ~ The friendship between human Jack Holloway and the small, golden-furred creatures of the planet Zarathustra has a profound impact on both Holloway and the Fuzzies.
Silverglass books by J. F. Rivkin
Silverglass - 978-0441766000 - ACE 1986 ~ The life of a sword-for-hire was often uncertain, but brazen and beautiful Corson brenn Torisk would have no other.
When Corson's services as a guard were engaged by the Lady Nyctasia, it seemed that fortune was finally smiling upon her. The Lady had a ready wit, an open purse and a reputation for sorcery which she assured Corson was quite undeserved.
While Corson had little liking for magic and still less for magicians, it seemed too good an opportunity to refuse. But when her employer's enemies proved to be as numerous as her coins, Corson decided that any aid was welcome--even the Lady's sorcery.
Web of Wind - 978-0441878833 - ACE 1987 ~ Riddles, Treasure, and Sorcery
"Here is a web to catch the wind And a loom to weave a lay. Riddles play on words, my friend-- Play on these and play you may."
This simple riddle was the clue that started the sword-for-hire Corson and her sorceress companion, the Lady Nyctasia, on a hunt for the greatest treasure ever hidden.
But this long-abandoned treasure is the hoard of the dread Cymvelan Circle, whose scattered members are coming together again to claim what is theirs...
Witch of Rhostshyl - 978-0441766833 - ACE 1989 ~ With only her sorcerer's powers and the swordswoman Corson to protect her, the lady Nyctasia was forced to flee her beloved city of Rhostshyl. Solving riddles and casting spells, fighting pirates and helping escaped slaves, sword and sorcery have stood back-to-back dueling with advfenture.
But now, Nyc's beloved city needs her. This is no street brawl, but a civil war, which Nyc must win...or all is lost!
Mistress of Ambiguities - 978-0441766017 - ACE 1991 ~ Her beloved city in dire straits after a bloody civil war, the spellcasting Lady Nyctasia is forced to seek alliance with a neighboring state. But the rumored marriage-treaty has loyal swordswoman Corson whetting her blade...matrimony being no proof against murder.
Between Nyc and the cloaked assassins stands only a tormented nobleman--whose enigmatic past bears close examination indeed...
Honor Harrington books by David Weber (1st 4 listed out of 33 plus titles)
On Basilisk Station - 978-0671721633 - BAEN 1993 ~ Honor Harrington in trouble: Having made him look the fool, she's been exiled to Basilisk Station in disgrace and set up for ruin by a superior who hates her. Her demoralized crew blames her for their ship's humiliating posting to an out-of-the-way picket station. The aborigines of the system's only habitable planet are smoking homicide-inducing hallucinogens. Parliament isn't sure it wants to keep the place; the major local industry is smuggling, the merchant cartels want her head; the star-conquering, so-called "Republic" of Haven is Up to Something; and Honor Harrington has a single, over-age light cruiser with an armament that doesn't work to police the entire star system.
But the people out to get her have made one mistake. They've made her mad!
The Honor of the Queen - 978-0671721725 - BAEN 1993 ~ It's hard to give peace a chance when the other side regards war as a prelude to conquest. That's why Manticore needs allies against Haven, and planet Grayson is placed to make a good ally. But the Foreign Office overlooked a cultural difference when they sent Honor Harrington to carry the flag.
The Short Victorious War - 978-0671875961 - BAEN 1994 ~ The proles are revolting.
The families who rule the People's Republic of Haven are in trouble. The treasury's empty, the Proles are restless, and civil war is imminent.
But the ruling class knows what they need to keep in power; another short, victorious war to unite the people and fill the treasury once more. It's a card they've played often in the last half-century, always successfully, and all that stands in their way is the Star Kingdom of Manticore and its threadbare allies.
Only this time the Peeps face something different. This time they're up against Captain Honor Harrington and a Royal Manticoran Navy that's prepared to give them a war that's far from short...and anything but victorious.
Field of Dishonor - 978-0671876241 - BAEN 1994 ~ HONOR BETRAYED
The People's Republic of Haven's sneak attack on the Kingdom of Manticore has failed. The Peeps are in disarray, their leaders fighting for power in bloody revolution, and the Royal Manticoran Navy stands victorious.
