Search Worlds Without End

Even when finding oneself engaged in interstellar war, good form must be observed. Our story is set thousands of years after the Terran Exodus, where two powerful, planet-dominating families--the elegant House Jakabitus and the less refined Hahn Empire--have reached a critical point in their generations-long war. Master Hennik, the Hahn ruler's only son, has been captured, and the disposition of his internment may represent a last and welcome chance for peace.

Enter Wollard, the impeccably distinguished and impossibly correct Master of Formalities for House Jakabitus. When he suggests that Master Hennik be taken in as a ward of the House, certain complications arise. Wollard believes utterly and devotedly in adhering to rules and good etiquette. But how does one inform the ruler of a planet that you are claiming his son as your own--and still create enough goodwill to deescalate an intergalactic war?

Originally appeared in Ace Double D-237 in 1957.

Global overcrowding, a new immortality serum and an unfriendly alien ambassador are only a few of the problems confronting Roy Walton, government's new Master of Life and Death in Robert Silverberg's early and accomplished novel. Praised by a distinguished critic, Anthony Boucher, for "its complete clarity and narrative drive" the novel retains its power today.

Master of Life and Death

Global overcrowding, a new immortality serum and an unfriendly alien ambassador are only a few of the problems confronting Roy Walton, government's new Master of Life and Death in Robert Silverberg's early and accomplished novel. Praised by a distinguished critic, Anthony Boucher, for "its complete clarity and narrative drive" the novel retains its power today.

The Secret Visitors

When the World Security Organization asked Doctor Lockhart to treat their mysterious prisoner, they hadn't known that the dying old man would reply to their questions in a totally unknown language. They had expected the stranger to reveal something about the world war which seemed imminent. But they had been thinking in terms of foreign spies - not alien beings!

Now suddenly they found themselves confronted with a Gargantuan task. They had to find a way to another world, a means of communicating with creatures they could barely imagine.

They had to stop a war which was originating in the farthest stars - or else surrender the Earth unconditionally to THE SECRET VISITORS.

Conquerors from the Darkness

A thousand years in the future, the earth has been conquered by an alien race and covered by a single sea. Dovirr Stargan, who is disgusted with the servility of his life on the floating city of Vythain, longs to become one of the Sea-Lords, who roam the sea as powerful protectors of the cities. Dovirr gets his wish, but the return of the alien race brings unexpected and critically dangerous crises to his new life as he learns the real, sometimes terrible, significance of power.

Master of Life and Death

Global overcrowding, a new immortality serum and an unfriendly alien ambassador are only a few of the problems confronting Roy Walton, government's new Master of Life and Death in Robert Silverberg's early and accomplished novel. Praised by a distinguished critic, Anthony Boucher, for "its complete clarity and narrative drive" the novel retains its power today.

This omnibus collects the trilogy:

• Bridge of Birds
• The Story of the Stone
• Eight Skilled Gentlemen

When the children of his village were struck with a mysterious illness, Number Ten Ox found master Li Kao. Together they set out to find the Great Root of Power, the only possible cure, and together they discover adventure and legend, and the power of belief....

Set in a mythical, medieval China where folklore and history are indistinguishable, a dead monk, an ancientand now missingmanuscript, and a ghostly murderer entice the venerable Master Li and his faithful companion Number Ten Ox into the Valley of Sorrows for a deadly and uproarious confrontation with the long-dead Laughing Prince.

Once again Master Li and Number Ten Ox, the most incongruous and eccentric pair of sleuths in the realms of fantasy, take on another case. It begins with a vampire ghoul interrupting an execution and leads to a murdered mandarin and the sightings of some very terrible creatures.

Battles for ancient kingdoms are nothing compared to the battles of a classroom!

Awakening from magical stasis after a thousand years, the Dark Lord Leonis suddenly finds himself in the body of a ten-year-old boy! He quickly meets Riselia, a girl confronting the Voids, creatures that have nearly exterminated humanity. Determined to uncover the mysteries of this strange new era, Leonis enrolls in Excalibur Academy, a school that trains students to fight back against these enigmatic monsters. Could the Voids hold some connection to Leonis's past?

A MYSTERIOUS HIJACK ON THE HIGH SEAS!

When a princess visits the Seventh Assault Garden, Leonis believes it's a chance to expand his influence as a Dark Lord. Unfortunately, the celebrations are cut short by a Void attack. Things get only more treacherous when a rebel group seizes control of the princess's ship! Leonis and the rest of his squad plan to retake the vessel, but there appears to be more at work than a simple insurrection. And why does Regina seem to know so much about the princess?

