So what seperates fantasy from science-fiction? Belief. Things are as they are because they are. There does not need to be a scientific explanation like "they're aliens!" or "they're mutants!" There's some furries, and that's it, on with story.
A lyrical, engrossing tale, by the author of WATERSHIP DOWN, Richard Adams creates a lyrical and engrossing tale, a remarkable journey into the hearts and minds of two canine heroes, Snitter and Rowf, fugitives from the horrors of an animal research center who escape into the isolation--and terror--of the wilderness.
In this brilliant second novel, the author of Watership Down unfolds a powerful sage of suffering, fire and war, as Shardik, the giant bear brings truth to the land of the Ortelgans.
The story follows a warren of Berkshire rabbits fleeing the destruction of their home by a land developer. As they search for a safe haven, skirting danger at every turn, we become acquainted with the band and its compelling culture and mythos. Adams has crafted a touching, involving world in the dirt and scrub of the English countryside, complete with its own folk history and language (the book comes with a "lapine" glossary, a guide to rabbitese). As much about freedom, ethics, and human nature as it is about a bunch of bunnies looking for a warm hidey-hole and some mates, Watership Down will continue to make the transition from classroom desk to bedside table for many generations to come
Cover blurb:
Pioneer ballonist and silent film star…
Actor, rogue, and lover…
Betrayer and betrayed-
Perian de Chirolo
Renaissance man in an alternate reality, he plays his many roles- in the beds of princesses and whores, in the council chambers of the elite and in the teeming streets of Malacia, the Eternal City, a city blessed- or cursed- never to know change. Yet in this timeless world of balck magicains, saintly priests and avaricious astrologers, a wind of change is rising, and the Malacians, a people who claim descent from the noble dinosaur, must face it, or face their own extinction…
Anthony's latest series (beginning with Virtual Mode, 1990) started life as a fantasy involving parental neglect and child abuse, but here it meanders off into standard reality-hopping adventure. Our heroes--abused 14-year-old Colene from Earth; Darius of the sympathetic magic; Seqiro the telepathic horse; and Provos, who remembers only the future--fall across the ``modes'' (realities) to magic-world Oria, where the highly magical Nona, the ninth child of a ninth child, hopes to overthrow the ``despots'' by transforming their male ``animus'' magic into female ``anima'' magic. To achieve this, Nona must journey to Earth (where Colene will save a friend from special abuse and torture) to learn about fractals--Oria, you see, is part of a fractal universe, and Nona must be able to orient herself in order to effectively wield her magic. Not too much more than a fantasy Time Tunnel--our heroes fall away into a new adventure at the end of each episode--displaying the usual Anthony rewards and drawbacks.
This is Book I of the Mode series. One of the main characters is a telepathic horse. This book may not be suitable for all readers, as one of the characters is a suicidal teenage girl, and contains scenes depicting some of her near attempts.
From the back cover:
Imagine a world where the clouds are made of crystals that contantly change
their beautiful colors. Where joy is sacred. Where conjurers fly people from
village to village. Imagine, too, that this world and more exist simultaneously
and that it is possible to travel between them…
At first Colene didn't believe the strange man she found lying on the side of
the road. He spoke of a different world filled with wonder, was dressed in clothes
she had never seen before, and knew a language she had never heard. He said
that he loved her and wanted to take her back to his home. Colene suspected
he was crazy- until he vanished before her eyes. Well, if falling in love was
crazy, Colene was now fully prepared to say goodbye to reality- and hello to
an infinite world of dragons and monsters and impossible dreams…
From the back cover:
Skeeve is in a real pickle this time. His partner Aahz has disappeared and it looks like foul play. Finding aahz ought to be a snap for a talented magician like Skeeve, especially with a sassy apprentice and a dumb but brawny bodyguard along for the ride.
The trouble is, they're sleuthing in another dimension: a strange and chilly realm where day is night and humans are considered monsters. Add a murder rap, a couple of vampires [and werewolves]. And the fact that magic doesn't work here, and you've got a trio in real hot water- that is, unless Skeeve finds a different trick up his sleeve!
From the dust jacket:
Decadent Rome in the Dark Ages is mired in crumbling grandeur. Into the Eternal
City comes Regeane, a beautiful young woman distantly related, through her dead
mother, to Charlmagne. Reageana;s royal blood renders her an unwilling pawn
in the struggle for political power. But unknown to those plotting her destiny,
the blood she has inherited from her mudered father makes her more than a child
of royalty. Possessed of preternatural agility and strength, primal memories
extending back thousands of years, and senses so keen they can pierce the veil
of death itself, Regeane is a shapeshifter: woman and wolf, hunter and hunted.
