Dave Duncan’s “Handful of Men” quartet is now available in Kindle.

Picking up the story where his “”Man of His Word” trilogy left off, Duncan launches a new and magical adventure in Pandemia. The titles in order of publication are The Cutting Edge, Upland Outlaws, The Stricken Field and The Living God. All may be viewed and ordered on the Dave Duncan page on the E-Reads website.

The great adventure chronicled in the “Man of His Word” quartet ended happily enough. 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.

That’s too bad, because want it or not, he’s about to have one.  It all begins in The Cutting Edge.

Thanks to E-Reads’ reissue program Dave Duncan is at last receiving the recognition he has earned and deserved over a career packed with stirring, witty, romantic and thrilling works impeccably narrated as if woven on the loom of a master textile artist.  His “Seventh Sword” novels are far and away the biggest selling fantasy trilogy in E-Reads’ history. You can find them and almost two dozen other Duncans on his author page.

Now comes the breathtaking quartet of novels known as “A Man of His Word“, consisting of Magic Casement, Faery Lands Forlorn, Perilous Seas and Emperor and Clown, with handsomely redesigned covers for both the e-book and the paperback editions.

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 will ever read. Duncan’s astonishing magic manifests itself in utterly 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, for there are no humans in Pandemia, only imps, elves, gnomes, jotnar, and many more, all of whom you will recognize as “human”.

In the first book, Magic Casement, the tale begins gently, even slowly, with Inosolan enjoying an idyllic childhood in a tiny backwater kingdom, too carefree and 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.

One reader commented

“I think this is my favorite fantasy series of all time. The reluctant swordsman series was great, but A Man of His Word was a revelation — up until this series, I had no idea of fantasy’s potential. I remember reviews at the time complaining that Duncan’s series had subverted the fantasy genre, but for me it was the series that saved us from endless Tolkien rewrites. There was nothing like it before; not even the great James Branch Cabell comes close to Duncan’s originality in this series. Once you start the first book, you canot put any of it down. It is totally addictive. A must have for any fantasy fan. You don’t know the genre at all if you don’t know this series.”

The fantasy swordsmen that populate Dave Duncan’s novels are among E-Reads’ bestselling books. Now comes Longdirk, a Highlands outlaw whose blade slices through foes like a farmer’s scythe.

In Demon Sword, the first novel in the “Years of Longdirk” trilogy, 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. The enemy Sassenach king is also a sorcerer. His demon soul needs a body and his Black Arts can free Europe from the Khan’s Golden Horde.

Demon Sword and its sequels Demon Rider and Demon Knight were originally published under the pen name Ken Hood but Duncan is stepping out from behind his shield.

Watch the Dave Duncan author page for release information about Demon Rider and Demon Knight. You’ll also see some two dozen fantasy treats from a brilliant master available for download or print paperback..

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro’s To The High Redoubt is an epic fantasy adventure by the creator of the widely-read series of novels about the immortal vampire Le Comte de Saint-Germain.

In his quest for power, Bundhi, Lord of Darkness and stealer of souls, has taken family, vision and freedom from Surata, the last surviving adept in tantric alchemy, before selling her into slavery in a distant land. But he has underestimated the depth of Surata’s power and he could not foresee that destiny would bring her a champion, Arkady, soldier of fortune and destined hero. As their mutual trust deepens and the wellspring of power from which Surata draws her magic is steadily revealed, the two form an unbeatable force as they challenge their enemy in the very heart of his empire.

E-Reads has begun publishing Yarbro’s Saint Germain vampire novels, so keep your eye on her author page for news of new releases.

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro is the first woman to be named a Living Legend by the International Horror Guild and is one of only two women ever to be named as Grand Master of the World Horror Convention (2003). In 1995, Yarbro was the only novelist guest of the Romanian government for the First World Dracula Congress, sponsored by the Transylvanian Society of Dracula, the Romanian Bureau of Tourism and the Romanian Ministry of Culture.

Yarbro is best known as the creator of the heroic vampire, the Count Saint-Germain. With her creation of Saint-Germain, she delved into history and vampiric literature and subverted the standard myth to invent the first vampire who was more honorable, humane, and heroic than most of the humans around him. She fully meshed the vampire with romance and accurately detailed historical fiction and filtered it through a feminist perspective that both the giving of sustenance and its taking were of equal erotic potency. E-Reads is happy to begin bringing many of Yarbro’s St. Germain novels back into print.

In the first published volume, Hotel Transylvania (forthcoming soon), we meet Saint-Germain in Paris during the reign of Louis XV when he is, apparently, a wealthy, worldly, charismatic aristocrat, envied and desired by many but fully known to none. In fact, he is a vampire, born in the Carpathian Mountains in 2119 BC, turned in his late-thirties in 2080 BC and destined to roam the world forever, watching and participating in history and, through the author, giving us an amazing perspective on the time-tapestry of human civilization.

