Search Worlds Without End

Do you want a jewel worn by Cleopatra, an original Shakespeare folio, or the combined genes of Socrates and Marilyn Monroe? Dr. Zeus can make your dreams come true.

The Company, a powerful corporate entity in the twenty-fourth century, has discovered a nearly foolproof recipe for success: immortal employees and time travel. It specializes in retrieving extraordinary treasures out of the past, gathered by cybernetically enhanced workers who pass as ordinary people. Or at least they try to pass....

One rule at Dr. Zeus Incorporated must not be broken: Recorded history cannot be changed. But avoiding the attention of mortals while stealing from them? It's definitely not in the Company manual.

History awaits, although not quite the one you remember.

Table of Contents:

• The Carpet Beds of Sutro Park - (2012) - shortstory by Kage Baker
• The Unfortunate Gytt - (2005) - shortstory by Kage Baker
• The Women of Nell Gwynne's - (2009) - novella by Kage Baker
• Mother Aegypt - (2004) - novella by Kage Baker
• Rude Mechanicals - (2007) - novella by Kage Baker
• Hollywood Ikons - (2013) - shortfiction by Kage Baker and Kathleen Bartholomew

Humanity has nearly destroyed its world through global warming, but now an even greater evil lurks.

The indigenous people of North America are being hunted and harvested for their bone marrow, which carries the key to recovering something the rest of the population has lost: the ability to dream.

In this dark world, Frenchie and his companions struggle to survive as they make their way up north to the old lands.

For now, survival means staying hidden... but what they don't know is that one of them holds the secret to defeating the marrow thieves.

Nobody could get in. Nobody could get out. But somebody did.

The theft of three shipments of priceless pharmaceuticals from the Braun-Ives corporation has left the local police dumbfounded. Enter Broderick Manz, the highly paid and highly resourceful Adjuster from the Insurance Division. With the help of the irresistible Vyra, whose charms are truly out of this world, the irrepressible humaniform Moses, and the irreverent Minder, an artificial intelligence, Manz soon finds himself in the heart of the criminal underworld. And it really is a jungle out there.

Time Thieves

"Mr. Mullion," one of the triplets said, looming up twenty feet away as Pete followed the smooth railing. He stopped, his heart racing, but he felt a break in the rail as he did so. He edged forward a foot or two and felt around with his boot until he discovered a step. In a moment, blood pounding in his temples, he was halfway down toward the lower level, taking two risers at a time, no matter what the danger of a fall. He heard the mechanical man start after him as he set foot on the cement floor.

Against Arcturus

It's the story of an Earth activist who's tagged for a subversion mission on a small planet off in the galaxy a ways. Seems that when Earth got overpopulated, humans set out for other planets to colonize, and now those planets are rival factions. The Arcturans are humans, too, but an offshoot who's presently at war with Earth. The small planet in question is resource-rich and quite desirable to both sides. Arcturus in presently in control, and Earth wants to be.

Romy escapes her hardscrabble upbringing when she becomes courtesan to the Shadow Lord, a revolutionary noble who brings laws and comforts once reserved for the wealthy to all. When her brother, Neri, is caught thieving with the aid of magic, Romy's aristocratic influence is the only thing that can spare his life - and the price is her banishment.

Now back in Beggar's Ring, she has just her wits and her own long-hidden sorcery to help her and Neri survive. But when a plot to overthrow the Shadow Lord and incite civil war is uncovered, only Romy knows how to stop it. To do so, she'll have to rely on newfound allies - a swordmaster, a silversmith, and her own thieving brother. And they'll need the very thing that could condemn them all: magic.

Athena Hera Sinistra never wanted to go to space. Never wanted see the eerie glow of the Powerpods. Never wanted to visit Circum Terra. Never had any interest in finding out the truth about the DarkShips.

You always get what you don't ask for. Which must have been why she woke up in the dark of shipnight, within the greater night of space in her father's space cruiser, knowing that there was a stranger in her room. In a short time, after taking out the stranger – who turned out to be one of her father's bodyguards up to no good, she was hurtling away from the ship in a lifeboat to get help. But what she got instead would be the adventure of a lifetime – if she managed to survive...

Darkship Thieves won the Prometheus Award for Best Novel.

After rescuing her star pilot husband and discovering the dark secret of her own past on Earth, Athena Hera Sinistra returns to space habitat Eden to start life anew. Not happening. No good deed goes unpunished, and Thena and Kit are placed under arrest for the crime of coming back alive. The only escape from a death sentence: return to Earth and bring back the lost method for creating the Powertrees, the energy source of both Eden and Earth whose technological origins have been lost to war. But that mission is secondary to a greater imperative. Above all else, Thena must not get caught. If she does, then suicide is to be the only option.

With the odds heavily stacked against not only success, but survival, Thena comes to understand what her cynical accusers do not: it is not merely one woman's life on the line anymore. For it's on Earth where the adventure truly begins. Thena realizes that what is truly at stake is the fate of Eden and Earth alike, the continuance of the darkship fleet - and freedom for all in the Solar system - and beyond.

Darkship Renegades was nominated for the Prometheus Award for Best Novel.

The Son Also Rises...

On a near future Earth, Good Man does not mean good at all. Instead, the term signifies a member of the ruling class, and what it takes to become a Good Man and to hold onto power is downright evil. Now a conspiracy hundreds of years in the making is about to be brought to light when the imprisoned son of the Good Man of Olympic Seacity escapes from his solitary confinement cell and returns to find his father assassinated.

But when Luce Keeva attempts to take hold of the reins of power, he finds that not all is as it seems, that a plot for his own imminent murder is afoot - and that a worldwide conflagration looms. It is a war of revolution, and a shadowy group known as the Sons of Liberty may prove to be Luce's only ally in a fight to throw off an evil from the past that has enslaved humanity for generations.

A Few Good Men was nominated for the Prometheus Award for Best Novel.

A new chapter in Hoyt's celebrated Darkship series dawns with revolution on Earth as the Good Men fall.

DOWN WITH THE TYRANNY OF THE GOOD MEN!

A spaceship mechanic has no place in a fairytale. But now Zen Sienna finds herself in a beautiful palace being courted by the ruler of vast lands. Yet soon Zen is caught up in a revolution that comes a bit too close to imitating the original French revolution--complete with beheadings. Swept up in a turmoil of fire and blood, she must find her footing. Torn by divided loyalties, unexpectedly in charge of protecting the innocent while trying to stop the guilty, Zen discovers both her inner strength and discovers who will remain true friends and comrades, and who will be revealed as enemies in disguise waiting to strike!

Through the fire of revolution and war, Zen must earn her citizenship on Earth and find her place in a world that's totally changed.