Betrothed by Charlemagne's command to a barbarian lord she has never seen, Regeane
is surrounded by enemies. The most notorious, her depraved uncle and guardian,
will not scrupple to betray her to the Church unless hse aids him in his sinister
schemes. And if the Church discovers her secret, Regeane will burn at the stake.
Yet Regeane finds allies as well: Lucilla, rumored to be the courtesan to Pope
Hadrian himself; Antonius, a wise and gentle soul trapped within a body grotesquely
disfigured by disease; and the little Saxon girl Elfgifa, brave beyond her years,
with a tongue as sharp as a blade.
Outside the gates of Rome, baying on the moonlit expanses of the Ca,pagna, there
is a mysterious dark wolf whose scent makes the animal in Regeane tremble with
desire. Now, as an infamous stranger prepares to claim his bride, and deadly
plots and counterplots tighten like a noose around her neck, Regeane must fight
to live with dignity as the proud creature she is: civilized and savage, woman
and wolf, partaking of both yet in infinitely more than either…
Back cover reads:
The fearsome legions of Julius Caesar have crushed resistence to Roman rule.
Watching the tragic aftermath through yellow eyes afire with curiosity and intelligence
is Maeniel, a gray wolf…and a shapeshifter unaware of his preternatural duality.
But a new Maeniel is about to be born from the ruins.
The sight of the beautiful Imona fills Maeniel with unfamiliar feelings and
desires, triggering his transformation from wolf to man. In her arms he learns
what it means to love. It is a knowledge that will change him forever. When
Imona vanishes, Maeniel follows her trail-unaware that he is being pursued by
a warrior-woman sworn to kill him. But the hunt upon which the two adversaries
embark will lead them farther than they can imagine: to the gates of Rome itself-
to the gates of their very souls…
Back cover reads:
On the eve of a brutal murder in contemporary Manhattan, Alexander Devoncroix
finally reveals to his son and heir a tightly guarded chapter in the family
history, which is known to no outsiders.
In a world in which a superioir race of werewolves holds the positions of power,
human and werewolf segregation had become the norm. But for the first time,
the leaders of the pack have accepted a human. In dazzling 19th century Paris,
we meet three pivotal players: the young human Tessa LeGuerre, who falls under
the spell of a very powerful, very sensual werewolf; Alexander Devoncroix, the
charismatic werewolf who adores humans too well, but whose ultime loyalty is
to the pack; and Elise, the imperial pack leader who lays claim to Alexander.
Beloved "pet" of select members of the pack, Tessa naively embraces all things
werewolf- an ambition that results in unspeakable tragedy.
This book is out of print.
Back cover synopsis
Jim Bentley's plans for the evening were simplistic: a movie and the graveyard
shifts at the 7-11.
That was before he stumbled into another world.
Evolution has taken a very different direction on this parallel Earth, but some
things are consistent. Jim Bentley has fallen straight from his ordinary life
into the most constant thing of all: war. Even as he struggles to learn the
ways of a strange culture, to make a place for himself in what seems likely
to be his home for the rest of his life, the tides of revolution are rising
around him.
Jim Bentley has a part to play in this war-for his coming has been foretold
by True Dreamers. His feet are already set on a path that leads to the heart
of the crises. Like it or not, he is vital to the war efforts of the Architect
of Sleep…
This book is out of print.
front cover comment reads: "To save the world, a pig sometimes has to break the rules."
Back cover synopsis:
"Trapped in the land of the dead Famine grips the realm. Warlords are poised
for battle on their borders. From the Fleshless Land, the evil hand of the Queen
of the Dead sows havoc and hatred across the Nine Kingdoms. And all the faity
pigs have been cruelly imprisoned by the dread Fungus Folk...except one. He
has no magical powers with which to confront the forces of terror that enslave
his world. Yet this rotund, comfort-loving young warrioir must venture into
dark and terrible places to rescue his people, restore the peace, eliminate
the evil pestilence...and, if he's lucky, find time for a bite to eat."
A dragon appears to a quiet employee of the Library of Congress and whisks him away to a magical kingdom where librarians are among the most powerful of humans, especially if they are a dragon's best friend.
More than ten years after the disappearance of young dragon Arbitrance Constable, his best friend, Murdan of Overhall, suspects that Arbitrance is not really treasure hunting and rallies the Constable family into beginning a search.
Back cover synopsis:
Who's afraid of Joshua Wolf?
We all know what happens when a man is bitten by a werewolf: every full moon
he turns into a wolf. Of course.
