Dave Duncan Books In Order

The Reluctant Swordsman

Wallie Smith can feel the pain. He goes to the hospital, remembers the doctors and the commotion, but when he wakes up it all seems like a dream. However, if that was a dream how do you explain waking up in another body and in another world? Little Wallie finds himself in the physique of a barbarian swordsman, accompanied by both an eccentric priest babbling about the Goddess and a voluptuous slave girl. Is this a rude awakening or a dream come true? What in the world will Wallie do now that he’s found himself stranded in a strange realm? Well it just so happens that the Goddess is in need of a swordsman. It won’t be easy but if he succeeds he will have everything he wants. If he doesn’t, things could get ugly. Wallie is reluctant but sees his chance. If only he had the faintest clue as to the adventure he is about to unleash! If only he could imagine the forces that will be out to vanquish him!

The Coming of Wisdom

Wallie Smith is staring death in the face; only a miracle can save him. And then one does! The Goddess appears to preserve his soul, but she does much more than that. She promises to bestow upon him a new and powerful body, and, more importantly, to endow him with the fabled Sapphire Sword of Chioxin. But nothing in this world or any other comes without a price. The Goddess demands that, for her services, Wallie become her champion. It will be an honor to serve such a presence, to have the chance to be victorious over all challengers. But Wallie and his sword quickly find themselves outmatched in a world of high stakes magic. Even the Goddess’s priests cannot offer any resistance to the invading sorcerers and their quest to conquer souls for the Fire God. Wallie will need to find in himself and in the world the powers that will save all mortals. He will need to find The Coming of Wisdom.

The Destiny of the Sword

Wally Smith, having died on Earth, finds himself reincarnated as a swordsman in another world and entrusted by the presiding goddess with a mission that has no appeal for him at all. Can he bring together all the swordsmen to finally defeat the Sorcerors and their terrible technology? Wally isn’t quite convinced he should, but Goddesses can be very persuasive…
This is the third and final exciting book, after THE RELUCTANT SWORDSMAN and THE COMING OF WISDOM in THE SEVENTH SWORD TRILOGY.

Magic Caseme*nt

MAN OF HIS WORD A princess and a stableboy? It sounds like the worst sort of hackneyed formula romance. Think again, for ‘A Man of His Word’ may well be the most original fantasy you ever read. The magic is unique and applied in unexpected ways, some of which the late Lester del Rey admitted he had not met in fifty years as writer and editor. The world itself is unique there are no humans in Pandemia, only imps, elves, gnomes, jotnar, and many more, all of whom you will recognize as ‘human’. Magic Caseme*nt In Magic Caseme*nt the tale begins gently, even slowly, with Inosolan enjoying an idyllic childhood in her father’s tiny backwater kingdom, too innocent even to understand that the feelings she shares with her friend Rap are more than friendship. Mystery, menace, and the gods appear in short order, and from then on the story grows in scope and power to straddle the world, and adversity thrusts rapid maturity on Rap and Inos. Populated by unforgettable characters Aunt Kade, Little Chicken, Doctor Sagorn, and many more Pandemia is an incredible world of credible people and infinite surprises.

Faery Lands Forlorn

Inos, the late king’s daughter, had been kidnapped through the magic caseme*nt even as the Impish legions overrunning her tiny kingdom were storming the castle tower. Now she was a prisoner in a desert land ruled by a dockside who*re with a talent for magic and a passion for politics.

She little dreamed that the loyal stableboy Rap had jumped through the caseme*nt after her. But no one really knew how the magic worked, and Rap found himself not in a desert, but in the steaming jungles of Faerie half a world away from Inos!

Rap was determined to rescue his beloved queen, and nothing could stop him not even the monsters and headhunters of Faerie, or the paranoid machinations of an evil sorcerer…

Perilous Seas

Hunted now by the fearsome warlock wardens who rule the world, Inos is convinced that Rap is dead. But Rap is not, and the tide may be about to turn…
She thought he was dead. Queen Inos feels Rap’s presence as if he has risen from the grave to be beside her, but she knows all that is left of him is his voice, which echoed in her mind well, so she thinks. Her duty is to serve her people, and Queen Inos doesn’t know her galley slave, Rap, is alive and, with his magic wand, trying to bring happiness to his beloved Queen. But when the evil Nordland raider, Kalkor, arrives in port, Rap’s plans begin to fall apart.

Emperor and Clown

MAN OF HIS WORD A princess and a stableboy? It sounds like the worst sort of hackneyed formula romance. Think again, for ‘A Man of His Word’ may well be the most original fantasy you ever read. The magic is unique and applied in unexpected ways, some of which the late Lester del Rey admitted he had not met in fifty years as writer and editor. The world itself is unique there are no humans in Pandemia, only imps, elves, gnomes, jotnar, and many more, all of whom you will recognize as ‘human’. Emperor and Clown With Inos married to the wrong man and Rap dying in a dungeon, obviously the cause is hopeless. Only Aunt Kade refuses to admit defeat…

The Cutting Edge

The great adventure had ended happily. The good folk of Krasnegar discovered that a beautiful princess could, indeed, succeed her royal father and rule in her own right, and rule very well, too. And when Queen Inos married Rap, the former stableboy, he turned out to be a very good king. He never admitted that he was a sorcerer, and everyone knew that Rap was a Man of His Word, so that was all right. The years passed. Rap and Inos raised a family, prospering in their remote little kingdom. But trouble was brewing in the great world outside. The aged Imperor grew ever more erratic, more tyrannical. His grandson Shandie, the boy Rap had befriended, was now a great soldier, struggling to suppress ever growing upheaval in the borderlands while he waited to inherit the throne. Strange prophecies of upheaval and disaster spread. When the rumors reached even to Krasnegar, Rap scoffed at them as superstition until one night a god appeared and confirmed that the truth was likely to be far worse. On his travels long ago, Rap himself had made a terrible blunder. Because of that, the world of Pandemia was now poised on the brink of utter disaster. The last thing Rap wanted was another adventure, and that might be the last thing he would ever get.