But Manticore has domestic problems of its own, and success can be more treacherous than defeat for Honor Harrington. Now, trapped at the core of a political crisis she never sought, betrayed by an old and vicious enemy she'd thought vanquished forever, she stands alone.
She must fight for justice on a battlefield she never trained for in a private war that offers just two choices: death . . . or a ''victory'' that can end only in dishonor and the loss of all she loves.
The Darksword Trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Forgeing the Darksword - 978-0553268942 - Bantam 1988 ~ In the enchanted realm of Merilon, magic is life.
Born without magical abilities and denied his birthright, Joram is left for dead. Yet he grows to manhood in a remote country village, hiding his lack of powers only through constant vigilance and ever more skillful sleight-of-hand.
Forced to kill a man in self-defense, Joram can keep his secret from the townspeople no longer: he has no magic, no life. Fleeing to the Outlands, Joram joins the outlawed Technologists, who practice the long forbidden arts of science. Here he meets the scholarly catalyst Saryon, who has been sent on a special mission to hunt down a mysterious "dead man" and instead finds himself in a battle of wits and power with a renegade warlock of the dark Duuk-tsarith caste.
Together, Joram and Saryon begin their quest toward a greater destiny--a destiny that begins with the discovery of the secret books that will enable them to overthrow the evil usurper Blachloch...and forge the powerful magic-absorbing Darksword.
Doom of the Darksword - 978-0553271645 - Bantam 1988 ~ Born without magic, Joram was one of the Dead, denied the throne of Merilon. For years, he lived among outlaws, surviving by wit and sleight-of-hand. Now, wielding the powerful, magic absorbing Darksword, Joram retums to the enchanted Kingdom that once was his home to win revenge and claim his birthright. Here he will test Bishop Vanya and his fierce army of Duuk-tsarith in a battle unlike any their world has known. Joined by the scholarly catalyst Saryon, the young mage Mosiah, and the trickster Simkin, Jorma confronts the shattering secret of his past and discovers the ancient prophecy that puts the fate of the world in his hands--the hands that forged the Darksword.
Triumph of the Darksword - 978-0553274066 - Bantam 1988 ~ Joram and his wife, Gwendolyn, return from beyond the Border to reclaim their rightful place in Merilon. Rejoined by Saryon, Mosiah and Simkin, Joram must confront the evil sorcerer, Menju, and his army of Technologists in a final apocalyptic battle to fulfill the ancient prophecy of the Darksword--to either save the world.
Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny (1st 4 listed out of 10 plus titles)
Nine Princes in Amber - 978-0380014309 - Doubleday 1970 ~ Amber, the one real world, wherein all others, including our own Earth, are but Shadows. Amber burns in Corwin's blood. Exiled on Shadow Earth for centuries, the prince is about to return to Amber to make a mad and desperate rush upon the throne. From Arden to the blood-slippery Stairway into the Sea, the air is electrified with the powers of Eric, Random, Bleys, Caine, and all the princes of Amber whom Corwin must overcome. Yet, his savage path is blocked and guarded by eerie structures beyond imagining; impossible realities forged by demonic assassins and staggering horrors to challenge the might of Corwin's superhuman fury.' to 'Awakening in an Earth hospital unable to remember who he is or where he came from, Corwin is amazed to learn that he is one of the sons of Oberon, King of Amber, and is the rightful successor to the crown in a parallel world.
The Guns of Avalon - 978-0380000838 - Doubleday 1972 ~ Across the worlds of Shadow, Corwin, prince of blood royal, heir to the throne of Amber, gathers his forces for an assault that will yield up to him the crown that is rightfully his. But, a growing darkness of his own doing threatens his plans, an evil that stretches to the heart of the perfect kingdom itself where the demonic forces of Chaos mass to annihilate Amber and all who would rule there.