But what happens when a wolf is bitten by a werewolf? And what if that
wolf is snatched up by unsuspecting zookeepers and dragged off to the urban
wilderness of New York City? And - most intriguing of all - what happens when
the full moon rises over his cage?
Well, New Yorkers have seen their share of lunatics. But are they ready for
a wild and weird man-wolf named Joshua who's never heard of fast food, cable
TV, or that many splendored thing called "dating"?
Dickson's style of fantasy hearkens back to the era before both the glossy epic approach of Robert Jordan or Terry Brooks and the pseudo-postmodern slickness of Ellen Kushner or Pamela Dean, but it has its own special charms. In this new story about James and Angela Eckert (following The Dragon, the Earl, and the Troll), the author's meticulous historical research salvages what in the hands of a lesser talent could have been a pedestrian work. The Eckerts are 20th-century humans trapped in the 14th century, where Jim has discovered that he possesses magical powers. Here, Jim agrees to help his friend Sir Brian Neville-Smythe find the father of Brian's beloved Geronde, so that Brian and Geronde may wed. The father was last known to be in the Muslim land of Palmyra, and Dickson's fascination with the cultures of that area proves infectious. While the adventures here are cut from standard fantasy cloth?kidnappings, caravans and sorcery abound?the detailing is marvelous. Also appealing are Jim's pet hobgoblin, Hob, and the djinn named Kelb, who generally appears in the form of a small, mangy dog; both provide comic diversion.
Gordon R. Dickson continues his thrilling saga-the tale of a twentieth-century
American transformed into a Dragon Knight and transported into a fantastic medieval
adventure!
Serpent or dragon-which is the stronger? Raised from the deep and ready to fight,
the mighty serpents of the sea challenge Sir James, the Dragon Knight, in a
fearsome battle for his honor, his country-and his life!
You are bidding on a copy of "The Dragon Night" by Gordan Dickson. Put out by Tor Fantasy in 1990. Paperback, 503 pages. Book is in good condition.
Synopsis from "The Dragon Knight":
Sir James Eckert, now Baron de Bois de Malencontri et Riveroak, woke one morning
with the odd sensation that something was wrong... and it was. During the night
he had been transformed back into the shape of a dragon. Now Jim must embark
on a new quest, to learn to control his magical abilities and truly become the
Dragon Knight. And once that is done, he'll learn that life in the Middle Ages
carries some responsibilities that he hadn't counted on- especially when the
heir to the throne of England is taken captive by the King of France!
Jim and his Companions, Sir Brian, Giles de Mer, and Aargh the English Wolf,
are off on an adventureas they seek the final downfall of the evil sorceror
who once held Jim's beloved Angela captive.
Synopsis from "The Dragon on the Border":
Sir James, the Dragon Knight, faces his most terrifying challenge-the Hollow
Men, spirits of the dead in empty suits of armor. Their weapons are all too
real, and a slain Hollow Man can be resurected within two days. As long as one
of their unholy number endures, no Hollow Man can ever truly die... It's a battle
that could test any dragon. Not to mention a knight. Or an American.
Or all three in one!
This book is out of print.
back cover synopsis:
For years the land of Ar has lived in peace Here the catlike mrem rule by
duty and honor. Now, from out of the east, their legendary enemies have risen
again, sweeping towards Ar to begin their conquest anew.
Suspected because of his dark and magical abilities, Talwe is outcast by his
village and sentenced to service in the White Dancer's guard. When he rescues
the beautiful Princess Sruss, heir to the throne of Ar, he finds himself caught
in the center of court intrigue. For as murderous traitors seek to usurp the
throne, the anicent Eastern Lords invade with their arsenal of evil sorcery.
Only Talwe, Sruss, and the mysterious Council of Three command the magic necessary
to defend the vital border post of Cragsclaw from the power of the Eastern Lords-
a deadly force more potent than any the mrem have ever seen.
Back cover synopsis:
It was where beasts walked and talked as men, armed with sword and dagger. And
it was there Clothahump, turtle and wizard, stretched his powers of sorcery,
seeking a source to the unknown evil that threatened his land, seeking a helper
from another dimension, another universe.
And so Jonathan Thomas Meriweather- grad student and rock guitarist -found himself
plucked from his cannabis-filled campus room in L.A. and whisked into a world
of disarming beauty and savage violence. Here Jon-Tom, Mudge the otter, the
flame-haired Talea and others would form a motley fellowship with the wizard.
Their mission: to travel where no warm-blooded being has been and destroy the
strange new Force emanating from the dreaded Greendowns.