Upland Outlaws

The old Imperor was dead at last. His popular soldier grandson, known as Shandie, had succeeded him…
Hadn’t he? No, he hadn’t. The man who sat the opal throne was not Shandie, but an illusion created by the mad dwarf, Xinixo. Year after year he had stealthily been ensorcelling sorcerers, turning them into loyal minions. Now, wielding their combined power, he was irresistible. He ruled the Impire, so he ruled the world. He would continue to rule it for centuries. Anyone who knew the truth or opposed him in any way, he would destroy or enslave. That especially included his old enemy, King Rap of Krasnegar. And Shandie, the rightful Imperor, of course. And all their supporters, their friends, their families. All of them! First he had to catch them. With his infinite magic, that ought to be easy. Rap and Shandie had other ideas, but even they could see that their cause looked hopeless.

The Stricken Field

Paranoid but almighty, the sorcerer Xinixo had seized control of the Impire. But ruling the imps and most of the world was not enough. He would never feel safe until he was universally loved, so he would smash everything and then rebuild the whole world in his own insane image. Who could resist him? King Rap of Krasnegar and Shandie, the rightful Imperor, were still at large and determined to resist the evil, however slender their chances. Their one, faint hope was to enlist the help of the remaining free sorcerers of the world, those not already spellbound by Xinixo. Their quest soon ran into disaster. Their messengers were betrayed or ensnared. A rampaging goblin army had captured Shandie and was about to torture him to death. Rap was mired in tropical jungle, hoping his wife and children were safe, back home in Krasnegar. They were not in Krasnegar and certainly not safe. As the flames of war raged across Pandemia, news of the disasters penetrated even into Thume, the Accursed Land. Outsiders believed that the pixies had been extinct for a thousand years, but they still lived there, ho*arding their magic. Their ruler, the Keeper, adamantly refused to meddle in events outside her borders, but one young pixie girl was prepared to rebel against the ancient order…

The Living God

War had engulfed the whole world. The imposter Imperor ruling in Hub was the tool of the paranoid and almighty sorcerer Xinixo, who wielded the combined power of thousands of sorcerer slaves. And yet, despite his seeming omnipotence, the pathetic few who resisted him were still at liberty, even making a little progress. Xinixo’s prime foe, Rap of Krasnegar, had rallied troll sorcerers to the cause and was about to try enlisting the incomprehensible elves. Fortunately for his sanity, he did not know that his daughter Kadie had been carried off by goblin invaders, or that his son Gath was heading for stark Nordland to deal with the fearsome jotnar. Or that his wife, Inos, was in Guwash, negotiating with gnomes. Shandie, the rightful Imperor, was with her, unaware that his wife, Impress Eshiala, believed him dead and had fled with Signifer Ylo, that notorious rake. And none of them knew about the sorcerers of Thume, especially the rebel pixie girl, Tha le, who chafed against the secret binding of a thousand years. But the odds were still impossible and Longday was fast approaching. The sorcerers of the world foretold blood on Longday.

The Reaver Road

Omar is the finest storyteller the world has ever known, captivating audiences everywhere, from the campfires of soldier camps to the plush residences of nobility. In times of turmoil, people can still appreciate a good tale that offers respite from their troubles. But as hordes of barbarian soldiers surround the unvanquished city of Zanadon after ravaging the surrounding countryside, few things are certain any longer. Omar has been guided to the city by prophetic dreams, yet finds himself inan increasingly dangerous situation as the people grow more desperate and the gift of a glib tongue turns into a curse.

The Hunters’ Haunt

A blizzard savaged the mountain peaks, but at an inn called The Hunters’ Haunt, travelers found safe refuge, a cozy room, and a roaring fire. All but Omar, the Trader of Tales against whom the innkeeper had been nursing a grudge. But before he could pitch Omar out into the storm, his other guests proposed a contest: if Omar could top a roomful of their tallest tales, the storyteller could win his room and board. For Omar the stakes were life and death. That gave the contest some spice. So as winter winds whipped about the little inn, lies and truths and fabulous fabrications swirled before the blazing hearth. The innkeeper and his pretty sister; the merchant and his blushing bride; the dowager and the crusty captain of her guard; the scribe, the maid, the minstrel: they all poured out their tales, and Omar wove them together. Before they knew it, their very lives were intertwined, and their separate stories were spinning relentlessly to a single conclusion no human could have foretold!

Demon Sword

The outlaw Longdirk wields a wicked sword in the Scottish highlands of 1244, but strange demon winds are howling across the lochs and the enemy Sassenach king is a sorcerer whose Black Arts can free Europe from the Golden Horde.

Demon Rider

Tobias Strangerson, known as Toby Longdirk has repeatedly escaped capture by King Nevil and his henchman, Baron Oreste of Utrecht. Traveling from Scotland to England, to Bordeaux and Spain, only Toby knows that the king is possessed by a demon and therefore is both immortal and devoted to evil. As Toby struggles against his own inner demons, he must start a crusade against the enemy, depose a tyrant, and restore legitimate rule to the land.

Past Imperative

The Great Game of Gods is afoot…
In a world on the brink of madness…
In the summer of 1914, a young man of reputation beyond reproach awakens under police guard-grievously injured and accused of heinous, impossible murder. And in a strange, distant place…
The youngest member of a penniless acting troupe has been taken prisoner by the loyal minions of a corrupt, vengeful goddess. For an ancient prophecy has divided the realm’s ruling Deities into warring factions-a prophecy that mentions the crippled captive child…
and a youth recovering from inexplicable wounds in a British hospital bed. The game weaves through worlds and through dimensions as it has since time immemorial-a deadly contest of skill and manipulations that ruthlessly creates wizards, destroys human pawns…
and transforms ordinary men, women and children into something more.