After winning the civil war in Eden, Athena returns to her calling, collecting powerpods with her husband Kit. Now weeks away from Earth, she goes into labor. To make matters worse, a strange ship attacks Athena and Kit's Cathouse and kidnaps Athena's husband. That ship is called Je Reviens. It's a named steeped in history--and not the good kind of history.

Hot on Kit's trail, Athena discovers that you shouldn't name a ship Je Reviens unless you intend it to return. The genetically modified Mules are back, and they have a plan to prevent themselves from being exiled ever again. And if the Mules win, the best thing humanity can hope for is slavery.

The worst is death.

While a bio-engineered plague wreaks havoc on the forces of liberty, Athena must risk herself, her husband, and her child for the survival of humanity.

The Mules may be about to find out what revenge truly is: one angry mother.

A race against time.

Weeks after Boss' injury from the runabout dive, she continues the mission to salvage Fleet wrecks for the Lost Souls Corporation But Boss feels like she lost something after that fateful dive. Until something happens in the Boneyard to catch her attention. Something that sparks her interest with an intensity she thought she had lost.

Now, Boss must assemble a team - her old team - to dive this new discovery. But Boss worries that someone knows her plans. That the Boneyard might prove more sentient than she knows. She feels the clock ticking - and she worries time will run out once and for all.

Palanthas, Jewel of Ansalon, City of Seven Circles, heart of the old Solamnic empire. For three thousand years she has shone as a beacon to the world. Even now, ruled by the Knights of Neraka, she glitters in the night.

Yet at the core of the gleaming city lies a dark center: the Thieves' Guild. Though the Dark Knights ruthlessly crushed the guild beneath an iron heel, a stronger, darker guild has arisen. Now it's intent on recovering its lost treasures and power.

And nothing will stand in its way.

Elidor, the beloved elf thief, returns in this new trilogy to fight an undead king and the demons of his own past.

Crown of Thieves continues a new series of Dragonlance fantasy adventures written specifically for readers ages 10 and up. The series features a group of young companions who band together for friendship, adventure, and excitement during the golden age of the Dragonlance world.

Petty criminal Zara Cole has a painful past that's made her stronger than most, which is why she chose life in New Detroit instead moving with her family to Mars. In her eyes, living inside a dome isn't much better than a prison cell.

Still, when Zara commits a crime that has her running scared, jail might be exactly where she's headed. Instead Zara is recruited into the Honors, an elite team of humans selected by the Leviathan--a race of sentient alien ships--to explore the outer reaches of the universe as their passengers.

Zara seizes the chance to flee Earth's dangers, but when she meets Nadim, the alien ship she's assigned, Zara starts to feel at home for the first time. But nothing could have prepared her for the dark, ominous truths that lurk behind the alluring glitter of starlight.

Eighteen-year-old Jemmie Carmichael is surrounded by magic in the quiet town of Hawthorne, New York. In her world, magic users are called "kindled," and Jemmie would count herself among them if only she could cast a simple spell without completely falling apart. To make matters worse, she was recently snubbed by Crowe--the dangerous and enigmatic leader of Hawthorne's kindled motorcycle gang, the Devils' League.

When the entire kindled community rolls into Hawthorne for an annual festival, a rumor spreads that someone is practicing forbidden magic. Then people start to go missing. With threats closing in from every side, no one can be trusted. Jemmie and Crowe will have to put aside their tumultuous history to find their loved ones, and the only thing that might save them is the very flaw that keeps Jemmie from fully harnessing her abilities. For all her years of feeling useless, Jemmie may just be the most powerful kindled of all.

Sexy and suspenseful, Devils and Thieves delivers on the bewitching combination of magic and motorcycle gangs.

Once upon a time, there was a horrible girl...

Vanja Schmidt knows that no gift is freely given, not even a mother's love?and she's on the hook for one hell of a debt. Vanja, the adopted goddaughter of Death and Fortune, was Princess Gisele's dutiful servant up until a year ago. That was when Vanja's otherworldly mothers demanded a terrible price for their care, and Vanja decided to steal her future back... by stealing Gisele's life for herself.

The real Gisele is left a penniless nobody while Vanja uses an enchanted string of pearls to take her place. Now, Vanja leads a lonely but lucrative double life as princess and jewel thief, charming nobility while emptying their coffers to fund her great escape. Then, one heist away from freedom, Vanja crosses the wrong god and is cursed to an untimely end: turning into jewels, stone by stone, for her greed.

Vanja has just two weeks to figure out how to break her curse and make her getaway. And with a feral guardian half-god, Gisele's sinister fiancé, and an overeager junior detective on Vanja's tail, she'll have to pull the biggest grift yet to save her own life.

After taking down a corrupt margrave, breaking a deadly curse, and finding romance with the vexingly scrupulous junior prefect Emeric Conrad, Vanja had one great mystery left: her long-lost birth family... and whether they would welcome a thief. But in her search for an honest trade, she hit trouble and invented a god, the Scarlet Maiden, to scam her way out. Now that lie is growing out of control - especially when Emeric arrives to investigate and the Scarlet Maiden manifests to claim him as a virgin sacrifice.

For his final test to become a prefect, Emeric must determine whether Vanja is guilty of serious fraud or if the Scarlet Maiden - and her claim to him - is genuine. Meanwhile, Vanja is chasing an alternative sacrifice that could be their way out. The hunt leads her not only into the lairs of monsters and the paths of gods, but the ties of her past.

And with what should be the simplest way to save Emeric hanging over their heads, he and Vanja must face a more dangerous question: Is there a future for a thief and a prefect, and at what price?

It's been nearly two years since Vanja brought down the cult she started, and she's still paying the price. As the Pfennigeist, she bucks the law in order to help the desperate and haunt the corrupt all across the empire - and no matter what, she works alone.

But an impossible killer is tearing through royalty, and leaving Vanja's signature red penny on every victim. Suddenly the Pfennigeist is no longer a folk hero but a nightmare. When even the Blessed Empress falls, the empire's seven royal families must gather to elect her successor within a matter of weeks, or risk the collapse of reality itself... even though it puts every house in the killer's sights.

Vanja tells herself she's wading into the royalty's vicious games only to save the name she made, and the loved ones also in jeopardy. But the Order of Prefects has also put their sharpest official on the case, the one who swore he'd always find Vanja?until she broke his heart. Journeyman Prefect Emeric Conrad may no longer be the boy Vanja knew, but they'll have to work together one last time to have any chance of surviving the deadly catastrophe coming for them all.

With bloody conspiracy, sinister magic, and old adversaries closing in, it will take everything Vanja has to save not just the people she loves, but the future she's fought for. In this thrilling final chapter of the Indie Next series Little Thieves, New York Times-bestselling author Margaret Owen shows us the pain and beauty of choosing which demons to face, and which to forgive.

Through no fault of her own, Alix has found herself essential to the fate of the world as we know it. She didn't mean for this to happen--she was quite happy being merely the notorious antiquities thief, and ex-archeologist, known as Owl.