Now the peace-loving student must become a solider and crusader, fighting with
sword and song. For strumming his otherwordly duar, he is the maker of magic,
his music conjuring configurations, transforming Jon Meriweather into the Spellsinger.
This book is out of print. Part of the Spellsinger series.
Back cover synopsis:
Invasion of the plated folk!
The elders of Polastrindu watched in horror as Clothahump, wizard and turtle,
spun visions of the coming invasion. Finally the Plated Folk had a magic potent
enough to penetrate Zaryt's Teeth and the warmlands, igniting a devastating
was between the species. The wizard and his earthly helper, Jonathan Thomas
Meriweather, grad student and rock guitarist, must undertake the voyage into
enemy territory in seach of allies against the evil hordes from beyond.
So Jon-Tom, Clothahump, Mudge the Otter, flame haired Talea and their motley
crew set sail on a suicide mission down the trecherous river that winds throughout
the subterranean lair of Massawrath, Mother of Nightmares, across Helldrink
through a tunnel of cold flame to the center of earth. It is a perilous journey
few have attempted, and none have ever survived…
Now the peace-loving student must become a solider and crusader, fighting with
sword and song. For strumming his otherwordly duar,he is the maker of magic,
his music conjuring configurations, transforming Jon Meriweather into the Spellsinger.
Part of the Spellsinger series
From the back cover:
There goes the neighborhood!
Nobody wants to be around when a freak of supernature called a Perambulator
enters the world, bringing with it some really weird shifts in the fabric of
existence…like suddenly turning Jon-Tom into a giant blue crab, or Mudge the
Otter into a nasty disease…
But the mad Perambulator is there to stay, unless the wizard Clothahump can
muster all his power and boot it into the next dimension. So, despite the bumblings
of Sorbl the drunken owl and the fitful runes of a koala amateur wizard, Jon-Tom,
Mudge, and Clothahump make their way ever depper into the realms were chaos
perambulates…to find a deadly foe that only the combined forces of Illogic can
hope to defeat…
This book is out of print. Part of the Spellsinger series.
From the back cover:
We're talking 'bout bad, BAD, BAD, BAD VIBRATIONS!
Spellsinger Jon-Tom is not in search of the Lost Chord; he's found it:
living notes adrift from some extradimensional chorus line, fugitive from an
otherwordly unfinished symphony. And the errant air wants Jon-Tom to follow
it- right off a clef, into deadly peril.
For a minor key adventure turns major as Jon-Tom, his otter pal Mudge, and the
schizo scherzo rescue a gaggle of spoiled princesses, battle the compulsions
of bizarre bazaar, wage war on a guerrila gorilla, are sucked into a mocking
maelstrom- and are trapped by an evil alien band who plans the ultimate musical
rip-off, plunging the universe into the sounds of silence. Now, unless Jon-Tom's
magic can conquer the airwaves, the hills will be alive with the sounds of an
evil wizard who writes the songs that make the whole world…scream!
Part of the Spellsinger series.
From the back cover:
There's no place like home…
It was a pretty good life for a spellsinger from L.A. He'd battled demons, fought
deadly Plated Folk, even met a socialist dragon and survived. Now Jon-Tom was
quite happy to settle into domestic bliis with the fiery Talea, study magic,
and practice spellsinging on his duar. But the magic instrument is broken when
Jon-Tom protects the wizard Clothahump from thieves and must set out across
the Glittergeist Sea to find the one person who can fix it. With the irrepressible
Mudge the Otter as a traveling companion, only the unexpected can happen. But
cannibal muskrats, ogres, and a fierce pirate king parrot seem ordinary indeed
when Jon-Tom finds a way back to Earth- and he must choose which world is home.
Part of the Spellsinger series.
From the back cover:
Call him spellmaster B
Much to Clothahump the Wizard's distress, ex-hippie Jon-Tom and otherwordly
Talea's son Buncan wants to be a questing hero, but not a spellsinger.
Instead, he forms a band with Mudge's kids, otters Nocter and Squill, one that
creates a wild, unpredictable magic - based on rap!
Then an anteater arrives with rumors about a dangerous legend. Soon the young
rappers, aided by a drunk rhino, are off on an odyssey to fortress where evil
sorcerors threaten the world. And where only the unknown power of Buncan's beat
can stop the hordes of hideous hybrids.
This book is out of print. This is book II of the Gandalara Cycle.