One of the most revered names in sf and fantasy, the incomparable Roger Zelazny was honored with numerous prizes—including six Hugo and three Nebula Awards—over the course of his legendary career. Among his more than fifty books, arguably Zelazny’s most popular literary creations were his extraordinary Amber novels. The Guns of Avalon is the second book of The Chronicles of Amber.
Sign of the Unicorn - 978-0380008315 - Doubleday 1975 ~ He who rules Amber rules the one true world. He who thwarts Amber invites the wrath of Amber betrayed.
An unseen enemy of immense strength has seized a Prince of the Blood, and now threatens the perfect kingdom by striking at the very core of its power - the secret knowledge of Shadow.
When Corwin summons forces to defend the throne, he finds himself challenged by royal conspirators, hideous demons, supernatural patterns and the ominous unknown that suddenly transcends all he ever suspected about the true nature of Amber.
One of the most revered names in sf and fantasy, the incomparable Roger Zelazny was honored with numerous prizes—including six Hugo and three Nebula Awards—over the course of his legendary career. Among his more than fifty books, arguably Zelazny’s most popular literary creations were his extraordinary Amber novels.
The Hand of Oberon - 978-0380016648 - Avon 1977 ~ Across the mysterious Black Road, demons swarm into Shadow. The ancient, secret source of the royal family's power is revealed, & an unholy pact between a prince of the realm & the forces of Chaos threaten all the known worlds with absolute obliteration. The hour of battle is at hand. Now Corwin and the remaining princes of Amber must call upon all their superhuman powers to defeat their brother-turned-traitor before he can walk the magical Pattern that created Amber and remake the universe in his own image.
The Elric Saga by Michael Moorcock (1st 4 listed of at least 9 titles)
Elric of Melnibone aka; The Dreaming City - 978-0099077909 - DAW - 1972 ~ Elric of Melniboné is a requisite title in the hard fantasy canon, a book no fantasy fan should leave unread. Author Michael Moorcock, already a major player in science fiction, cemented his position in the fantasy pantheon with the five-book Elric saga, of which Elric of Melniboné is the first installment. The book's namesake, the brooding albino emperor of the dying nation of Melniboné, is a sort of Superman for Goths, truly an archetype of the genre.
The youthful Elric is a cynical and melancholy king, heir to a nation whose 100,000-year rule of the world ended less than 500 years hence. More interested in brooding contemplation than holding the throne, Elric is a reluctant ruler, but he also realizes that no other worthy successor exists and the survival of his once-powerful, decadent nation depends on him alone. Elric's nefarious, brutish cousin Yrkoon has no patience for his physically weak kinsman, and he plots constantly to seize Elric's throne, usually over his dead body. Elric of Melniboné follows Yrkoon's scheming, reaching its climax in a battle between Elric and Yrkoon with the demonic runeblades Stormbringer and Mournblade. In this battle, Elric gains control of the soul-stealing Stormbringer, an event that proves pivotal to the Elric saga.
The Sailor on the Seas of Fate - 978-0879972707 - DAW 1976 ~ Leaving his cousin Yrkoon sitting as regent upon the Ruby Throne of Melnibone, leaving his cousin Cymoril weeping for him and despairing of his ever returning, Elric sailed from Imrryr, the Dreaming City, and went to seek an unknown goal in the world of the Young Kingdoms where Melniboneans were at best, disliked.
The Weird of the White Wolf (collection of shorts) - 978-0879972868 - DAW 1977 ~ "We must be bound to one another then. Bound by hell-forged chains and fate-haunted circumstance. Well, then - let it be thus so - and men will have cause to tremble and flee when they hear the names of Elric of Melnibone and Stormbringer, his sword. We are two of a kind - produced by an age which has deserted us. Let us give this age cause to hate us."
Imrryr, the dreaming city; Yyrkoon, the hated usurper; Cymoril, the beloved... all had fallen to the fury and unearthly power of the albino prince and his terrible sword. An Elric faced at last the fate that was to be his in this haunted era - that he must go forth, sword and man as one, and havoc and horror would be forever at his forefront until he found his Purpose that was yet obscured to him.