However, years ago, Owl reluctantly entered the secret world of the supernatural. Her goals: complete one job, escape one bounty on her head, continue her thieving in peace.

Fast forward to today. Now, she has become a key player in a brutal paranormal civil war that is rapidly getting out of hand. The leader of one of these factions--a lethal opponent called the Electric Samurai--grows more powerful by the second. To stop him, Owl sets out to find the long-lost, legendary group known as the Tiger Thieves.

But will it be too little too late? One thing Owl misses about "normal" archaeology: there are few emergencies with thousand-year-old relics.

Kamet, a secretary and slave to his Mede master, has the ambition and the means to become one of the most powerful people in the Empire. But with a whispered warning the future he envisioned is wrenched away, and he is forced onto a very different path. Set in the world of the Queen's Thief, this epic adventure sees an ordinary hero take on an extraordinary mission.

A masterful, witty, picaresque science fiction adventure story evoking the styles of Gene Wolfe and Jack Vance, The Summer Thieves is the first novel in the new Quinary series by noted author and reviewer Paul Di Filippo.

He chased his dreams of the ideal summer across a galaxy of thieves...

Far in the glorious interstellar future, a time of riches and complex technologies, the stern but utilitarian Quinary guards and regulates the flourishing human-colonized galaxy. Under their business-like rule, a family may own a whole planet. And so two bloodlines--the Corvivios clan and the Soldavere clan--are in full possession of the lush and benign world of Verano. The youngest members of each family--Johrun Corvivios and Minka Soldavere--are slated to wed. All looks rosy for the joint family enterprises.

But then the happy future is dramatically and tragically overturned! Circumstances separate the lovers and rob them of their places in the galaxy, and Johrun must undertake a desperate quest across the stars to reclaim his birthright. At first aided only by his devoted chimeric helper, the canny Lutramella, Johrun will face a thousand deadly challenges, from malign magicians to haughty outlaws.

As his character is matured in fire, his dedication to Verano and his determination to return increase, and his group of friends and allies becomes stronger... but will the precious Summer Planet, and his bride-to-be, even be the same when--and if--he returns?

The second installment in the all-new series from the masterful, #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater!

Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after....

When the Empire threatens the galaxy's new hope, will Han, Luke, and Leia become its last chance?

When the mission is to extract a high-level rebel spy from the very heart of the Empire, Leia Organa knows the best man for the job is Han Solo-something the princess and the smuggler can finally agree on. After all, for a guy who broke into an Imperial cell block and helped destroy the Death Star, the assignment sounds simple enough.

But when Han locates the brash rebel agent, Scarlet Hark, she's determined to stay behind enemy lines. A pirate plans to sell a cache of stolen secrets that the Empire would destroy entire worlds to protect-including the planet where Leia is currently meeting with rebel sympathizers. Scarlet wants to track down the thief and steal the bounty herself, and Han has no choice but to go along if he's to keep everyone involved from getting themselves killed. From teeming city streets to a lethal jungle to a trap-filled alien temple, Han, Chewbacca, Leia, and their daring new comrade confront one ambush, double cross, and firestorm after another as they try to keep crucial intel out of Imperial hands.

But even with the crack support of Luke Skywalker's x-wing squadron, the Alliance heroes may be hopelessly outgunned in their final battle for the highest of stakes: the power to liberate the galaxy from tyranny or ensure the Empire's reign of darkness forever.

In just over a year's time, Ryia Cautella has already earned herself a reputation as the quickest, deadliest blade in the dockside city of Carrowwick--not to mention the sharpest tongue. But Ryia Cautella is not her real name.

For the past six years, a deadly secret has kept her in hiding, running from town to town, doing whatever it takes to stay one step ahead of the formidable Guildmaster--the sovereign ruler of the five kingdoms of Thamorr. No matter how far or fast she travels, his servants never fail to track her down...but even the most powerful men can be defeated.

Ryia's path now leads directly into the heart of the Guildmaster's stronghold, and against every instinct she has, it's not a path she can walk alone. Forced to team up with a crew of assorted miscreants, smugglers, and thieves, Ryia must plan her next moves very carefully. If she succeeds, her freedom is won once and for all... but unfortunately for Ryia, her new allies are nearly as selfish as she is, and they all have plans of their own.

Ryia Cautella, a.k.a. the Butcher of Carrowwick, and her motley crew have succeeded in the ultimate heist... with the most dire possible consequences. A terrifyingly powerful tool has fallen into the hands of Callum Clem, the criminal leader of the Saints, who was already one of the most dangerous men alive. With the newfound ability to force magic-wielding Adepts to his will, he is unstoppable.

With their group scattered throughout the five kingdoms of Thamorr--and not all on the same side of the fight--things seem hopeless. But can Ryia get the gang back together for one last job? Or will chess-worthy power plays and shifting loyalties change Thamorr as they know it?

After their adventures on the high seas, Locke and Jean are brought back to earth with a thump. Jean is mourning the loss of his lover and Locke must live with the fallout of crossing the all-powerful magical assassins the Bonds Magi. It is a fall-out that will pit both men against Locke's own long lost love. Sabetha is Locke's childhood sweetheart, the love of Locke's life and now it is time for them to meet again. Employed on different sides of a vicious dispute between factions of the Bonds Sabetha has just one goal - to destroy Locke for ever.

The Gentleman Bastard sequence has become a literary sensation in fantasy circles and now, with the third book, Scott Lynch is set to seal that success.

Drothe has been a member of the Kin for years, rubbing elbows with thieves and murderers in the employ of a crime lord while smuggling relics on the side. But when an ancient book falls into his hands, Drothe finds himself in possession of a relic capable of bringing down emperors-a relic everyone in the underworld would kill to obtain.

In a land tinged with magic and a bustling trade in an illicit supernatural substance, destiny will intertwine the fates of five players:

A visionary princess determined to forge her own path.

An idealistic solider whose heart is at odds with his duty.

A streetwise hunter tracking the most dangerous prey.

A charming thief with a powerful hidden identity.

A loyal servant on a quest to avenge his kingdom.

Their lives intersect with a stolen bottle of demon smoke. As war approaches, they must navigate a tangled web of political intrigue, shifting alliances, and forbidden love in order to uncover the dangerous truth about the strangely powerful smoke that interwines their fates.

A princess. A soldier. A servant. A demon hunter. A thief. When we last saw them, this unlikely group was heading into the Northern Territory of the kingdom of Pitoria, on the run from the sadistic and power-hungry King Aloysius of Brigant. The Smoke Thieves have discovered that demon smoke is not only an illegal drug used for pleasure, but in fact, when taken by children, demon smoke briefly gives its users super-human strength. Aloysius' plan is simple and brutal: kill the demons for their smoke, and use that smoke to build an unstoppable army of children to take over Pitoria, Calidor, and then the rest of the world.