From the back cover:
On the trail of the assassin
For Ricadro Carillo, taking over the life of the swordsman Markasset on the
desert world of Gandalara had its compensations: a strong, young body, a beautiful
fiancee, and a mighty telapathic war-cat named Keeshah, who obeyed his every
command. It also had its problems. Markasset had many enemies, and one was out
for blood. So Ricardo and Keeshah left Raithskar to join the Sharith - the warrioir
brotherhood of sha'um cat-riders. But trouble followed, and he soon found himself
in the company of a jealous lieutenant and a lovely but trecherous illusionist,
on the track of a murderer who has stolen Gandalara's most precious jewel.
Welcome to Atlanton Earth
You are invited to enter a universe unto itself... a vast realm of forest and
river, mountain and cave, town and castle ...a place of peril where the forces
of light and forces of darkness meet in inexorable, immemorial combat using
all the deadly weapons of armed might and all the sinister spells of
eerie enchantment that wizard and witch, mortal and immortal can command. In
this fabulously exciting climactic saga of CIRCLE OF LIGHT, terror and treachery
stand on the brink of infernal triumph. Can the combined magic and might of
Greyfax Grimwald, Faragon Fairingay, Dwarf, Otter and Bear defend the Lady of
Light from the perverse potency and insidious impersonations of the Dark Queen
and her cohorts?
In West of Eden and Winter in Eden, master novelist Harry Harrison broke new ground with his most ambitious project to date. He brought to vivid life the world as it might have been, where dinosaurs survived, where their intelligent descendants, the Yilane, challenged humans for mastery of the Earth, and where the human Kerrick, a young hunter of the Tanu tribe, grew among the dinosaurs and rose to become their most feared enemy. Working in collaboration with an international team of scientific experts, Harrison created a believable, richly detailed world rivaling Frank Herbert's Dune and Jean Auel's The Clan of the Cave Bear in the majesty of its scope and conception.
Now, in Retum to Eden, Harrison brings the epic trilogy to a stunning conclusion. After Kerrick rescues his people from the warlike Yilane, they find a safe haven on an island and there begin to rebuild their shattered lives. But with fierce predators stalking the forests, how long can these unarmed human outcasts hope to survive? The small band of humans have no choice but to confront their fate head on. And, of course, Kerrick cannot forget Vainte, his implacable Yilane enemy. She's been cast out from her kind, under sentence of death, but how long will her banishment last? For her strange attraction to Kerrick has turned into a hatred even more powerful than her instincts-an obsession that compels her to hunt down Kerrick and kill him.
From a master of imaginative storytelling comes an epic tale of the world
as it might have been, a world where the age of dinosaurs never ended, and their
descendents clashed with the clan of humans in a tragic war for survival.
It is the tale of Kerrick, a young hunter who grows to manhood among the dinosaurs,
escaping at last to rejoin his own kind. His knowledge of their strange customs
makes him the humans' leader, the dinosaurs most feared enemy.
From the back cover:
Rezsia was a city girl, unequipped to face the dangers of the wilderness. Although
she was woldwalker, her telepathic link with the wolves was too new to give
her the strength and experience she needed to survive the forest. Then the elders
asked her to investigate a series of strange deaths, and what started out as
a straightforward task became a desperate struggle between a hidden evil and
the fledgling bond between one wolf cub and a woman.
The odd, older wolfwalker, Coale, could teach Rezsia to join in the packsong
and run with the wolves. The scouts assigned to escort her could instruct her
in forest survival skills. But when the packsong held secrets, there was no
one she dared trust fully. If she hoped to survive she would ultimately have
to search her soul, sift through the memories of the wolves, and bet her life
on an inner strength she had never tested.
Back cover synopsis:
Linked by an unbrekable telepathic bond, Dion and her wolf, Gray Hishn, were
an unbeatable team. Together they could scout a trail better than any single
human, and their unique healing talent had saved the lives of their companions
during their desperate flight through the mountains to warn their people of
inpending war.
Now enemy agents scoured the countryside looking for the group that included
a young healer and her wolf. And suddenly the very strengths that Dion's friebds
had come to rely on could mean the downfall of them all."
This book is out of print.
Back cover synopis:
Dion was a healer and a wolfwalker, and the unique telepathic bond that she
shared with the wolf Gray Hishn sometimes seemed to amplify her sensitivity
to her patients. But she never guessed how strong that bond could be, or what
kind of power it could wield, until she found herself lost in the wilderness,
with angry slavers at her heels and war on the horizon. Suddenly she and her
fellow travelers were fighter for their lives in the snowy wastes, where the
wolves were their only guides, the greatest scret of the ancients their only
salvation…and Dion their only hope to survive!