The Vanashing Tower aka; The Sleeping Sorceress - 978-0441860395 - DAW - 1972 ~ Elric of Melniboné, proud prince of ruins, last lord of a dying race, wanders the lands of the Young Kingdoms in search of the evil sorcerer Theleb K'aarna. His object is revenge. But to achieve this, he must first brave such horrors as the Creatures of Chaos, the freezing wilderness of World's Edge, the golden-skinned Kelmain hordes, King Urish the Seven-fingered with his great cleaver Hackmeat, the Burning God, the Sighing Desert, and the terrible stone-age men of Pio. Although Elric holds within him a destiny greater than he could ever know, and controls the hellsword Stormbringer, stealer of souls, his task looks hopeless - until he encounters Myshella, Empress of the Dawn, the sleeping sorceress...
Eternal Champion Trilogy by Michael Moorcock
The Eternal Champion - 978-0440123835 - Dell - 1970 ~ John Daker dreams of other worlds, and a name: Erekosë. He finds the strength to answer the call, travelling to a strange land ruled by the aging King Rigenos of Necranal. Humanity is united in a desperate fight against the inhuman Eldren, and he must fight with them. But the actions of his brethren turns his loyalties, and as Erekosë he will take a terrible revenge.
Phoenix in Obsidian aka; The Silver Warriors - 978-0440179948 - Dell - 1970 ~ Erekose (a.k.a. John Daker) has finally found happiness with his true love Ermizhad . . . but for how long? Of course, soon he is swept away to another part of the multiverse to save the day as the eternal champion named Count Urlik Skarsol. The story adds notable details to the multiverse concept, the nature of the eternal champion, and his nemesis/ally, the black sword. Also, the book is a good, fast read with great images and nice studies of the supporting characters.
The Dragon in the Sword - 978-0441166091 - ACE 1986 ~ Trapped in a timeless existence, doomed to fight forever, John Daker is the Eternal Champion. Haunted by memories of too many battles waged during infinite lifetimes, he has taken Fate into his own hands. He searches for Ermizhad, and for the key that will free him from psychic captivity. On a dark ship piloted by a blind helmsman, the Eternal Champion must stand and fight the darkest battle in the history of the world.
The Company Saga by Kage Baker (1st 4 listed out of at least 9 titles)
In the Garden of Iden - 978-0380731794 - AVON - 1997 ~ This is the first novel in what has become one of the most popular series in contemporary SF, now back in print from Tor. In the 24th century, the Company preserves works of art and extinct forms of life (for profit of course). It recruits orphans from the past, renders them all but immortal, and trains them to serve the Company, Dr. Zeus. One of these is Mendoza the botanist. She is sent to Elizabethan England to collect samples from the garden of Sir Walter Iden.
But while there, she meets Nicholas Harpole, with whom she falls in love. And that love sounds great bells of change that will echo down the centuries, and through the succeeding novels of The Company.
Sky Coyote - 978-0380731800 - AVON - 1999 ~ Facilitator Joseph is quite a guy. He's sailed with the Phoenicians, and he's been an Egyptian priest, an Athenian politician, and secretary to a Roman senator. After all, his employer, the twenty-fourth-century Company, sends immortal cyborgs like Joseph all over the world and all over time. But now Joseph finds himself in 1699, in the Mayan jungle's Lost City (actually a spa for the Company's operatives) with his protegee, the Botanist Mendoza, who still hasn't forgiven him for that unfortunate incident in Elizabethan England. And he has to save an ancient people from encroachment by the coming white men -- even if it means convincing the entire pre-Columbian village to step into the future.
Mendoza in Hollywood - 978-0380819003 - AVON EOS - 2000 ~ This is the third novel in what has become one of the most popular series in contemporary SF, now back in print from Tor. In the 24th century, the Company preserves works of art and extinct forms of life, for profit, of course. It recruits orphans from the past, renders them all but immortal, and trains them to serve the Company, Dr. Zeus. One of these is Mendoza the botanist. The death of her lover has been followed by centuries of heartbreak. She spends a period of time in early twentieth century Hollywood in the days of D.W. Griffith, and then Mendoza is in the midst of the Civil War, and runs into a man that looks disturbingly similar to her lost love. She is about to find love again, and be in more trouble than she could ever have imagined.