Present Tense

In the midst of the horror of the First World War, a stranger falls from nowhere into the mud and death of Flanders battlefield bruised, babbling, and stark naked…
with a remarkable story to tell. The Great Game, the timeless diversion of human gods, a ruthless contest of treachery, magic, betrayal and manipulation, created to relieve the tedium of immortality goes on, weaving through the centuries and across dimensions. After three unaccounted years, bearing scars and secrets from a place he calls Nextdoor, Edward Exeter, wrongly accused murderer and fugitive from the law, has reappeared on Earth. Leaving behind a war of spears and arrows, he has come to do service in a war of artillery and poison gas, fleeing powerful forces on both sides of the guarded, mystical border who have other plans for the young patriot, and ancient prophecies they wish to see fulfilled. In another realm, Edward is Liberator the one who is to ‘bring death to Death.’ Edward wants no part of the prophecy and flees the murderous pursuers from two different worlds. But there is no escaping Destiny and there are obligations to the past and future alike that must be met if civilizations are to survive…
and the dead will arouse D’ward Liberator to new actions as it has been foretold.

Future Indefinite

In a place called Nextdoor the farthest flung outpost of British imperialism earthborn mortals possess the power of gods. Young Englishman Edward Exeter has spent five years trying to escape the magnetic and powerfully magical pull of The Great Game which has designated him as its most important player. But war and bloodthirsty intrigues rage on both sides of magical portals and across worlds and Exeter can resist his destiny no longer. He accepts the mantle of Liberator that has been thrust upon him and the decision turns old friends into foes and old enemies into acolytes as he is surrounded by murderous plots and betrayals But this is not the uninformed Edward Exeter who came naked into this hidden realm years ago. He has lived the Game and learned it well and he intends to play it boldly to its shocking, worlds shattering conclusion.

The Gilded Chain

As unwanted and rebellious boys, they find refuge in Ironhall…
. Years later they emerge as the finest swordsmen in the realm A magical ritual of a sword through the heart binds each to his ward if not the king himself, then to whomever else the monarch designates with absolute loyalty. And the greatest Blade of them all was and is Sir Durendal.

But a lifelong dream of protecting his beloved liege from enemies, traitors, and monsters is dashed to bits when Durendal is bonded till death to an effete noble fop at his king’s orders. Yet Destiny has many strange and inscrutable plans for the young knight for a mission, a contest, and, perhaps, a treasure await him in a faraway land. But he soon finds himself enmeshed in treason and foul intrigues, compelled to betray the king he had hoped to serve. The Blades have ways to protect their own, but death and madness haunt the path to salvation and few ever return unscathed. As unwanted and rebellious boys, they find refuge in Ironhall…
. Years later they emerge as the finest swordsmen in the realm A magical ritual of a sword through the heart binds each to his ward if not the king himself, then to whomever else the monarch designates with absolute loyalty. And the greatest Blade of them all was and is Sir Durendal.

But a lifelong dream of protcting his beloved liege from enemies, traitors, and monsters is dashed to bits when Durendal is bonded till death to an effete noble fop at his king’s orders. Yet Destiny has many strange and inscrutable plans for the young knight for a mission, a contest, and, perhaps, a treasure await him in a faraway land. But he soon finds himself enmeshed in treasonand foul intrigues, compelled to betray the king he had hoped to serve. The Blades have ways to protect their own, but death and madness haunt the path to salvation and few ever return unscathed.

Lord of the Fire Lands

As unwanted, rebellious boys, they found refuge in Ironhall…
Years later they emerged as the finest swordsmen in the realm The Kings BladesOnce bound, a Blade’s life is no longer his own. Only death can break the gilded chain of enchantment that binds the bodyguard to the man he is sworn to defend. And never in living memory has a candidate refused the honor of serving his king…
until now. Young Wasp never intended to be a rebel. Yet, at the sacred ceremony of binding, he follows the lead of his friend Raider, and together they spurn the wishes of King Ambrose himself. Now Raider and Wasp are outlaws hunted by the very Blades whose ranks they were a breath away from entering, and joined together by a destiny that binds them more securely than any knot tradition and sorcery might tie. Amid the turmoil their ‘treachery’ has inspired, Wasp and Raider must undertake a desperate journey into the heart of the dreaded Fire Lands. And the outcome of their terrifying confrontation with dark truth and darker magic in this realm of monsters, ghosts, and half men will ultimately determine the fate of two kingdoms.

Sky of Swords

A Sky of Swords hangs in Ironhall a testament to the courage, breathtaking skill, and enduring faithfulness of the Blades of Chivial, mighty swordsmen bound by magic to defend their noble wards to the death. The Princess Malinda was a lonely and unloved child growing into young womanhood in the cold, intrigue ridden court of King Ambrose. At an early age she learned to fight for what was rightfully hers. But even her great courage and matchless wits could not withstand her father’s treacheries.A female and therefore a useless ornament in Ambrose’s eyes Malinda can do nothing but submit when her father offers her to the most notorious pirate ever to sail the seas, in order to end an inconvenient war. But then the King dies abruptly. And suddenly the crown sits uncertainly on the head of his sickly infant son, Amby, with Malinda standing bravely at the babe liege’s side as heir and protector in the face of the insidious plottings, of traitorous would be usurpers. Civil war is Chivial’s grim destiny, as Malinda now Queen desperately searches for a way to preserve her rule and her realm. In this bloody labyrinth of schemes and betrayals, the few stalwarts whom she can be sure of are the Blades of the Royal Guard each one bound to absolute loyalty by the magical ritual of a sword stroke through the heart. These are men the only men she can trust to the death. But the Blades themselves are in grave peril, as the people rise up against them. And with a rebel army marching on Ironhall the fabled school that turns unwanted rebellious boys into the finest swordsmen in the known worldQueen Malinda. must make the most crucial decision of her life: a choice that will either redeem her kingdom from chaos…
or bring ultimate destruction down upon it, her Blades, and herself.