The Smoke Thieves are the only ones who understand this plan--but can they stop it? Catherine, Aloysius' daughter, is seen as a traitor from all sides; Tash is heartbroken after the loss of her one friend and sees nothing left for her in the human world; Edyon is wanted for murder; March is carrying the secret of his betrayal of his new love; Ambrose is out for revenge--and all the while, the demons have plans of their own...

In this conclusion to the epic Smoke Thieves trilogy, the world has erupted into all-out war. King Aloysius is mining powerful demon smoke and using it to fuel an unstoppable army of children. March, now banished for treason, has joined up with this boy army. Forbidden from ever seeing Edyon again, and overwhelmed by his own betrayal, March no longer cares if he lives or dies.

Catherine--now queen of Pitoria--must find a way to defeat the boy army, while also grappling with her own troubles: her secret demon smoke addiction, and unresolved tension with her former lover, Ambrose. Catherine seeks military support from Calidor by reaching out to her illegitimate cousin Edyon, who has been proclaimed heir to the Calidorian throne. But Edyon has almost no power as he's entangled in the unfamiliar machinations and manipulations of the royal court, finding that being the claimed son of a prince may be no easier than being a bastard.

With Catherine, his love, now married off and moving on, and his brother and sister tortured and executed before him, Ambrose doesn't know what his role in this world is any more. He leads an expedition into the demon world, hoping to destroy the boy army's stores of demon smoke. In this underground world, he runs into Tash, whom everyone had believed dead. She has survived in this new world using magical abilities that, prior to now, only demons had.

Aloysius will send his demon smoke-powered boy army to kill them all, if he can. But what nobody knows is that there is more to the smoke than meets the eye...

Ethan Kaille isn't the likeliest hero. A former sailor with a troubled past, Ethan is a thieftaker, using conjuring skills to hunt down those who steal from the good citizens of Boston. And while chasing down miscreants in 1768 makes his life a perilous one, the simmering political tensions between loyalists like himself and rabble-rousing revolutionaries like Samuel Adams and others of his ilk are perhaps even more dangerous to his health.

When one hundred sailors of King George III's Royal Navy are mysteriously killed on a ship in Boston Harbor, Ethan is thrust into dire peril. For he--and not Boston's premier thieftaker, Sephira Pryce--is asked to find the truth behind their deaths. City Sheriff Edmund Greenleaf suspects conjuring was used in the dastardly crime, and even Pryce knows that Ethan is better equipped to contend with matters of what most of Boston considers dark arts. But even Ethan is daunted by magic powerful enough to fell so many in a single stroke. When he starts to investigate, he realizes that the mass murderer will stop at nothing to evade capture. And making his task more difficult is the British fleet's occupation of the city after the colonials' violent protests after the seizure of John Hancock's ship. Kaille will need all his own magic, street smarts, and a bit of luck to keep this Boston massacre from giving the hotheads of Colonial Boston an excuse for inciting a riot--or worse.

Thieves' Quarry is a stunning second novel in D. B. Jackson's Thieftaker Chronicles.

In this high-stakes heist novel, an alchemologist and a con man team up to steal a rare necklace--but complicated feelings of attraction and deception threaten to destroy everything and everyone they love...

Within the dazzling halls of London's Crystal Palace, the event of the season has arrived: The Great Exhibition. An opportunity for the greatest minds of the century to come together under one roof in an unprecedented display of art and invention. And for two unlikely partners in crime, it's about to become the score of a lifetime.

Charming con man Kane Durante works alone--or on occasion with his best friend, Fletcher. But when his boss, the infamous Kingpin of London's magical dark market, gives him the impossible task of stealing a priceless artifact from the Great Exhibition, he knows it's a job he can't pull off alone. Enter Zaria Mendoza, daughter of one of London's greatest alchemologists. Ever since her father's death, Zaria's been struggling to keep her underground business afloat, and impatient clients are becoming violent. When the infuriatingly handsome Kane offers her the promise of enough money to get out of debt and leave London entirely, she knows she can't walk away from this dangerous partnership.

But robbing one of the most public, heavily-guarded buildings in London isn't going to be easy, especially when love and betrayal threaten to ruin everything they've worked so hard for.

A book that some would kill for...

Black market courier Rowena Downshire is doing everything she can to stay off the streets and earn enough to pay her mother's way to freedom. But an urgent and unexpected delivery leads her face to face with a creature out of nightmares.

The Alchemist knows things few men have lived to tell about, but when a frightened and empty-handed courier shows up on his doorstep he knows better than to turn her away. What he discovers leads him to ask for help from the last man he wants to see--the former mercenary, Anselm Meteron.

Reverend Phillip Chalmers awakes in a cell, bloodied and bruised, facing a creature twice his size. Translating a stolen book that writes itself may be his only hope for survival; however, he soon learns the text may have been written by the Creator himself, tracking the nine human subjects of his Grand Experiment. In the wrong hands, it could mean the end of humanity.

This unlikely team must try to keep the book from those who would misuse it. But how can they be sure who the enemy is when they can barely trust each other? And what will happen to them when it reveals a secret no human was meant to know?

An apothecary clerk and her ex-mercenary allies travel across the world to discover a computing engine that leads to secrets she wasn't meant to know--secrets that could destroy humanity.

Eight months ago, Rowena Downshire was a half-starved black market courier darting through the shadows of Corma's underside. Today, she's a (mostly) respectable clerk in the Alchemist's infamous apothecary shop, the Stone Scales, and certainly the last girl one would think qualified to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders a second time. Looks can be deceiving.

When Anselm Meteron and the Alchemist receive an invitation to an old acquaintance's ball--the Greatduke who financed their final, disastrous mercenary mission fourteen years earlier--they're expecting blackmail, graft, or veiled threats related to the plot to steal the secrets of the Creator's Grand Experiment. They aren't expecting a job offer they can't refuse or a trip halfway across the world to rendezvous with the scholar whose research threw their lives into tumult: the Reverend Doctor Phillip Chalmers.

Escorting Chalmers to the Grand Library of Nippon with her mismatched mercenary family is just a grand adventure to Rowena until she discovers a powerful algebraic engine called the Aggregator. The Aggregator leads Rowena to questions about the Grand Experiment she was never meant to ask and answers she cannot be allowed to possess. With her reunited friends, Rowena must find a way to use the truths hidden in the Grand Library to disarm those who would hunt down the nine subjects of the Creator's Grand Experiment, threatening to close the book on this world.

What's a father to do with a son like Jamie? Good-hearted, hot-blooded, quick to make both friends and enemies, he is too much of a firebrand to stay at home. The King's heart almost broke when he banished his favorite son, but Jamie the Red's adventures were only beginning!