The Graveyard Game - 978-0765311849 - TOR - 2001 ~ Mendoza is a Preserver for The Dr. Zeus Company, living in the past to collect species for the future. But when she kills six people in California in 1863, The Company makes her disappear.
Joseph, a senior Preserver, loves Mendoza as the daughter he never had. Drunk on chocolate and fueled by rage, he's determined to find her however long it takes. Being an indestructible, immortal cyborg gives him an unlimited well of patience.
What begins as a rescue mission uncovers a conspiracy stretching across fifty centuries of recorded history. Behind it lie genocide, graveyards filled with Company agents, and the roots of the ominous Silence that falls across the world in 2355.
The Keltaid saga by Patricia Kennealy
Tales of Aeron
The Copper Crown - 978-0451143945 - Signet 1986 ~ WHEN EARTH MEETS KELTIA WILL STAR EMPIRES FALL?
When lore became legend on ancient Earth and the powers of magic waned, the Kelts and their allies fled the planet for the freedom of distant star realms.
But the stars were home to dangerous foes, and millenia later, the worlds of Keltia still maintained uneasy truce with two enemy empires -the Imperium and the Phalanx. Then, at the start of the reign of Aeron, mistress of high magic and queen of all the Kelts, an Earthship made contact with her long-fled children. And while Earth and Keltia reached out to form alliance, the star fleets of the enemy mobilized for final, devastating war....
The Throne of Scone - 978-0451148216 - Signet 1986 ~ Aeron, Queen of the Kelts, has fled to the stars on a desperate mission to find the fabled Thirteen Treasures of King Arthur, hidden from his Keltic descendants for fifteen hundred years. Her search will lead from the depths of space, where worlds are born, to the heart of an ancient enemy's stronghold and on to a trial of courage and magic that even the Queen of the Kelts may not survive!
And while Aeron pursues her destiny among the stars, all the forces of Keltia are mobilizing for a war that could set the very worlds ablaze - a war that can only be won if Aeron returns triumphant from her doom-shadowed quest.
The Silver Branch - 978-0451162779 - Signet 1989 ~ In this era, the enemies of the Keltic worlds are already beginning to dream of destroying this mighty space empire hidden behind its seemingly impenetrable magic-fueled Curtain Wall. And chief among these foes of Keltia is Bres, lord of Fomor, who, betrayed by his own queen, has sworn an eternal vow of vengeance. Yet it will be many long years before Bres can hope to carry out his threats, years of uneasy peace during which Aeron Aoibhell, heir to the throne of Keltia, will grow to adulthood and to the fulfillment of her prophesied powers of sorcery—powers which will change the destinies of friends and foes alike when war finally explodes across the starways.
The Silver Branch is Aeron’s tale—from the events long before her birth, which would shape the worlds and the burden she would inherit…to her first discovery of the magic that could move the very sun from its path…to the dangerous rites of passage that would make her sorcerer, warrior, avenger, and ultimately queen. It is a recounting of forbidden passion and of honor betrayed, of jealousies that will plant the seeds of future treachery, of love and loyalty tested to the very limits of the great Abyss.
Tales of Arthur
The Hawk's Gray Feather - 978-0451450531 - Signet/ROC 1991 ~ This first installment of a trilogy describes Arthur's education by Merlynn, his gathering of followers to campaign against theocratic tyranny in his homeland of Keltia and his turbulent, jealous relationship with cousin Gweniver.
The Oak Above the Kings - 978-0451454515 - Signet/ROC 1995 ~ Taliesin, chief Bard of Keltia, brother in sword and deed and marraige to Arthur the king, sets his magical seeings into fated words. He tells how Arthur, the lost prince, overthrows the evil, uprising Archdruid and at last comes to his own kingship. But it is a double throne which he must share by law and love with the one woman in all Keltia fit o share it with him. She is Gweniver, princess and priestess, his own cousin---and his wife.