Paragon Lost

Over time, many legends have emerged from the shadows of Ironhall. Now one new Blade towers above his brother in arms: Sir Beaumont. His heart is the strongest and most pure and his mind is as keen, swift, and accurate as his sword. A glorious future seems predestined for young Beau on the day he sets out in the service and company of the elderly Lord Wassail, on a mission to escort King Athelgar’s chosen bride to her new home and royal wedding. But the road is not to be an easy one, for it winds through the harsh and frozen domain of the evil Czar Igor, who cows his subjects with a steady diet of terror, brutality, and the blackest of magics. And when polite diplomacy gives way to horror and blood, Sir Beaumont becomes one of the tragedy’s prime victims though he lives still. Stripped of his sword and banished from the Blades in disgrace, he faces a grim future as a homeless pariah, a creature to be shunned and despised. But redemption can come from unexpected directions and in unrecognizable guises. Approached in secret by the legendary Durendal, now Grand Master of the Order, the dishonored paragon is offered one last chance to win back his weapon and his place among his brother Blades. But to do so, he must ride back through the icy gates of Hell…
to battle the Devil himself.

Impossible Odds

The Blades are back! Once again acclaimed fantasist Dave Duncan leads us past the imposing gates of Ironhall training ground for elite warrior swordsmen unequaled in any time or realm to witness the astonishing ascendance of three most unlikely heroes. Deposed by a foul usurper, the Grand Duke Rubin is on the run and in desperate need of protection. While the King has decreed that new Blades will be magically bound to the guard, not one of the rough youths being readied at Ironhall yet possesses the seasoning and maturity to accept such an assignment. Left with no choice, the Grand Master approaches two with an offer of early bonding and probable death: Ranter, strong but arrogant, dense, and rude, and Ringwood, eager and impetuous, who might make a fine Blade someday. Since they will need much help and luck to survive what better, more skilled Blades have not, a third is enlisted into their threadbare ranks: the candidate Bellman, who, though barred from the Blades by injury, may have some small talent for espionage. Joining the Duke’s entourage along with a courageous and prescient White Sister named True, the trio of would be champions begins an astonishing journey filled with trials and horrors, intending to restore a rightful ruler to the throne or die in the process. But before them waits an army of the dead a dark fraternity of shadowmen, savage and unstoppable, who slaughter in the service of a despicable fiend driven by greed and the blackest of hearts. And the Duke, whom the Blades must protect to the last drop of their lifeblood, is not the liege they imagined but rather the guardian of strange and twisted secrets…
and a hidden identity that threatens to plunge their noble enterprise into total confusion and even graver peril.

The Jaguar Knights

Acclaimed fantasy author Dave Duncan returns to Chivial and the dashing King’s Blades the greatest swordsmen in the world with a new epic adventure of sword fights, magic, romance, and a Blade unlike any other. Sir Wolf is not your typical King’s Blade. Sure, he’s smart, athletic, a good dresser, and a phenomenal swordsman. But he hasn’t been named the King’s Killer for nothing, and after years of dark secrets and painful loyalties to a king he cannot respect, all he wants is to be left alone. But when unknown assailants storm a royal fortress and carry off a former royal mistress, Wolf is dispatched posthaste to investigate. Who were these strangers, what were their motives, and who or what was their sinister cat faced leader? Burdened by the need to comfort his impetuous younger brother, Sir Lynx the only Blade ever to lose his ward and live and shadowed by a secretive Inquisitor with her own agenda, Wolf struggles to solve a mystery that threatens the kingdom of Chivial itself. His quest will lead him into lands of danger and discovery unlike any the Blades have ever seen, and to an answer beyond his wildest nightmares.

The Crooked House

The Crooked House is the second book in the King’s Daggers triology, and Duncan has infused this title with all the breathless action and riveting adventure of his previous titles. In this installment, Sir Stalwart and Emerald embark on a quest to uncover the evil lurking at the heart of the king’s chambers.

Silvercloak

A Notorious Killer Stalks the KingThe world’s most deadly assassin has been hired to kill King Ambrose. Once again King’s Daggers are plunged into danger, because only White Sister Emerald can identify the killer’s magic and only Sir Stalwart knows what he looks like. The two must trap the killer before he can strike the king or at them. As the trial of death leads back to Ironhall, the swordsmen school Stalwart so recently left, he finds he is a boy sent to do a man’s job and Emerald is a girl sent to do a boy’s.

The Monster War

Originally issued as a YA trilogy, ‘The King’s Daggers’ including volumes Sir Stalwart, The Crooked House and Silvercloak, The Monster War works equally well as a single novel. The story fills a gap in the first Blades novel, The Gilded Chain, when King Ambrose sought to shut down the evil sorcery of the ‘Elementaries’ and the sorcerers fought back by trying to kill him. The same great characters are all here: Ambrose himself, Grand Master, and Blades Durendal, Bandit, and Snake. Appearing for the first time are Sir Stalwart, the only Blade who does not bear a binding scar, and Emerald of the White Sisters, the only girl ever enrolled in Ironhall. The action wanders across Chivial from the White Sisters’ headquarters at Oakendown, to Grandon, and into the heart of Ironhall, for the evil penetrates even there. If you missed this one the first time and most Blades fans did then here is your chance to join the action as the King’s Blades ride again!

Children of Chaos

On a dodecahedral world in thrall to the tyrannical, war obsessed Hrag dynasty, no one could stop the Bloodlord from sending troops to Florengia, invading its major cities, and offering them a choice between strict colonial rule or immediate and total destruction. When the doge of Celebre was faced with this ultimatum, he gave his children up as hostages so that the rest of Celebre might live. Thus the four young Florengians were taken back over the Edge and scattered across the Vigaelian face. Fifteen years later, when Celebre suddenly takes on crucial political significance, one of the siblings must return home to serve as Celebre’s puppet ruler and the others must be eliminated so that there are no rival claimants to the throne. It’s going to be tough enough finding each other, let alone deciding whether enough kinship remains after fifteen years apart that the siblings care enough to help each other out of their respective predicaments. If they’re feeling particularly altruistic, the Celebres might even take on the bonus round: trying to save Dodec from the culture of death and war imposed on it by its evil warlords. One thing’s for certain: the Celebre children are going to have a lot of adjusting to do . . Children of Chaos is the start of a stirring, politically charged quest duology by acclaimed fantasy author Dave Duncan.