The dagger's blade was double-edged with magic...and danger. And Samlor hil Samt was its new owner. Caravan master, warrior extraordinaire, Samlor had come to the foul city of Sanctuary to protect his niece's claim in a secret inheritance. Yet something dark and savage lurked in the shadowed streets--something evil--born of the mystical blade Samlor dared to wield...

Now, in the fourth full-length novel inspired by Thieves World, Andrew J. Offutt--author of the "Cormac Mac Art" series and the "Spaceways" series--takes his beloved character, Shadowspawn, beyond the walls of Sanctuary, into new realms of sorcery and high adventure.

Edited by Robert Lynn Asprin. Cover art by Gary Ruddell. Cover: Hakiem in the bazaar, "Kittycat," and a Hell Hound.

They all play the part of hero, they are all-powerful on a stage that is ruled by the one that you talk to -- or the one you believe...

Thieves' World is what resulted when the world's top science-fiction and fantasy writers got together to create the amazing new world of Sanctuary, where you mix and mingle with Lythal the Star-browed: his magic is questionable, his sword-play is not. Jubal: ex-gladiator and slave, now a respected citizen (he made his money selling slaves). One Thumb: the crooked bartender at the Vulgar Unicorn... and even more fantastic characters!

Lynn Abbey, Poul Anderson, Robert Asprin, John Brunner, Joe Haldeman and Andrew J Offutt have dreamed up a world of wonders -- a fabulous reading adventure!

Contents:

• Introduction by Robert Asprin
• Sentences of Death by John Brunner
• The Face of Chaos by Lynn Abbey
• The Gate of Flying Knives by Poul Anderson
• Shadowspawn by Andrew Offutt
• The Price of Doing Business by Robert Asprin
• Blood Brothers by Joe Haldeman
• Myrtis by Christine DeWees
• The Secret of the Blue Star by Marion Zimmer Bradley
• The Making of Thieves' World by Robert Asprin

Edited by Robert Lynn Asprin. Cover art by Gary Ruddell. Cover: Tempus battles a hawk-mask.

The world's top fantasy writers spin stories and loop the loop with each other's characters in Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn, the second collection in this unique anthology series set in the amazing city of Sanctuary, where you can enjoy the quiet elegance of Ambrosia House; sample bizarre pleasures at the House of Whips; sip ale in the Vulgar Unicorn, and listen to some of the most strange, dangerous, magical and deadly tales ever told...

Philip José Farmer, A.E. Van Vogt, Robert Asprin, Lynn Abbey, Janet Morris, David Drake and Andrew J. Offutt have dreamed up a world of wonders -- a fabulous reading adventure!

Contents:

• Introduction by Robert Asprin
• Spiders of the Purple Mage by Philip José Farmer
• Goddess by David Drake
• The Fruir of Enlibar by Lynn Abbey
• The Dream of the Sorceress by A.E. van Vogt
• Vashanka's Minion by Janet Morris
• Shadow's Pawn by Andrew J. Offutt
• To Guard the Guardians by Robert Asprin
• Essay: The Lighter Side of Sanctuary by Robert Asprin

Edited by Robert Lynn Asprin. Cover art by Gary Ruddell. Cover: Jubal defends himself against Tempus.

Shadows of Sanctuary
The Thieves' World Adventure continues.
Edited by Robert Asprin

NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED STORIES FROM THE TOP NAMES IN FANTASY

In the beginning there was Thieves' World, a book so popular that it earned a panel all its own at the World Science Fiction Convention. Then came Tales form the Vulgar Unicorn...

And now "Shadows of Sanctuary", Sanctuary, the meanest, seediest town in all of fantasy, has captured the imaginations of some of the most popular writers in all of fantasy -- ROBERT ASPRIN, LYNN ABBEY, ANDREW J. OFFUTT, VONDA N. MCINTYRE, JANET MORRIS, C. J. CHERRYH.

Join them, and the characters you came to love in previous books, in this third volume of the most unique series in science fiction.

Contents:

• Introduction by Robert Asprin
• Looking for Satan by Vonda N. McIntyre
• Ischade by C.J. Cherryh
• A Gift in Parting by Robert Asprin
• The Vivisectionist by Andrew J. Offutt
• The Rhinoceros and the Unicorn by Diana L. Paxson
• Then Azyuna Danced by Lynn Abbey
• A Man and His God by Janet Morris
• Essay: Thing the Editor Never Told Me by Lynn Abbey

Edited by Robert Lynn Asprin. Cover art by Gary Ruddell. Cover: Hanse Shadowspawn at Eaglenest.

Thieves' World... The plot thickens

Thieves' World... took the fantasy world by surprise.

Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn... continued the tradition, and was a Locus best-seller for three months.

Shadows of Sanctuary... focussed on the meanest, seediest town in all of fantasy, and was even more popular than the first two volumes!

And now, Storm Season. In which the clouds of war gather on the horizon, and the motley assortment of thieves and swordsmen and small-time sorcerers who make up the town of Sanctuary must decide once and for all which side they are on.

Contents:

• Introduction by Robert Lynn Asprin
• Exercise in Pain by Robert Lynn Asprin
• Downwind by C.J. Cherryh
• A Fugitive Art by Diana L. Paxson
• Steel by Lynn Abbey
• Wizard Weather by Janet Morris
• Godson by Andrew J. Offutt
• Epilog by Robert Lynn Asprin

Edited by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey. Cover art by Gary Ruddell. Cover: A Beysib execution.

Welcome to Sanctuary, a city of outlaws and advernturers in a world of war and wizardry, peopled with colorful characters created by today's top fantasy adventure talents, including:

• David Drake
• C.J. Cherryh
• Janet Morris
• Diana L. Paxson
• Lynn Abbey
• Robert Lynn Asprin

In this fierce and fascinating fifth volume, Thieves' World is invaded by the not-quite-human Beysib, golden-skinned conquerors whose taste for evil is equaled only by their thirst for blood.

Contents:

• Dramatis Personae by Lynn Abbey
• Introduction by Robert Lynn Asprin
• High Moon by Janet Morris
• Necromant by C.J. Cherryh
• The Art of Alliance by Robert Lynn Asprin
• The Corners of Memory by Lynn Abbey
• Votary by David Drake
• Mirror Image by Diana L. Paxson

Edited by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey. Cover art by Gary Ruddell. Cover: Roxane with her snake servant.

Welcome to Sanctuary, a city of outlaws and advernturers in a world of war and wizardry, peopled with colorful characters created by today's top fantasy adventure talents, including:

• Robert W. Bailey
• C. J. Cherryh
• Diane Duane
• Chris & Janet Morris
• Andrew Offutt
• Diana L. Paxson
• Lynn Abbey
• Robert Lynn Asprin

In this strange and provocative sixth volume, the Wizardwall War brings undreamed-of horrors as the invaders invoke their powers to raise the very dead...

