Showing results by author "Dave Duncan" in All Categories

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.

Inos, the late king's daughter, had been kidnapped through the magic casement 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 whore with a talent for magic and a passion for politics. She little dreamed that the loyal stableboy Rap had jumped through the casement 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....

When we left the Brothers Magnus, they had assembled in Cardice to help Anton Magnus defend the castle from attack by a neighboring state with a significant military advantage and several officers who, at any moment, could request help from saints - or, depending on your perspective, from the devil. But Cardice has a secret weapon in the form of young Wulfgang Magnus, who can ask a few favors of his own from these devil-saints. The only problem is that Wulf is in love with Madlenka, the countess from Cardice who was forcibly married to Anton to explain why he’s suddenly leading the country.

King Henry is dead; Richard the Lionheart now rules England. The new king does not believe in magic, and is interested only in a crusade to recapture Jerusalem. But his crusade soon stalls, and while he is away, his brother, John, and his supposed ally, Philip of France, are conspiring to steal his kingdom. Richard's mother, Queen Eleanor, sends Sir Durwin, Enchanter General of England, out to Palestine, where he must convince the skeptical king that a loyal magician can be a valuable aide. Meanwhile, King Philip has turned all of Europe into a trap for Richard.

In the midst of the horror of the first World War, a stranger falls from nowhere into the mud and death of the Flanders battlefield - bruised, babbling, and stark naked...with a remarkable story to tell. Wrongly accused murderer Edward Exeter has reappeared on this Earth hearing scars and secrets. From somewhere he calls next door - a place old godly intrigues and an ancient prophecy that he wants no part of. But powerful forces on both sides of a mystical border have other plans for the young fugitive.

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.

The sorcerer Zinixo had declared himself the Almighty. Now goblin hordes ravish the Impire. Dragons incinerate entire legions. And the slave-sorcerers of the Covin practice whatever barbarities Zinixo requires. It is only a matter of time before the mad Zinixo is almighty in fact as well as name - unless Rap of Krasnegar can conjure up a miracle.

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.

Alya's hunches were never wrong. So the scientists of 4-I were happy to promise her a place in the next offworld colonization team if she agreed to assess the potential of the latest worlds they had discovered. Then she met Cedric, the grandson of 4-I's brilliant and tyrannical director, and for the first time ever she began to doubt her uncanny intuition. Cedric dreamed of becoming a scout and exploring other worlds. When he met the lovely Alya he was more determined than ever to leave Earth - with her.

King Henry, campaigning in France, receives a muddled warning of a treasonous conspiracy in Lincoln Castle, his great fortress in the center of England. His enchanters report that the letter contains both truth and lies, but cannot determine which is which. Putting little stock in the warning, he sends an eager young knight to lead a troop of men and investigate, and since the letter includes hints of magic, Henry orders him to enlist the help of Durwin, the young Saxon whose education he has been financing these last two years.

All of Europe is ruled by the Khan, whose Golden Horde swept its conquering way across Europe in 1244. The Scottish outlaw Toby Strangerson, known as Longdirk, is ruled by an even harsher master. He is possessed by a "hob", a demon spirit murderous as a child although inherently neither good nor evil. Toby wants his freedom - and the spirit of the tyrant-demon Nevil, ensorceled in amethyst, can be traded for the exorcism of the hob. In order to make the exchange, though, Toby and his friend and ally Hamish must face the hexer Oreste on his own ground.

The Hierarchy, high priests of the religious order the Light, rules both the magical kingdom of Albi and its religion. Worshippers in the old ways of the Earth Mother, clandestinely scattered throughout the land, are persecuted as heretics. And when missionary student Rollo Woodbridge returns to his home in Albi, he is arrested for heresy and treason, setting off a chain of events that puts everyone’s life in jeopardy and plunges the kingdom into chaos.

The Scottish outlaw Toby Strangerson, known as Longdirk, has used gramarye, dark magic, to defeat the Fiend and save Europe from abject slavery - but he has also made himself the most feared and envied man in all of Italy. The hordes are reorganizing and plan top sweep over the Alps once more and retake their lost prize of power and conquest. Toby and his friend Hamish struggle to unite the quarreling city-states into a single, powerful force to resist the invasion in a world where no ally can be trusted and traitors lurk in every shadow.

All of Europe is under the control of the Khan, whose conquering armies swept across the West in 1244. Scotland, in addition, lies under the heel of England. Young Toby Strangerson, a half-English bastard, reared by a witchwife, wants only to shed his hated "Sassenach" blood and free his beloved highlands. Toby wields a sword as the outlaw Longdirk. The sword can cut down men like so many stalks of corn. But stranger winds are swirling and howling across the lochs, eldritch winds that are ridden by "hobs" and "wisps" and demons.

Young Ivor dreams of being a swordsman like his nine older brothers, but until he can grow a beard he's limited to being a runner, carrying messages for their lord, Thane Carrak. That's usually boring, but this time Carrak has sent him on a long journey to summon the mysterious Rorie of Ytter. Rorie is reputed to be a wizard - or an outlaw, or maybe a saint - but the truth is far stranger, and Ivor suddenly finds himself caught up in a twisted magical intrigue that threatens Thane Carrak, and could leave Ivor himself very dead.

Edward Exeter assumes the mantle of Liberator in the strange, alternate world called Nextdoor - a far-flung outpost of British imperialism where earthborn mortals possess the powers of gods. His decision has made him the target of betrayals and murderous plots. But Exeter has learned the Game well in his short time in Nextdoor and he plays it boldly to its unexpected, worlds-shattering conclusion.

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.

Well met, traveler! Since you are going in my direction, why don't we walk on together for a while? If luck is with us, perhaps we shall overtake Omar before nightfall, if that pirate of an innkeeper spoke true.

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 thing he has been ordered to defend.

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.