Mother of Lies

The past fifteen years have not been kind to Celebre, the greatest city on the Florengian face of a dodecahedral world. Its walls have been breached and its Doge humiliated by the evil Bloodlord Stralg; all four of its heirs kidnapped and taken over the Edge to Vigaelia; its Dogaressa forcibly impregnated by Stralg and when her husband’s health begins to fail left to rule over a city teeming with Stralg s troops. And if you think Stralg is bad, wait until you meet his sister Saltaja, a fanatic who sees no human cost as too great to keep the Hrag dynasty in power and her goddess evil Xaran, the Mother of Lies appeased. But there are a few great hopes for the future of the city: the Mutineer, Marno Cavotti, who will not stand to see his hometown destroyed and is massing a powerful liberation movement mere inches beyond Stralg s grasp. And the four heirs of Celebre each with god given expertise in their respective fields of artistry, combat, wisdom, or death are wending their way back over the Edge to their birthplace. Of course, even as Marno and the Celebre children are working towards the common goal of defeating the Hrags, they re all painfully aware that once that hurdle is crossed only one of them can wind up on the throne. Continuing the storyline set out in Children of Chaos, Mother of Lies is a fierce, kinetic romp that will keep readers guessing until the last blow is dealt.

The Alchemist’s Apprentice

To the legendary clairvoyant Maestro Nostradamus, the future is forever in motion. But for young swordsman Alfeo Zeno, his apprentice and protector, the present is hard enough to contend with. His days are spent poring over astrology charts and making calculations, his nights learning arcane magic or transcribing Nostradamus’s nebulous prophecies. Until one night, when the Council of Ten arrives to take the seer into custody. It seems that a high ranking friend of the prince died under mysterious circumstances after Nostradamus cast his horoscope, warning of danger and rumors are swirling that the mystic poisoned the victim to enhance his own reputation. Alfeo is stunned when his master refuses to flee. Instead, Nostradamus charges Alfeo with the task of clearing his name. Now, Alfeo must unravel a web of magic and murder if he is to have any future of his own.

The Alchemist’s Code

The legendary Maestro Nostradamus may be able to glimpse the ever changing future, but even he cannot see the danger that is about to envelop him and his daring apprentice Alfeo when Nostradamus is hired to find a foreign spy by Venice’s ruling Council of Ten. The only clues they can offer him are the spy’s intercepted messages, encoded in a seemingly unbreakable cipher. But Nostradamus soon detects evil influences working against him, and realizes the spy can only be caught by occult means. He turns to his able apprentice, the young swordsman Alfeo Zeno, whose unique talents may prove essential to unraveling the truth.

The Alchemist’s Pursuit

Hampered by arthritis, Nostradamus is in no mood for granting favors or running about looking for trouble. But when his apprentice Alfeo’s mistress asks him to investigate the murder of her beloved courtesan mentor and promises a fortune in payment he comes around.

It appears that someone is murdering the courtesans of Venice. All were well known, admired for their skills and somehow connected by a sinister event involving one of the great families of the city.

While Nostradamus attempts to use the dark arts to solve riddles which confound explanation, Alfeo finds himself led by a possibly demonic force through a maze of deceit and death. And when the master and apprentice come to the end of their intertwined paths, there may be hell to pay.

Speak to the Devil

A new adventure of brotherhood and magic from beloved fantasist Dave Duncan In the Kingdom of Jorgary, the days of feudal chivalry are fading as national armies are formed. But Ottokar Magnus is still baron, and his host of brothers include Anton, an ambitious young soldier, and Wulfgang, an amiable teenager. Unable to seek his fortune as a knight errant, Anton has enlisted with the royal Jorgarian hussars and taken Wulf along as his servant. There is magic in Jorgary, but it is regarded as Satanism, rituals performed by Speakers who are in contact with the Devil. The Speakers, though, believe that the Voices they hear belong to saints. Anton is not a Speaker…
but Wulf is. Anxious to impress the court, Anton exhibits spectacular horsemanship at a royal hunt, with a little boost from Wulf. Two nights later he is dragged before Cardinal Zdenek, the king’s chief minister. Zdenek offers him an earldom and anything else he could dream of if he will ride at once to a strategic fortress at Cardice and take command there. The count and his son have died, victims of both treason and witchcraft. The cardinal thinks that neighboring enemies are preparing to invade, using modern arms to capture the fort. Mortal resources alone will not suffice, but Zdenek knows that Anton s improbable jump at the hunt was aided by supernatural power. Anton wants nothing to do with this mission, but Wulf s Voices tell him that they should accept the charge. The result is a harrowing ride through limbo with astonishing results.

A Rose-Red City

The city of Mera is a fortress hidden from the rest of humanity, a sanctuary for the diverse group of people rescued from death by the Oraclethat rules the city. The Oracle has brought together the citizens of Merafrom every land and every time period, protecting them from the ravages oftime, death and the evil demon forces that howl outside the city at night. All that the Oracle asks in return is a willingness to aid the rest of humanity, calling the citizens to go forth on various missions of rescue to mortals in need of aid. The Oracle sends Jerry out into the wilderness, accompanied by his ancient Greek friend, Killer, a world famous lecher and juvenile delinquent with deadly combat skills. There they must rescue a woman named Ariadne, on the run with her children and seeking shelter. But children are not allowed in Mera, and Ariadne will not leave them, while Mera’s evil demon enemies move closer and closer to Jerry’s and Killer’s temporary place of respite.