In The Palace, Renaissance Florence provides the background for this story of the collapse of the artistic and literary life of the city after the death of Saint-Germain’s friend Lorenzo the Magnificent, followed by the rise of the fanatical Savonarola.

What if half the world’s population – the female half -  practiced witchcraft and kept it a secret from men?

In Science Fiction Grand Master Fritz Leiber’s Conjure Wife Norman Saylor, a professor of ethnology, discovers his wife Tansy has put his research into practice for the sake of protecting him from other spell-casting faculty wives who wish to further their own husbands’ careers. A man of science, Norman has only an academic interest in the subject of magic and superstition and forces Tansy to cease all her workings and to burn all her charms. As soon as Norman burns the last charm, things start to fall apart. He has a run-in with a former student, his student-secretary accuses him of having seduced her, and he is passed over for a promotion that had seemed certain.

Norman begins to have more than his fair share of small accidents: cutting himself while shaving, stepping on carpet tacks, cutting his hand with a letter opener, and more. He begins to imagine that there is a dark presence exploiting his fear of trucks. Tansy takes his curse upon herself forcing him to overcome his disbelief and use witchcraft to save his wife’s body—and her soul.

Originally published in 1953, Conjure Wife is considered a modern classic of horror-fantasy and has been adapted for film three times: “Burn, Witch Burn” (1962); “Weird Woman” (1944); and “Witch’s Brew” (1980). Yet another film remake is in the works.

E-Reads carries many great Fritz Leiber novels including the classic Lankhmar series. Click here for a complete list.

The Monster War: A Tale of the Kings’ Blades by Dave Duncan

The King’s Blades ride again! Originally issued as a young adult trilogy entitled The King’s Daggers (Sir Stalwart, The Crooked House and Silvercloak), The Monster War works perfectly 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! And if there are some gaps in your collection of Dave Duncan’s fantasy and science fiction, visit his author page for a host of great selections.

And if you’ve become hooked on King’s Blades, you can read the two sequels to The Gilded Chain: Lord of the Fire lands and Sky of Swords.

RC

Although best-known for her lightly humorous fantasies and for her collaborations with Anne McCaffrey on the Petaybee and Acorna series, Elizabeth Anne Scarborough has also written Healer’s War, a classic novel of the Vietnam War, enriched with a magical, mystical twist. It won the 1989 Nebula Award for Best Novel of 1988. The Minneapolis Star Tribune called it “A brutal and beautiful book.”

Scarborough herself was a nurse in Vietnam during the war and she draws on her own personal experiences to create the central character, Lt. Kitty McCulley. McCulley, a young and inexperienced nurse tossed into a stressful and chaotic situation, is having a difficult time reconciling her duty to help and heal with the indifference and overt racism of some of her colleagues and with the horrendously damaged soldiers and Vietnamese civilians whom she encounters during her service at the China Beach medical facilities.

She is unexpectedly helped by the mysterious and inexplicable properties of an amulet, given to her by one of her patients, an elderly, dying Vietnamese holy man, which allows her to see other people’s auras and understand more about. This eventually leads to a strange, almost surrealistic journey through the jungle, accompanied by a one-legged boy and a battle-seasoned but crazed soldier. By the end of the journey, McCulley has found herself and a way to survive through the madness and destruction.

Elizabeth Ann Scarborough’s Song of Sorcery is another light-hearted contemporary fantasy adventure that will please the author’s many fans. Colin Songsmith sings a song to an old witch who takes an unlikely revenge. The witch’s granddaughter rescues him from the dire threat of being eaten alive by the cat. She hears the song, which happens to concern her recently married sister and a gypsy. Convinced that she has to save her sister, she takes the minstrel, the cat and her magical resources to Rowan Castle. The story is rich with descriptive details of setting and encounters with magical and fantastic creatures such as a talking cat, a lovesick dragon, and a bear prince. The characters speak in contemporary slang which plays nicely against the traditional fantastic settings.

Elizabeth Ann Scarborough was born March 23, 1947, and lives in the Puget Sound area of Washington. She won a Nebula Award in 1989 for her novel The Healer’s War, and has written more than a dozen other novels. She has collaborated with Anne McCaffrey, best-known for creating the Dragonriders of Pern, to produce the Petaybee Series and the Acorna Series.

Elizabeth Ann Scarborough has written more than a dozen novels, one of which, The Healer’s War, won a Nebula Award in 1989. She has collaborated with Dragonriders of Pern author Anne McCaffrey to produce the Petaybee Series and the Acorna Series.

Like The Godmother, Song of Sorcery is a light-hearted contemporary fantasy adventure. Colin Songsmith sings a song to an old witch who takes an unlikely revenge. The witch’s granddaughter rescues him from the dire threat of being eaten alive by a cat. It gets wilder and wilder from there including encounters with a lovesick dragon.

And don’t miss Scarborough’s aptly named collection, Scarborough Fair and Other Stories.

RC