Vault into the cold, clear air across a frozen fabulous time of love and laughter with peter Lake, master thief, and his flying white horse. Thunder towards the 21st century, leading lunatics, lovers, rascals and dreamers over snowdrifts, through raging storms, furious battles, walls of ice and pillars of fire to the golden city of our glorious future.
In summer, magic is warmly borne on the gentle, wafting breeze.
It is a season of many wonders, with many secrets ripe for discovering ...and
some best left in shadow, unexplored. Summer has come to Sauterelle Lake. And
inquisitive young Nick is discovering many things he doesn't want to know: About
a pretty girl with hypnotic eyes who talks to his soul...
About a wild creature-a wolf-whose features shine with an intelligent, un-lupine
knowing... About a strange, inhospitable family occupying a cabin that is meant
to be empty.
This summer, nature's magic is not the only sorcery traveling on the wind.
And the real trick will be surviving until the autumn.
Cuillin- last of the great sea eagles of Skye. For her there will be
many bitter years of exile, sustained only by a belief that one day her offspring
will return to her abandoned homeland.
James Macaskill Stonor- a lonely, bewildered child growing up in a storm-racked
English coastal town…but destined to be one of the greatest and best loved artists
of this century.
'The Stonor Eagles' - his beautiful and haunting sculptures, whose creation
and final unveiling are recounted in this deeply moving saga of life, suffering,
and the courage to love…of dreams that die, and dreams that can come true.
In the Summer of the Golden Plain, the cunning fox Slagar the Cruel, and his evil henchmen sneak into Redwall Abbey to kidnap the Woodland children- including Mattimeo, son of the great warrior mouse, Matthias. Now Matthias and a handful of brave followers must abandon their home to the mercy of General Ironbeak's invading ravens in order to rescue their stolen little ones. But on the road to a dread kingdom and certain slavery, an unexpected hero will be born- and the captive mouse-child Mattimeo will prove himself worthy at last to wield the sword of his illustrious father.
It is many generations now since-the Battle Owls, the Warhorses and the Border
Runners answered the war trumpets of the kings of Elundium. The corruption of
the Chancellors surrounding the throne has allowed Krulshards, Master of Darkness,
to gather his forces in the caverns of the mountains beyond the land's edge.
All Elundium is poised for destruction.
Once Nevian, enchanter-guardian of the realm, would have been war counselor
to the aging king, but he has long vanished into shadow. Now, in the false daylight
of Candlebane Hall, King Holbian sends the only messenger he has-a boy whose
once-proud ancestry has become a laughingstock-in a bid to alert the border
garrisons at distant Underfall. Untrained in the arts of war, Thane's chances
of success seem slim indeed ...
Mowgli, lost in the deep jungle as a child, is adopted into a family of wolves. Hunted by Shere Khan, the Bengal tiger, Mowgli is allowed to run with the wolf pack under the protection of Bagheera, the black pather, and of Baloo, the brown bear who teaches wold cubs the Law of the Jungle. Through many legendary adventures, Mowgli evolves from a vengeful member of the pack to a just and compassionate human being who at last returns to join- perhaps to lead- his own kind. Tales of Mowgli are intersperced with other jungle stories of equal imagination and significance.
from the back cover:
Skandranon Rashkae is everything a gryphon should be…
with gleaming ebony feathers, majestic wingspan, keen magesight, and sharp intelligence, he is the fulfillment of all the Mage of Silence, the human sorcerer Urtho, intended to achieve when he created these magical beings to be his champions, the defenders of his realm- a verdant plain long coveted by the evil mage Ma'ar.
And now, as Ma'ar is once again preparing to advance on Urtho's Keep, this time with a huge force spreaheaded by magical constructs of his own, Skandranon is sent to spy across enemy lines, cloaked in the protection of Urtho's powerful Spell of Silence.
As days pass and Skandranon doesn't return, all in Urtho's camp wait anxiously. But there is one among them for whom the possible loss of this great bird will be more than just a major military defeat. Amberdrake- a Healer of body, mind and spirit whose talents are as essential to the army as those of any general- waits on the landing strip with anguish in his heart. For Amberdrake has come to value the vain, cocksure and brave Skandranon as his closest friend and comrade, and he now fears that this prince of gryphons will never return…
Book I of the Dragon Riders of Pern series. (though you can read them out or order)
From the back cover:
Lessa's last chance
After ten long Turns, Lessa was ready to come out of hiding, to reclaim her
birthright… and to Impress the young dragon wueen and become Weyrwoman of Benden.
Suddenly the deadly silver Threads once again theatoned all Pern with destruction.
But the mighty telepathic dragons that for centuries had defended Pern were
now few in number, not nearly enough to protect the planet in its hour of greatest
peril. Then Lessa hatched a daring and dangerous scheme to rally support from
people who had long ago ceased to exist!