Shadow

Sald Harl would like nothing more than to soar on the wings of his noble eagle, but his youthful rides in the sky are cut short by an appointment to guard the prince. Sald watches his dreams of flight fade with his name and independence as he takes over his bodyguard duties. During a perilous journey to the edges of the kingdom a dark secret comes to life. Now the great Prince Shadow is accused of treason, and Sald must orchestrate a desperate plan of escape or he will lose the one thing he has been orderedto defend. His only option of freedom is a dangerous flight that no one has ever survived. Once again Sald hopes to feel the freedom of soaring though the air unshackled from servitude.

West of January

Set on a distant planet, far in the future, West of January tells the story of a world in which time moves very slowly. Because it takes a lifetime for each region of the planet to experience dawn, midday and dusk, the planet’s population does not remember the catastrophes that occur as the sun moves across the sky entire civilizations have been scorched into oblivion. The only people who remember the dangers of the past are the planet’s ‘angels’ a people who have tried to preserve past technologies to save the planet. This action filled story of a very strange planet showcases Duncan’s remarkable ability to create unique worlds.

Strings

Alya has an almost magical talent. Her hunches are never wrong. The scientists of planet 4-I want to use her talent and promise her a spot on the next offworld colonization team in return for her as*sessment of the potential of the latest worlds they’ve discovered. But Alya meets Cedric, the grandson of the brilliant and tyrannical director of 4-I and she begins to doubt her own intuition. Cedric has dreamed of becoming a scout and exploring new worlds and when he meets Alya he is more determined than ever to leave 4-I, with her. His grandmother needs him on 4-I, though, because she has schemes afoot to protect her planet and to cover up a murder and she does not intend to let him go. However, she has underestimated her grandson-and the young woman whose intuition is so strong and whose destiny is linked to Cedric’s.

The Cursed

The world was desperate. Since the empire had fallen a hundred years ago, Gwin and her people had nearly given up hope that the Renewer would come? Gwin had lost everything. Her husband was killed in one of the wars. Her children died of Star Sickness. Even her work at the hostel was in jeopardy because the politicians had it out for her. The Cursed Gwin, therefore, had nothing to lose? When she took in the girl, a survivor of the Star Sickness, it was a dreadful crime. Gwin was at the end of her rope, and possibly the end of her life if she was found out? But the Sickness had left the girl with certain magic, certain powers which could prove very useful to them both. Was it possible that this young survivor could save their lives and the empire? Was a new life for Gwin and her world finally at hand?

Daughter of Troy

IN THE DAYS WHEN GODS TALKED WITH MORTALS…
Briseis was the rightful born queen of Lyrnessos, seer and spokesperson of the gods. Achilles was the young prince of Thessaly, greatest of Greek warriors, the finest hero of them all. Their lives were the stuff of dreams and of legend, and for three thousand years the world has wept over the tragic story of their doomed love. Here, in a modern retelling of Homer’s immortal classic The Iliad is a magnificent saga of courage, betrayal, devotion and destiny. When King Agamemnon led the Greek host against the great city of Troy, he began by crushing the Trojan allies, including fair Lyrnessos. From the battlements Briseis saw her husband and her beloved brothers die. Her palace was sacked, her people carried off into slavery, while she herself became the prize of the leader, Prince Achilles. Then passion intervened and the chains of love bound the slave to her master, as Achilles lost his heart to the beautiful Briseis. When Troy fell, Achilles promised, he would take his beloved home and marry her. There she would reign at his side as queen of Thessaly. Alas, the gods decreed otherwise. Jealous King Agamemnon stole her away, and Achilles in his fury swore to fight no more. Briseis, with her dreadful gift of prescience, knew that unless Achilles left, he was destined to die under the walls of Troy. But the brave hero could not bring himself to desert the woman he loved. Defying the will of the gods, the seeress determined to save her love, whatever the cost. From Sarah B. Franklin, an extraordinary new voice in historical fiction, comes an epic of incredible scope and power, bringing the Trojan War to vivid life through the tale of its greatest hero and the remarkable woman he loved.

Ill Met in the Arena

The nobles of Aureity have been breeding their children for psychic powers for generations. Women’s powers are mental, including psychic control and mind reading, making them ideal rulers. Men have superhuman strength and can teleport to any place they have previously visited. Consequently, young noblemen make their fortune by competing in psychic gladiatorial contests to display their powers in the hope of being hired and married by women of high rank.

When Quirt, an older man with obvious skill but little known record, first enters the arena, the combat circuit is abuzz wondering who he might be. But his mystery is almost eclipsed by the young cub who has been entering competitions anonymously and winning them all. Barely in his teens, full of raw power but short on training or patience, Humate is so horrified when he s bested by Quirt that he insists on finding out where he came from.

Unfortunately for Humate, the answer reaches far beyond his birth: back to the terrible wrongs done to Quirt s mother and his new wife by one of Humate s relatives, and back to Quirt s sentencing, a doom which takes away his identity until he can bring the culprit to justice. Humate is in deep denial about this familial scandal generations deep, but Quirt must try to covince him to help, compelled by his doom and by the stirrings of a new love that cannot possibly be realized in his nameless condition.

No one ever said revenge was going to be easy.

Pock’s World

Pock’s World, long settled by humankind, is accused of being infected by humanoid aliens. It has been quarantined and may have to be sterilized. Five people are chosen to go there and examine the evidence: saintly but ruthless Father Andre; Ratty Turnsole, a muckraking reporter ripe for romance; ambitious politician Athena Fimble; manipulative bureaucrat Millie Backet; and shady billionaire Linn Lazuline. Some of them carry grudges all have their own agendas. Pock s World surprises them all. Nothing is what they expect. Quickly entangled in love, politics, religion, and deceit, they discover that the clock is already ticking and the fate of humanity itself is at stake.