Contents:

• Introduction by Robert Lynn Asprin
• What Women Do Best by Chris and Janet Morris
• Daughter of the Sun by Robin W. Bailey
• A Breath of Power by Diana L. Paxson
• The Hand That Feeds You by Diane Duane
• Witching Hour by C.J. Cherryh
• Rebel's Aren't Born in Palaces by Andrew J. Offutt
• Gyskouras by Lynn Abbey
• A Special Note from the Editors by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey

Edited by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey. Cover art by Gary Ruddell. Cover: Armies of the dead enticed across the White Foal River by a trail of blood.

Welcome to Sanctuary, a city of outlaws and advernturers in a world of war and wizardry, peopled with colorful characters created by today's top fantasy adventure talents, including:

• Robert W. Bailey
• C. J. Cherryh
• Diane Duane
• Janet Morris
• Andrew Offutt
• Diana L. Paxson
• Lynn Abbey
• Robert Lynn Asprin

In this awesome seventh volume, a fearful cold grips Sanctuary, and the risen dead begin to outnumber the living, a new alliance that may save the war-torn Borderlands is born...

Contents:

• Dramatis Personae by Lynn Abbey
• Introduction by Robert Lynn Asprin
• Hell to Pay by Janet Morris
• The Veiled Lady, or A Look at the Normal Folk by Andrew Offutt
• The God-Chosen by Lynn Abbey
• Keeping Promises by Robin W. Bailey
• Armies of the Night by C.J. Cherryh
• Down by the Riverside by Diane Duane
• When the Spirit Moves You by Robert Lynn Asprin
• The Color of Magic by Diana L. Paxson
• Afterword by Andrew Offutt

Edited by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey. Cover art by Gary Ruddell. Cover: The witch Ischade bursts from her window and flies on the wind across Sanctuary.

Welcome to Sanctuary, a city of outlaws and advernturers in a world of war and wizardry, peopled with colorful characters created by today's top fantasy adventure talents, including:

• Lynn Abbey
• C.J. Cherryh
• Janet Morris

In this dramatic eighth volume, Tempus returns to Sanctuary, a city ravaged by war and upheaval, seething with crime and chaos -- a dark bedlam of magic forces thrown out of balance, and disasters, both natural and unnatural...

Contents:

• Dramatis Personae by Lynn Abbey
• Power Play by Janet Morris
• Dagger in the Mind by C.J. Cherryh
• Children of All Ages by Lynn Abbey
• Death in the Meadow by C.J. Cherryh
• The Small Powers that Endure by Lynn Abbey
• Pillar of Fire by Janet Morris

Edited by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey. Cover art by Gary Ruddell. Cover: Jubal accuses Chenaya of treachery.

Welcome to Sanctuary, a city of outlaws and advernturers in a world of war and wizardry, peopled with colorful characters created by today's top fantasy adventure talents, including:

• Robin W. Bailey
• C.J. Cherryh
• Diane Duane
• Chris & Janet Morris
• Andrew & Jodie Offutt
• Diana L. Paxson
• Lynn Abbey
• Robert Lynn Asprin

In this gripping ninth volume, the ravaged city of Sanctuary faces the awesome task of reconstruction. Deserted by gods and bereft of magic, the shattered city and its citizens struggle fiercely for survival...

Contents:

• Dramatis Personae by Lynn Abbey
• Introduction by Robert Lynn Asprin
• Lady of Fire by Diana L. Paxson
• Sanctuary is for Lovers by Janet and Chris Morris
• Lovers Who Slay Together by Robin Wayne Bailey
• In the Still of the Night by C.J. Cherryh
• No Glad in Gladiator by Robert Lynn Asprin
• The Tie That Binds by Diane Duane
• Sanctuary Nocturne by Lynn Abbey
• Spellmaster by Andrew and Jodie Offutt
• Afterword by C.J. Cherryh

Edited by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey. Cover art by Gary Ruddell. Cover: The door to Enas Yorl's house is guarded by the dreadmagic of basilisks.

Welcome to Sanctuary, a city of outlaws and adventurers in a world of war and wizardry, peopled with colorful characters created by today's top fantasy adventure talents, including:

• Lynn Abbey
• Robert Lynn Asprin
• John Brunner
• David Drake
• Janet Morris
• Andrew Offutt
• Mark C. Perry

In this explosive tenth volume, Tempus and the Stepsons abandon the war-torn city of Sanctuary -- as vicious rivalries emerge from the rubble. The fate of the city hangs in the balance. The struggle for power begins...

Contents:

• Dramatis Personae by Lynn Abbey
• Introduction by Robert Lynn Asprin
• Cade by Mark C. Perry
• Wake of the Riddler by Janet Morris
• Inheritor by David Drake
• Mercy Worse Than None by John Brunner
• Seeing is Believing (But Love is Blind) by Lynn Abbey
• Homecoming by Andrew Offutt

Edited by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey. Cover art by Gary Ruddell. Cover: Lalo creates a sign of power.

Welcome to Sanctuary, a city of outlaws and advernturers in a world of war and wizardry, peopled with colorful characters created by today's top fantasy adventure talents, including:

• Robert Lynn Asprin
• Robin W. Bailey
• C.J. Cherryh
• John DeCles
• Chris Morris
• Diana L. Paxson

In this brilliant eleventh volume, the citizens of Sanctuary face the awesome task of puttine their lives back together after the war. As some try to salvage order from the chaos, others see their opportunity to settle old debts at the point of a sword.

Contents:

• Dramatis Personae by Lynn Abbey
• Introduction by Lynn Abbey
• Slave Trade by Robert Lynn Asprin
• The Best of Friends by C.J. Cherryh
• The Power of Kings by Jon DeCles
• Red Light, Love Light by Chris Morris
• A Sticky Business by C.S. Williams
• The Promise of Heaven by Robin Wayne Bailey
• The Vision of Lalo by Diana L. Paxson

Edited by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey. Cover art by Gary Ruddell. Cover: Ischade bids a soldier farewell.

Welcome to Sanctuary, a city of outlaws and advernturers in a world of war and wizardry, peopled with colorful characters created by today's top fantasy adventure talents, including:

• Lynn Abbey
• Robert Lynn Asprin
• C.J. Cherryh
• Andrew J. Offutt

In this dramatic final adventure, clouds of war gather over Sanctuary once again. And as warriors prepare for battle, thieves eagerly await a great dust storm to envelop the city. For then they can silently strike, slipping in and out of the raging currents of the storm...

Contents:

• Dramatis Personae by Lynn Abbey
• Introduction by Robert Lynn Asprin
• Night Work by Andrew Offutt
• The Incompetent Audience by John DeCles
• Our Vintage Years by Duane McGowen
• Quicksilver Dreams by Diana L. Paxson
• Winds of Fortune by C.J. Cherryh
• The Fire in a God's Eye by Robin Wayne Bailey
• Web Weavers by Lynn Abbey
• To Begin Again by Robert Lynn Asprin

Empires rise and fall, but Sanctuary lives on!