The Hedge of Mist - 978-0061056048 - HarperPrism 1997 ~ To all bards in spirit, the making of triads--things grouped in threes for poetic purpose--is the essence of the bardic art. In this volume of the Tales of Arthur, Taliesin Qlyndour, chief poet of the distant star-realm of Keltia, mate of Morgan the sorceress, brother and friend to Arthur the King, wholly Kett yet half a son of Earth, brings to high completion the mightiest Triad of all...
In THE HEDGE OF MIST, Patricia Kennealy-Morrison continues her spacegoing Arthurian legend with this triumphant tale--a Qraal Quest unlike any other, the betrayal of the King by his own sister, the doomed fight of a loyal knight for the Queen he once loved, the going of Arthur and his true Companions to the hidden refuge where they shall sleep until their prophesied return--framing all in the timelessness and endlessness of a once and future tale.
Morgaine Novels by C. J. Cherryh
Gate of Ivrel - 978-0879972264 - DAW 1976 ~ Scattered about the galaxy were the time-space Gates of a vanished but not forgotten alien race. In their time, long before the rise of the native civilizations, they had terrorized a hundred worlds—not from villainy but from folly, from tampering with the strands that held a universe together.
Now the task was to uproot these Gates, destroy their potency for mischief, take horror out of the hands of the few who hungered for power by misuse of the Gates.
This is the story of one such Gate and one such world.
Well of Shiuan - 978-0879973711 - DAW 1978 ~ "The world of Shiuan was doomed. Rising waters and shattering earthquakes due to the coming of a vast and strange new satellite had sealed the fate of its peoples—flee or die with their world. Their sole escape routes were the Gates, the passages between worlds established by a forgotten cosmic race. And just as this knowledge dawned on the desperate tribes and cities there appeared the woman Morgaine—whose mission was to seal Shiuan's Gates."
Winner of the John W. Campbell Award for the best new writer of the year.
This is the story of Morgaine, and of her henchman, Nhi Vanye, and of their relentless enemy, Chya Roh, who followed them to the drowning planet.
Fires of Azeroth - 978-0879974664 - DAW 1979 ~ The Gates were relics of a lost era. The Union Science Bureau surmised that they had once linked a whole network of civilizations throughout the galaxy-an empire ruled by a ruthless race known as the qhal. This qhal empire had spanned both Space and Time, for their Gates warped time, enabling qhal travelers to step from point to point across light-years unaged. It was even possible to travel into the future. However, intervention in backtime could affect entire worlds and civilizations, could change the course of galactic history, could destroy empires and possibly even implode time itself...and this was what the Science Bureau believed had happened-sometime, somewhere in the unreachable past, an arrogant power-drunk qhal had done the unthinkable, and warped the very fabric of space and time.
Morgaine: pale in coloring and as tall as the tallest men, it seems clear that this mysterious traveler is a descendent of the long-vanished qhal. Aided by a single warrior honor-bound to serve her, it is her mission to travel from world to world sealing the ancient Gates whose very existence threatens the integrity of the universe. But will she have the power to follow her quest to its eventual conclusion-to the Ultimate Gate or the end of time itself?
Exile's Gate - 978-0886772543 - DAW 1988 ~ Morgaine must meet her greatest challenge—Gault, who is both human and alien, and also seeks control of the world and its Gate. She will meet the true Gatemaster—a mysterious lord with power as great, or greater, than her own.
Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey (1st 3 listed of 16 plus titles)
Dragonflight - 978-0345022462 - Ballantine 1968 ~ On a beautiful world called Pern, an ancient way of life is about to come under attack from a myth that is all too real. Lessa is an outcast survivor—her parents murdered, her birthright stolen—a strong young woman who has never stopped dreaming of revenge. But when an ancient threat to Pern reemerges, Lessa will rise—upon the back of a great dragon with whom she shares a telepathic bond more intimate than any human connection. Together, dragon and rider will fly . . . and Pern will be changed forever.
Dragonquest -978-0345022455 - Ballantine Books 1971 ~ Since Lessa and Ramoth, her golden queen dragon, traveled into the past to bring forward a small army of dragons and riders to save their world from deadly alien spores, fear and desperation have spread across the land. But while the dragonriders struggle with threats both otherworldly and human, a young rider named F’nor and his brown dragon, Canth, hatch a bold plan to destroy the alien scourge at its source—the baleful red star that fills the heavens and promises doom to all.