Against the Light

The Hierarchy, high priests of the religious order the Light, has installed King Ethan as the monarchical figurehead, ruling both the magical kingdom of Albi and its predominant religion. Scattered throughout the land, worshippers in the old ways of the Earth Mother are persecuted as heretics. And when young missionary student Rollo Woodbridge returns home to Albi, he is immediately arrested for heresy and treason, setting off a chain of events that plunges the land into utter chaos. The Hierarchy has more treacherous motives, however, and when Rollo is rescued from jail, his family’s home is destroyed but Rollo and his siblings are left alive. While Rollo tries diplomacy to end the religious and political conflict, his brother and sister swear vengeance. With the hours to deliverance counting down and their lives hanging in the balance, they must decide whether to stay and fight or leave Albi forever in the suspenseful, action packed Against the Light.

Tesseracts (By:Judith Merril)

Each year Tesseract Books chooses a team of editors from among the best of Canada’s writers, publishers and critics to select innovative and futuristic fiction and poetry from the leaders and emerging voices in Canadian speculative fiction. This is the anthology that started it all! Featuring fiction by lisabeth Vonarburg and Hugo and Nebula award winning authors Spider Robinson, and William Gibson.

Tesseracts 3 (With: Margaret Atwood,William Gibson,Charles de Lint,Phyllis Gotlieb,Michael Skeet,Peter Watts,Judith Merril,,,,,,Élisabeth Vonarburg)

In this third anthology of modern Canadian speculative fiction, we present more alternate realities in time and space by new and established Canadian authors. Travel to a planet where the five senses are no good enough…
Watch a baseball game on Mars…
Fly with Garuda, the king of birds, to see what kind of human folly he can find to amuse the gods…
Visit a laundromat that can take you anywhere in space and time…
Stroll through a holograph of the last forest on earth…
See how time will end, with a jolt or a gradual slide…
Includes authors such as: Margaret Atwood, Charles DeLint, Elizabeth Vonarburg, Phyllis Gotlieb, Dave Duncan, William Gibson and others.

Tesseracts 4 (By:Michael Skeet,Lorna Toolis)

Tesseracts 4 expands futures in specualtive and science fiction as we present our latest anthology of new and established Canadian writers.

Enter worlds where reproductive laws yield a biotechnical marriage of the flesh…
take the stage with a rock ‘n’ roll band, it’s fame, fortune and phantom…
prepare for the gift of flight on eagles’ wings…
experience the angst of a mother as she searches for her abducted dream child on video…
hand raise a mystical beast in the comfort of your own home…
go behind a freakshow cage to meet a philosophical man faced dog…
charge a truly animalistic sexuality to your credit card…

Includes authors such as: Candas Jane Dorsey, Dave Duncan, Ursula Pflug, Tom Henighan Phyllis Gotlieb, Charles DeLint, Elisabeth Vonarburg and others.

Tesseracts 5 (By:Yves Meynard,Robert Runté)

Every year two new editors choose the best new writing from Canada’s new and established SF writers, from all over the country and from both the anglophone and francophone traditions. This 1996 anthology of Canadian speculative writing contains writing by Candas Jane Dorsey, Jan Lars Jensen, Michael Coney, James Alan Gardner, John Park, Natasha Beaulieu and others.

Tesseracts 7 (By:David Annandale,Michael Skeet,,Cory Doctorow,,,Yves Meynard,,,Shirley Meier,Carolyn Clink,,Élisabeth Vonarburg)

Readers will find both familiar and new authors in this seventh volume of speculative fiction and poetry showcasing the very best in Canadian literature including French Canadian authors whose works are translated into English, as well as a special international Spanish translation. Tesseracts7 includes top talents such as: Candas Jane Dorsey, Bob Boyczuk, Cory Doctorow, Jan Lars Jensen, Teresa Plowright, Yves Meynard, Michael Skeet, Mildred Trembley, lisabeth Vonarburg, and Gerry Truscott.

Tesseracts 8 (By:Cory Doctorow,,A.M. Dellamonica,,,Yves Meynard,,,,Sandra Kasturi)

Tesseracts8 brings together twenty of the best pieces of Canadian speculative fiction, selected from both established and new, English and French writers by award winning editors John Clute and Candas Jane Dorsey.

Readers of all types of speculative fiction science fiction, fantasy, magic realism and horror will find their flavor in the eighth anthology in the renowned Tesseracts series.

TesseractsQ (By:Élisabeth Vonarburg,Jane Brierley)

Six years in the making, this massive volume brings together the best speculative writing by Quebec authors over the last twenty years, superbly translated into English to reach new readers.

Includes writing by authors such as: Yves Meynard, Jean Pierre April, Bertrand Bergeron, Jean Dion, Jane Brierley, Elisabeth Vonarburg and others.

Tesseracts Nine: New Canadian Speculative Fiction (By:,Nalo Hopkinson)

Tesseracts Nine also made the LOCUS Recommended reading list for 2006.

It was included in the Locus Poll for best anthology!

Many of the stories have now appeared in Year’s Best Fantasy and Year’s Best Science Fiction anthologies.

While other stories received nominations for the Brandon, Fountain, Sturgeon and Aurora Awards.

‘Apparently being in T9 was a Good Thing.’

Derryl Murphy
Each year Tesseract Books chooses a team of editors from amongst the best of Canada’s writers, publishers and critics to select innovative and futuristic fiction and poetry from the leaders and emerging voices in Canadian speculative fiction.

Tesseracts Nine expands the dimensions of speculative fiction experientially, with startling visions of the future by new and established Canadian authors.

Featuring twenty three stories and poems by: Timothy J. Anderson, Sylvie B rard, Ren Beaulieu, E. L. Chen, Candas Jane Dorsey, Pat Forde, Marg Gilks, Sandra Kasturi, Nancy Kilpatrick, Claude Lalumi re, Anthony MacDonald, Jason Mehmel, Yves Meynard, Derryl Murphy, Rhea Rose, Dan Rubin, Daniel Sernine, Steve Stanton, Jerome Stueart, Sarah Totton, lisabeth Vonarburg, Peter Watts, Allan Weiss, Alette J. Willis and Casey June Wolf.