Sanctuary, a lawless city governed by evil forces, powerful magic, and political intrigue.

The Age of the Rankin reign of Kadakithis, the occupation of the Beysib, and indeed the erstwhile Renaissance are all in the past. It is years later and the legendary figures of Jubal, Tempus, Shadowspawn, and the Stormchildren are now just memories, myth, and rumor.

But the city and its people live on. A new pantheon of personalities have moved in and are making their mark on this dark and dangerous city.

Meet these denizens of the city where just surviving is a full-time occupation.

Meet Halott the Necromancer, Latilla--daughter of the legendary artist Lalo the Limmer, Dysan the short and scrappy thief, Jake the rat, and a host of others.

Return to Sanctuary and let the games begin!

Contents:

• 13 - Introduction (Thieves' World: Turning Points) - essay by Lynn Abbey
• 23 - Home Is Where the Hate Is - novelette by Mickey Zucker Reichert
• 53 - Role Model - novella by Andrew J. Offutt [as by Andrew Offutt]
• 107 - The Prisoner in the Jewel - novelette by Diana L. Paxson
• 131 - Ritual Evolution - short story by Selina Rosen
• 151 - Duel - novelette by Dennis L. McKiernan
• 181 - Ring of Sea and Fire - novelette by Robin Wayne Bailey
• 217 - Doing the Gods' Work - novelette by Jody Lynn Nye
• 241 - The Red Lucky - novelette by Lynn Abbey
• 281 - Apocalypse Noun - short story by Jeff Grubb
• 301 - One to Go - short story by Raymond E. Feist
• 315 - Afterword (Thieves' World: Turning Points) - essay by Lynn Abbey

Empires rise and fall, but Sanctuary lives on.

Sanctuary, a lawless city governed by evil forces, powerful magic, and political intrigue where survival is an unexpected bonus.

A recent storm has left a ship filled with exotic cargo and arcane secrets wrecked off the shore of Sanctuary in this second of a new series of shared world anthologies. Thieves' World: Enemies of Fortune continues the story with tales of necromancers and assassins, urchins and knaves, and of course, thieves. This unexpected booty leads to boons and curses for the world-weary residents... as well as the usual power struggle among factions wishing to take deadly advantage at any new turn of events.

Contents:

• 13 - Introduction (Thieves' World: Enemies of Fortune) - essay by Lynn Abbey
• 21 - Widowmaker - short story by C. J. Cherryh and Jane S. Fancher [as by C. J. Cherryh and Jane Fancher]
• 41 - Deadly Ritual - novelette by Mickey Zucker Reichert
• 65 - Pricks and Afflictions - novelette by Dennis L. McKiernan
• 89 - Consequences - novelette by Jody Lynn Nye
• 115 - Good Neighbors - novelette by Lynn Abbey
• 157 - Gathering Strength - novelette by Selina Rosen
• 183 - Dark of the Moon - novelette by Andrew J. Offutt [as by Andrew Offutt]
• 225 - Protection - novelette by Robin Wayne Bailey
• 253 - Legacies - novelette by Jane S. Fancher and C. J. Cherryh [as by Jane Fancher and C. J. Cherryh]
• 283 - Malediction - novelette by Jeff Grubb
• 305 - The Ghost in the Phoenix - novelette by Diana L. Paxson and Ian Grey
• 331 - The Ballad of Shemhaza - novelette by Steven Brust

Table of Contents:

• fep - Sanctuary (map 1) - interior artwork by James Odbert [as by James R. Odbert]
• 1 - Thieves' World - [Thieves' World - 1] - (1979) - anthology by Robert Asprin [as by Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 5 - Introduction (Thieves' World) - (1979) - short story by Robert Asprin [as by Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 7 - Editor's Note (Sanctuary) - essay by Robert Asprin [as by Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 15 - Sentences of Death - (1979) - novelette by John Brunner
• 39 - The Face of Chaos - [Thieves' World] - (1979) - novelette by Lynn Abbey
• 60 - The Gate of the Flying Knives - [Thieves' World] - (1979) - novella by Poul Anderson
• 94 - Shadowspawn - (1979) - novelette by Andrew J. Offutt [as by Andrew Offutt]
• 116 - The Price of Doing Business - (1979) - novelette by Robert Asprin [as by Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 131 - Blood Brothers - [Thieves' World] - (1979) - novelette by Joe Haldeman
• 148 - Myrtis - (1979) - novelette by Christine DeWees
• 166 - The Secret of the Blue Star - [Lythande] - (1979) - novelette by Marion Zimmer Bradley
• 183 - The Making of Thieves' World - (1979) - essay by Robert Asprin [as by Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 191 - Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn - [Thieves' World - 2] - (1980) - anthology by Robert Asprin [as by Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 195 - Introduction (Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn) - (1980) - short story by Robert Asprin [as by Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 197 - Spiders of the Purple Mage - [Thieves' World] - (1980) - novella by Philip José Farmer
• 251 - Goddess - [Thieves' World] - (1980) - novelette by David Drake
• 273 - The Fruit of Enlibar - [Thieves' World] - (1980) - novelette by Lynn Abbey
• 290 - The Dream of the Sorceress - [Thieves' World] - (1980) - novelette by A. E. van Vogt
• 317 - Vashanka's Minion - [The Sacred Band of Stepsons] - (1980) - novelette by Janet Morris
• 338 - Shadow's Pawn - [Thieves' World] - (1980) - novelette by Andrew J. Offutt [as by Andrew Offutt]
• 362 - To Guard the Guardians - [Thieves' World] - (1980) - novelette by Robert Asprin [as by Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 383 - The Lighter Side of Sanctuary - (1980) - essay by Robert Asprin [as by Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 387 - Shadows of Sanctuary - [Thieves' World - 3] - (1981) - anthology by Robert Asprin [as by Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 391 - Introduction (Shadows of Sanctuary) - (1981) - short story by Robert Asprin [as by Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 395 - Looking for Satan - [Lythande] - (1981) - novella by Vonda N. McIntyre
• 439 - Ischade - (1981) - novella by C. J. Cherryh
• 473 - A Gift in Parting - (1981) - novelette by Robert Asprin [as by Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 491 - The Vivisectionist - (1981) - novelette by Andrew J. Offutt [as by Andrew Offutt]
• 520 - The Rhinoceros and the Unicorn - (1981) - novelette by Diana L. Paxson
• 542 - Then Azyuna Danced - [Thieves' World] - (1981) - novelette by Lynn Abbey
• 563 - A Man and His God - [Sacred Band Tales] - (1981) - novella by Janet Morris
• 597 - Things the Editor Never Told Me - (1981) - essay by Lynn Abbey
• bep - Sanctuary (map 2) - interior artwork by James Odbert [as by James R. Odbert]