The White Dragon - 978-0345253736 - Ballantine/Del Rey 1979 ~ Never in the history of Pern has there been a dragon like Ruth. Mocked by other dragons for his small size and pure white color, Ruth is smart, brave, and loyal—qualities that he shares with his rider, the young Lord Jaxom. Unfortunately, Jaxom is also looked down upon by his fellow lords, and by other riders as well. His dreams of joining the dragonriders in defending Pern are dismissed. What else can Jaxom and Ruth do but strike out on their own, pursuing in secret all they are denied? But in doing so, the two friends will find themselves facing a desperate choice—one that will push their bond to the breaking point . . . and threaten the future of Pern itself.
Harper Hall of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
Dragonsong - 978-0553120448 ~ Bantam Books 1977 ~ It was not Threadfall that made Menolly unhappy. It was her father who betrayed her ambition to be a Harper, who thwarted her love of music. Menolly had no choice but to run away. She came upon a group of fire lizards, wild relatives of the fire-breathing dragons. Her music swirled about them; she taught nine to sing, suddenly Menolly was no longer alone.
Dragonsinger - 978-0553118353 - Bantam Books 1978 ~ Pursuing her dream to be a Harper of Pern, Menolly studies under the Masterharper learning that more is required than a facility with music and a clever way with words.
Dragondrums - 978-0553131895 Bantam Books 1979 ~ Dragondrums is the coming of age story of Piemur, a small, quick, clever apprentice at Harper Hall. When Piemur's clear treble voice changes at puberty, his place among the Harpers is no longer certain.
Angel's Luck by Joe Clifford Faust
Desperate Measures - 978-0345350206 - Ballantine/Del Rey 1989 ~ Angel's Luck is the name of his spaceship, and Captain James May is having a hard time making his installment payments to the Yueh-sheng (think Asian Yakuza) who owns the title. He gets into trouble, and barely manages to get out of it again, usually by making things worse.
Precious Cargo - 978-0345360885 - Ballantine/Del Rey 1990 ~ When Angel's Luck was blown to space junk, trader James May and his crew could not collect their reward for retrieving the stolen Essence Phials, which held the extracted minds of humanity's greatest geniuses. So they were grateful to be rescued by the luxury liner Hergest Ridge, even if the commander was May's ex-wife, who had made it plain she never wanted to see him again.
Commander Margaret O'Hearn had problems. Among her passengers was a delegation of Arcolians, aliens only recently at peace with humanity. And there were rumors of an anti-Arcolian blockade along her route and the possibility of terrorists on board her ship. So the last thing Maggie needed aboard was her ex-husband and his crazy copilot Duke, who had sampled an Essence Phial and was now possessed by a second—and extremely xenophobic—personality.
Somehow May had to help Maggie prevent the outbreak of another human-alien war, while protecting Duke from himself and saving his own precious cargo...
The Essence of Evil - 978-0345360892 - Ballantine/Del Rey 1990 ~ Duke battles his possession by famous pilot Eric Dickson, while he and May attempt to steer clear of the Essence Corporation and find resolution to their problems.
The Goblin Emperor by Sarah Monette (as Katherine Addison) - 978-0765365682 - TOR 2015 ~ The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an "accident," he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.
Entirely unschooled in the art of court politics, he has no friends, no advisors, and the sure knowledge that whoever assassinated his father and brothers could make an attempt on his life at any moment.
Surrounded by sycophants eager to curry favor with the naïve new emperor, and overwhelmed by the burdens of his new life, he can trust nobody. Amid the swirl of plots to depose him, offers of arranged marriages, and the specter of the unknown conspirators who lurk in the shadows, he must quickly adjust to life as the Goblin Emperor. All the while, he is alone, and trying to find even a single friend... and hoping for the possibility of romance, yet also vigilant against the unseen enemies that threaten him, lest he lose his throne – or his life.