Edited by Sunburst and World Fantasy Award winning authors Nalo Hopkinson and Geoff Ryman, Tesseracts Nine showcases the very best in Canadian speculative fiction literature including English translations of works by French Canadian authors.

Tesseracts Ten (By:Edo Van Belkom)

20 Stunning Canadian SF short stories and poems to shock, twist and kindle your imagination…
What makes Tesseracts Ten special…
Every story/poem is diverse and distinctive, ranging from futuristic hard core science fiction to alternative history…
Stories hand picked by award winning editors Robert Charles Wilson and Edo van Belkom. Powerful new works by both well known and new Canadian speculative fiction writers. Many of the authors have won awards for previous works. Part of a long lineage of Tesseracts speculative fiction collections. Following Tesseracts Nine, edited by Nalo Hopkinson and Geoff Taylor which won the Aurora award for best works other. What do Parisian buttons, nesting spiders, and men from Venus have in common? They are all part of Tesseracts Ten the sparkling new addition to the 21 year old Tesseracts Collection. Tesseracts Ten joins volumes One through Nine, and Tesseracts Q forming an eleven volume anthology of Canada’s best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Speculative Literature. Following the Tesseracts tradition of having different editors for each collection, Tesseracts Ten was compiled by two of the world’s finest speculative fiction writers.

Tesseracts Eleven (By:,Cory Doctorow)

Twenty four of the best new stories and poems by neophyte and established Canadian science fiction authors are presented in this seminal anthology which has entered its third decade of existence. Edited by award winning authors Cory Doctorow and Holly Phillips, Tesseracts Eleven showcases the very best in Canadian speculative fiction literature including English translations of works by French Canadian authors that has been written in the new millennium.

Tesseracts Twelve: New Novellas of Canadian Fantastic Fiction (By:Michael Skeet)

Tesseracts Twelve is unlike any other volume in this critically acclaimed series showcasing the best in Canadian speculative fiction. For the first time in its distinguished history, Tesseracts focuses on novellas, the form believed by many to be the best expression of fantastic and speculative storytelling.

In Tesseracts Twelve, the series’ most ambitious volume to date, celebrated writer, anthologist, and critic Claude Lalumi re has gathered seven brand new novellas from some of Canada’s finest writers of fantastic fiction.

Follow these daring, imaginative, and entertaining writers into new worlds of wonder, with an outlook that is both Canadian and global.

Cavemen and woolly mammoths invade Yukon! Mythological creatures cause havoc in ancient feudal Japan! Women with power over love and death stalk the streets of Montreal! A modern Scheherazade seeks to understand love in a Toronto suffused with magic and fable! A small town in Alberta is rife with pagan rituals! Superheroes tackle Korean politics, maniacal supervillains, and corporate downsizing! As the world faces environmental collapse, reality TV adventurers battle giant beasts from the ocean depths!

Tesseracts Twelve features all new exciting and imaginative work by:

• E.L. Chen,
• Randy McCharles,
• Derryl Murphy,
• David Nickle,
• Gord Sellar,
• Grace Seybold, and
• Michael Skeet & Jill Snider Lum;
• and introduction by Brett Alexander Savory.

Tesseracts Thirteen (By:Nancy Kilpatrick)

Tesseracts Thirteen invites you to delve into literature’s shadowy side!

This, the newest and most unusual of the popular and award winning Tesseracts anthologies, utilizes the mysterious and bewitching number ‘thirteen’ to explore a new realm of innovative, thought provoking and disturbing fiction. Award winning authors and editors Nancy Kilpatrick and David Morrell have unearthed twenty three stories of horror and dark fantasy that reflect a m lange of Canada’s most exciting known and about to be known writers. These eerie genre tales range from the unsettling to the sinister. Inside you will find stories featuring:

The young, but not always innocent ghosts; multiple births; comic book characters come to life

Romance gone terribly wrong curses; mournful spirits; bringing back the dead

Creepy and twisted realities mummies; windigos; post apocalyptic Canada

The authors in Tesseracts 13 span the country, from east to west coast, applying a particularly Canadian stamp to a classic and revered genre. Contributors include: Kelley Armstrong; Alison Baird; Rebecca Bradley; Mary E. Choo; Suzanne Church; Kevin Co*ckle; Ivan Dorin; Katie Harse; Kevin Kvas; Michael Kelly; Jill Snider Lum; Catherine MacLeod; Matthew Moore; Silvia Moreno Garcia; David Nickle; Jason Ridler; Gord Rollo; Andrea Schlecht; Daniel Sernine; Stephanie Short; Jean Louis Trudel; Edo van Belkom; Bev Vincent

Expert in the field Robert Knowlton provides a fascinating and detailed overview of the history of horror and dark fantasy writing and publishing in Canada.

Tesseracts 14: Strange Canadian Stories (By:)

This unique collection of short stories features the work of some of Canada’s finest speculative fiction writers. Included in this collection are short stories and poems by: Michelle Barker, Tony Burgess, Suzanne Church, David Clink, Michael Colangelo, Margaret Curelas, Susan Forest, L.L. Hannett, Brent Hayward, Patrick Johanneson, Sandra Kasturi, Claude Lalumiere, Michael Lorenson, Catherine MacLeod, Matthew Moore, David Nickle, John Park, Jonathan Saville, Robert J. Sawyer, Daniel Sernine, Leah Silverman, Jerome Stueart and Jon Martin Watts.

Northern Stars

A collection of stories, compiled by a World Fantasy Award winning anthologist and a Canadian scholar, displays the talents of William Gibson, Charles de Lint, Spider Robinson, and many other Canadian fantasy writers, and includes introductory essays and notes.