Table of Contents:

• 7 - Storm Season - [Thieves' World - 4] - (1982) - anthology by Robert Asprin
• 213 - The Face of Chaos - [Thieves' World - 5] - (1983) - anthology by Lynn Abbey and Robert Asprin
• 401 - Wings of Omen - [Thieves' World - 6] - (1984) - anthology by Lynn Abbey and Robert Asprin

Table of Contents:

• 5 - The Dead of Winter - [Thieves' World - 7] - (1985) - anthology by Lynn Abbey and Robert Asprin [as by Lynn Abbey and Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 259 - Soul of the City - [Thieves' World - 8] - anthology by Lynn Abbey and Robert Asprin [as by Lynn Abbey and C. J. Cherryh and Janet Morris]
• 497 - Blood Ties - [Thieves' World - 9] - (1986) - anthology by Lynn Abbey and Robert Asprin [as by Lynn Abbey and Robert Lynn Asprin]

Table of Contents:

• 5 - Aftermath - [Thieves' World - 10] - (1987) - anthology by Lynn Abbey and Robert Asprin [as by Lynn Abbey and Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 211 - Uneasy Alliances - [Thieves' World - 11] - (1988) - anthology by Lynn Abbey and Robert Asprin [as by Lynn Abbey and Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 389 - Stealers' Sky - [Thieves' World - 12] - (1989) - anthology by Lynn Abbey and Robert Asprin [as by Lynn Abbey and Robert Lynn Asprin]

If you like stories of bold brave knights employed in meritorious duty, or tales of ladies delicate and fair, be warned. Beyond Sanctuary, set at the foot of notorious Wizardwall, may be too much for your sensibilities. There wizards, bards, and maidens mingle with murderers and thieves, and the fight breaking out at the next table may be the one that ends your life.

The hero is Tempus, leader of mercenaries and warrior-servant of Vashanka, god of storm and war. With Niko, Cime, and the Froth Daughter Jihan, Tempus faces the archmage Datan and his unholy followers - in a battle for the Rankan Empire's survival and that of his very soul.

When a Rankan messenger is killed in Tyse, Randal, the Stepsons' pet wizard, must read the dead man's mind. What Randal learns brings Niko back from the Misty Isles of Bandara and forces Tempus and his Stepsons into an alliance unholy even by Tysian standards--with Cime the mage killer; Aškelon, lord of dreams; and the Rankan Third Commando, a fighting unit so cruel it gives even the Stepsons pause. Together with Tempus' long-lost daughter, and his elemental lover, Jihan, they must venture beyond accursed Wizardwall itself to battle the Mygdonian Alliance and Roxane's Nisibisi witchcraft.

The intrepid Band (whose central core is Tempus' beloved Stepsons) must figure out who among the Tysian locals, Rankan soldiers, and Mygdonian defectors they can trust--before it's too late. But in a world where a witch can turn a warrior into a flea, where gemstone frogs can rain from the sky, where no one is ever what he seems, where loyalties and ensured by curses, wizardry, and the favor of warring gods... only the immortal Tempus can guarantee an army's success. And not even Tempus can tell the good guys from the bad in Tyse, where everyone plays both ends against the middle--or if the price of victory against Mygdonia will be his Stepsons' souls in their battle

Beyond Wizardwall the northern adventures of Tempus and his Stepsons come to their apocalyptic conclusion at the Festival of Man, where the games are not the scheduled ones of prowess at swordplay or chariot-racing, but games of assassination and treachery, with the Rankan emperor's life and the honor of the Sacred Band at stake.

When Niko quits the Stepsons, he finds that his troubles are just beginning: not only has Death's Queen marshaled new forces to entrap him, but Rankan interests desirous of a change in emperors have singled him out as the perfect assassin. Randal, the Stepsons' pet mage and Niko's former partner, must unite Tempus, the Stepsons, and hellish aid from magical quarters in a desperate attempt to save the defenseless Niko from Death's Queen--and himself.

In imperial Ranke, Tempus finds himself torn between conflicting oaths and pitted against powers not even his immortal strength can vanquish--powers both mortal and immortal, magical and heavenly, so that, in the end, the god-ridden and accursed soldier must make pacts with his most hated enemies--not only Aškelon, the Lord of Dreams, but Death's Queen herself--in order to save the souls of those he loves and the empire he's served so long.

And this time, Tempus' own soul hangs in the balance, as primal forces and even Enlil, the most fearsome storm god of them all, haggle over his fate.

Tempus: Avatar of the war-god Vashanka, he carves his anti-magical philosophy in the bodies of the detestable mages and demons of a world he never made but is cursed to inhabit.

Niko: No godling he, just a warrior who has found the secret of his soul in the mysterious Western Isles--and so wields a pure and faithful power that makes him all too attractive to the gods and elementals of a world infested mainly with murderers and thieves.

Together: Needing time to recover from the spells of a witch who nearly ate his soul, Niko will recover his self-mastery by reliving in utterly vivid detail all the most violent and transforming moments of his past--and that of his rightside leader, Tempus.

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Parts of this work have been published in substantially similar form in several volumes of the shared universe series, THIEVES' WORLD.

The Sacred Band of Stepsons is a fictional ancient cavalry unit created by Janet Morris and based on the historical Sacred Band of Thebes, an elite strike force of paired lovers and friends that flourished during the fourth century BCE in ancient Greece, where sexuality was a behavior, not an identity.

The Sacred Band of Stepsons series of fantasy novels and stories take place in a myth-like milieu that mixes historical places such as Nisibis, Mygdonia and Chaeronea; warriors such as Theagenes (commander of the Theban Sacred Band at Chaeronea); gods such as Enlil, Maat and Harmonia; philosophers such as Heraclitus and Thales; cavalry tactics and customs such as homosexuality in the militaries of ancient Greece with those that exist only in fantasy. The exploits of the Stepsons are chronicled in eleven short stories and eight novels (as of 2010). In a fantasy context, this series explores the difficulties facing war-fighters in personal relationships and the enduring questions surrounding the military's historical mixing of homosexuals and heterosexuals in combat.

Is this the Lemuria of antiquity, or of times to come? Once you've ridden the storm clouds of heaven from the edge of time, anything is possible.

Demonic hordes threaten to destroy the very fabric of time itself. The fate of all humanity rests on the shoulders of Tempus the Black, Favorite of the Storm God. But even this hero of legend will encounter a challenge he has never faced before... present-day New York City.

Tempus, immortal hero, avatar of the Storm God, ruler of the City at the Edge of Time, joins with his partner Nikko to reunite the Secret Band for a mission of vengeance that will takes them to the farthest reaches of time and space - and back home again.

Thieves' Carnival:

Prequeal to The Jewel of Bas.

The Jewel of Bas:

A quest to the Mountain of Life to save what remained by humanity from the machines that were bent on destroying them.