RISELIA'S HOMECOMING.

Six years ago, Riselia lost her home and family during the Void Stampede that destroyed the Third Assault Garden. Only she and Regina were thought to have survived, yet the floating city has mysteriously reappeared--and it's broadcasting a distress signal. Leonis and the girls of the eighteenth platoon are sent to investigate, but they end up stumbling into a situation far more perilous than they expected. Even the power of the greatest Dark Lord may not be enough to save them this time!

AN OLD FRIEND RETURNS

With a holiday called the Holy Light Festival fast approaching, the girls of the eighteenth platoon decide to host a haunted café in their dorm. The event is meant to celebrate the arrival of the Sixth Assault Garden, home to Elfiné's older sister, Clauvia. The mischievous woman is part of a research team that recently made an incredible discovery in the northern tundra--a massive creature sealed in impervious ice. Much to his astonishment, Leonis recognizes the winged beast as an old rival he never managed to beat. When the monster is set loose to wreak havoc, will Leonis manage to take it down in time?

THE GODDESS'S CALL

A recent rash of incidents has seen Holy Swords spiraling out of control and becoming twisted weapons known as Demon Swords. No one is sure as to the cause, but every Holy Swordsman affected claims to have heard the voice of a goddess, a detail that catches Leonis's attention. However, there's no time to investigate, as he and the rest of the eighteenth platoon are sent on a mission with other students to eradicate a Void Hive that crops up in Necrozoa--the site where Riselia found Leonis. So many Voids appearing in such a conspicuous place... could this be connected to the Demon Swords and Leonis's past?

THE PRICE OF VENGEANCE

Nine years ago, Sakuya lost her home and sister to a powerful Void Lord. She's dedicated her life to fighting the Voids ever since. However, when a group of the Sakura Orchid's greatest fighters, the Kenki Gathering, contact her with a plan to use the Seventh Assault Garden as bait for the Void Lord, she's left in a difficult position. While she wants revenge, it can't come at the cost of her new home, but Sakuya can't stop the Kenki Gathering by herself. Fortunately, she knows someone who might be able to help... a Dark Lord!

TO CAMELOT!

An unexpected invitation to the prestigious Holy Sword Blade Dance Festival sends the members of the eighteenth platoon on a trip to the First Assault Garden--Camelot. It's hardly a relaxing trip for the group, though. The First Assault Garden is home to the Phillet Company, and Elfiné is determined to uncover more about its mysterious Demon Sword Project. To that end, she asks for Leonis to help her infiltrate a massive casino. Naturally, matters of espionage are no trouble for the Undead King, but things get more complicated when Veira arrives in a frenzy. Someone has managed to take control of the Dragon Lord as well as another Dark Lord...

The Holy Sword Dance Festival is fast approaching, and while Riselia and the other girls of the eighteenth platoon are training hard, Leonis is still missing. He and two other Dark Lords have been spirited away to some strange dimension ruled by Voids and are forced to search the desolate landscape for a way home. Meanwhile, the sinister forces behind the D Project plot to bring Camelot to ruin. A world apart, Riselia and Leonis desperately wish to see each other again, but will they survive long enough for a reunion?

Leonis and Riselia finally reunite amidst disaster in the imperial city. And although the Voids are being pushed back, they have a new problem: Leonis's minion, Rakshasa Nightmare. Meanwhile, Prince Alexios, hoping to defeat the Voids once and for all, searches for any surviving Dark Lords and unwittingly contacts Leonis! During all this trouble, a mysterious person known as the Queen of the Realm of Shadows plots from the dark...

THE SECRET OF THE VOID WORLD

An attack by the Queen of Shadows has left Leonis and Riselia in the Voids' home dimension. However, rather than join Princess Chatres with the other abductees and return to Camelot, they decide to explore, hoping to find some clue about the origin of humanity's greatest enemies. Their search brings them to an abandoned kingdom Leonis recognizes. But how could that be? This is supposed to be an entirely different world...

The plague is coming. Every tribe of the Forest people can sense it, and they all know that their holistic and herbal medicines will have no effect. The City has medical technologies and pharmaceuticals that can fight the disease. But a Force Field surrounds it, and its inhabitants show no sign of wanting to help. What can the Forest people do?

Set in a post-holocaust USA, the first volume depicts a conflict between rural followers of a diseased mutant form of Christianity and a city in which a science-based world view is encapsulated; in the second, a personal drama and an interesting half-breed protagonist intensify the grain of narrative, but peculiarly diminish the sense, given off by the earlier book, of a large sf occasion.