Book II of the Dragon Riders of Pern series. (though you can read them out or order, there's a summary of the plot so far at the beginning of the book)
From the back cover:
Dragonfire
Another Turn, and the deadly silver Threads began falling again. So the bold
dragonriders took to the air once more and their magnificent dragons swirled
and swooped, belching flames that destroyed the shimmering strands before they
reached the ground.
But F'lar knew he had to find a better way to protect his beloved Pern, and
he had to find it before the rebellious Oldtimers could breed any more dissent…
before his brother F'nor would be foolhardy enough to launch another suicide
mission… and before those dratted fire-lizards could stir up any more trouble!
Book III of the Dragon Riders of Pern series. (though you can read them out or order, there's a summary of the plot so far at the beginning of the book)
From the back cover:
Never had there been as close a bonding as the one that existed between the
young Lord Jaxom abd his extraordinary white drgaon, Ruth. Pure white and incredably
agile, Ruth possessed remarkable qualities. Not only could he communicate with
the irridescent, fluttering fire lizards, but he could fly back in time to any
WHEN with unfailing accuracy.
Nearly everyone else on Pern though Ruth was a runt who would never amount to
anything, but Jaxom knew his dragon was special. In secret they trained to fight
against the burning threads from the Red Planet, to fly back in time as well
as Between, and finally their close and special union was to result in the most
startling and breathtaking discovery of all…
From the back cover:
"To call The Blood Jaguar a talking animal fable for adults would be
both true and misleading, like calling Moby Dick a whaling adventure novel.
"These talking animals are variously hip, intellectually subtle, cynical, mystical,
and portrayed with real charac-terological depth. Bobcat, the main catnip-head
protagonist, may be superficially reminiscent of Fritz the Cat, but emerges
as a true hero in the archetypal sense. The novel has plenty of humorous moments,
but these waters run
"The Blood Jaguar is the sort of thing for which the word `sui generis'
was invented. Believe me, I have never read anything like it before, and neither
have you." -NORMAN SPINRAD
THE SPELL OF WAR-
When Rohan was crowned High Prince and his Sunrunner Wife Sioned became High
Princess, they swore to keep the peace of the lands and preserve the secret
of the dragons, an inheritance they would one day pass to their only child,
Pol, heir to both princely and Sunrunner powers.
But the evil influence of the former High Prince Roelstra had not ended with
his death at Rohan's hands. And even as Pol grew to manhood, other young men
were being trained in the ways or war, youth's descended from Roelstra and claimed
by Rohan's enemies as willing pawn in what could become a bloody battle for
succession.
Yet not all players in these games of power fought merely with words or swords.
For now a foe vanquished by the Sunrunners ages ago was once again growing in
strength, an enemy determined to destroy Sunrunners and High Princes alike.
And the only hope of defeating these masters of dark sorcery lay in reclaiming
the knowledge so carefully concealed in the long-lost Star Scroll.
THE FINAL CONFLICT!
With High Prince Pol's wife Meiglan held prisoner by the Warlord of the enemy,
and Skybowl keep purposely abandoned to this deadly foe, Pol's mother Sioned
leads a daring mission into the catle, using all her years of experience as
High Princes in a cunning attmpet to strike at the heart of the invasion force.
And even as Sioned carries out this perilous plan, Pol and his cousin Andry,
Lord of the Sunrunners of Goddess Keep, are forced into an uneasy alliance.
For only if they can overcome their longtime rivalry and suspicions of one another
and draw upon their combined powers of Sunrunning and Sorcery, do they stand
any chance of defeating the people of the Desert down to the last newborn child…
IT BEGAN WITH THE DISCOVERY OF THE STAR SCROLL-
the last repository of forgotten spells of sorcery. the only surviving record
of the ancient foe who in times past had nearly destroyed the Sunrunners and
their magic, Now, as Andry the new Sunrunner Lord of Goddess Keep, begins to
master this potentially deadly knowledge, while Pol, son of High Prince Rohan,
seeks to touch the minds of dragons, the long-vanquished enemy is mobilizing
to strike again, drawing on forbidden lore to play an ever-shifting game of
treachery and betrayal -and secretly infiltrating even the most strongly protected
of citadels.
And soon, Pol, Andry Rohan, his Sunrunner wife Sioned, and all whom they hold
dear will find it hard to tell friend from foe as spell wars threaten to devastate
the land-and dragons soar the skies, inexorably lured by magic's fiery call....
This book is out of print. This is the first book (or two) in the series.
Synopsis from back cover:
"He was Galen Sword by day...but who was he by night...?
Galen Sword was known as a rich New York playboy. The public didn't know that
his Porsche contained state of the art equipment designed to track down an extraordinary
creature, or that Galen was actually on a dangerous quest to find another world...his
world. Shadowy memories of being sent away from his beloved parents had given
Galen an obsession: to get back to a parallel universe where he had been heir
to a powerful dynasty- but had been born unacountably and unacceptably human.
To find his way home now, he had to capture a beast that corssed over from that
world into the city's dark streets looking for prey: a werewolf...alive deadly,
and very real. But trying to stop Galen was a race of brutal magical beings,
armed with a power that was terrifying and perhaps unbeatable..."
From the back cover:
The power of the lir is hers-
She is Keely, twin sister to Corin, and daughter of Niall, the ruler of Homana, and she alone has the power to shapechange into any form, a power akin to that of the Firstborn. And like her brothers, Keely has been chosen to play a crucial part in the Firstborn's prophesy. Yet Keely,a true daughter of the Lion, is no weak pawn to be used in men's games of power and diplomacy. Trained alongside her brothers in the art of war, gifted with more of the old magic than most of her close kin, she will not easily give way even to Niall's commands, nor be forced against her will into an arranged marriage.
But others besides keely's father have plans for her future. Strahan, the most powerful Ihlini sorceror, is already preparing a trap from which even one as magic gifted as Keely may find no escape. And in the deepwood, another waits to challenge Keely, an outlaw fully as dangerous to her future freedom as Strahan is to her life…
This book is out of print. Book II of the Chronicles of the Cheysuli.
From the back cover:
For five long years the land of Homana had been strangling in the grasp of a
usurper king - its people ravaged by strife, poverty and despair; its magical
race, the Cheysuli, forced to flee or face extermination at the hands of their
evil counterparts, the sorcerous Ilhini.
The time had come for Prince Carillon, Homana's rightful ruler, to return from
exhile with his Cheysuli shapeshifter liege man, free his land from the evil
tyrant Bellam and his villanous magicians, restore the Cheysuli to their rightful
position of grace, and claim his birthright. To do this, he would not only have
to raise an army, but overcome the fear and prejudice of an ignorant population
and answer the call of a prophesy he never chose to serve!
GOLDEN ELVES FORETOLD RELKIN'S FATE
There is a field in Arneis, a garden of flowers. There Relkin will stand, when
all else has failed and the dark forces have triumphed And on his shoulders
will rest the destiny of the world....A shadow of war hung over the peacetul
land of the ;Argonath as The Masters prepared to unleash hideous new monstrosities
from their dread fortress The Great witches of Argonath unable to pierce the
magical barriers of the enemy did not know when or where the evil blow might
fall. Only one thing was certain the Dragon Legions would be crucial to the
Empire's survival Yet for Dragonboy Relkin and the dragon Bazil Broketail surviving
long. enough to fight was the problem at hand-especially after an irregular
rescue mission saw Relkin upon a murder charge-and the fate of his own world
' seemed far beyond his control....
This book is out of print.
From the back cover:
THE HEAVENLY HORSE is the Dancer, a shining Appaloosa stallion, first of all
horses in the Army of One Hundred and Five and guardian of the Courts of the
Outermost West
ANOR THE EXECUTIONER, monstrous and fanged, is the servant of the Dark Horse.
He comes from the Gates of Death- and if he can, he will destroy the Dancer.
Between them stands DUCHESS, last true mare of the Appaloosa line. With the
Dancer, she runs away from the barns of men- but is stalked by Anor and his
Harrier Hounds/ If they can kill her and her foal, the Appaloosa breed will
be ended.
THE HEAVENLY HORSE is partly an adventure, partly a fable, and partly even a
love story. It is also a mesmerising evocation of the eternal battle between
good and evil.
This book is out of print.
Speech bubble on front cover reads: "Help! I'm stuck in a mystery of double-crosses, steamy broads, and killer cream pies."
Back cover synopis reads:
Crack detective Eddie Valiant Tackles his Toughest Case:
I found the bungalow and rang the bell.
My client answered the door.
He was almost my height, close to six feet, but only if you counted his eighteen
inch ears.
For eyes he had twin black dots, floating in the center of two oblong white
saucers. His white stomach, nose toes, and palms on a light brown body made
him resemble someone who had just walked face first into a freshly painted wall.
I'm Eddie Valiant, private eye. You the one who called?"
"Yes, I am," he said, extending a fuzzy white paw. "I'm Roger Rabbit."