The Gods Return
The Gods Return is the end of the Crown of the Isles trilogy and the final chapter in the Lord of the Isles. The Fortress of Glass began the tale of how the new kingdom of the Isles is finally created by the heroes and heroines who have been central to the tale: Prince Garric, heir to the throne of the Isles, his consort Liane, his sister Sharina, her herculean sweetheart Cashel, and Cashel's sister Ilna. The Mirror of Worlds followed them on an overland journey to the small kingdoms of the Isles to confirm Garric's succession and subdue, if necessary, any who refused to pledge fealty.
In The Gods Return, the Isles have been more or less unified under Garric's rule, but the Change that created the continent, has removed the old Gods of the Isles from reality and released other Gods from other planes of existence. Now the servants of the forbidden Gods of Palomir call forth The Worm, an ancient thing that threatens to devour all life in the newly formed kingdom and make way for the reign of dark Gods, now awakened to ambitions of worship and dominion. Some are bad . . . and some are worse.
Casablanca in Space!
"Exotic locales and. . .undiscovered lands. . .Brackett took these keenly felt romantic terrestrial notions and transplanted them to other worlds," says Sci-Fi Weekly critic Paul di Fillipo, "in the process magnifying and bejeweling all that was alluring and mysterious about our own planet."
Leigh Brackett writes like Dashiell Hammett. She gives us heroes like Robert E. Howard's. Yet she put us in strange, terrifying, beautifully-wrought worlds that are all her own—but worlds that look back to H. Rider Haggard and forward to the baroque creations of Ray Bradbury and Gene Wolfe.
This is wonder-filled, wonderful stuff. Yes, it's ERB meets Raymond Chandler—although Brackett truly is in a class by herself. Cynical motives—for every character. Politically seething, highly complex worlds. Clandestine, desperate plots to throw off foreign masters—or just to make a buck off the general suffering of others.
Here are the classic "planet tales" of Leigh Brackett. All of them—conveniently divided by Solar System planet! Gems such as "Lorelei of the Mist" (co-written with Ray Bradbury and featuring a very Conan-like existential warrior), "Cube from Space," the Lovecraft-influenced "The Veil of Astellar," and literally dozens more. You'll get the Mercury, Venus, and Mars stories. You'll get all the other Brackett tales set in the solar system, as well -- and a beyond Sol volume. Together in one mega-volume. Literally everything.
These are stories that elevated pulp to an art form. Tales that put science fiction on the literary map.
You won't regret this journey into Leigh Brackett's master-work. By the way, not only did Brackett co-write the screenplay for The Empire Strikes Back, did you notice that the film was dedicated to her when it came out shortly after her death? Oh, she also co-wrote The Big Sleep screenplay with one William Faulkner. No doubt about it: Brackett is the definition of "legend."
Featuring a new introduction by Algyis Budrys and art by Doug Chaffee, the second of our Leigh Brackett mega-volumes will be released July 4, 2008, and will be available in the reader-friendly, unencrypted formats Webscriptions is known for. For the next four months, this massive compilation will go for $20. Then the e-volume dissolves and we offer the individual ebook titles for $4 each.
No shipping fees. No dead tree crumble.
Coming soon to Webscriptions: A huge Edmond Hamilton compilation, a writer who was none other than Leigh Brackett's husband and some-time collaborator!
Claws That Catch
The Galaxy at Risk!
Humans have come a long ways since the looking glass gates first appeared and an alien menace turned a motley crew of scientists, sailors and force recon Marines into battle-hardened space adventurers. Now with other species running scared, it’s up to humans to take the lead and mold a weapon capable of checking the Dreen—a galactic cancer that has so far proved unstoppable. Their arsenal? A hodge-podge of powerful technologies begged, borrowed and/or looted from across the galaxy and cobbled together on what has to be the strangest ship ever to ply the starways: the good ship Vorpal Blade II!
Great Ideas! Cool Space Ships! Evil Alien Butt Blasted to Smithereens! "If Tom Clancy were writing SF, it would read much like John Ringo." —Philadelphia Weekly Press.
“[T]his thoroughly enjoyable ride should appeal to techno-thriller fans as well as to military SF buffs.” —Publishers Weekly on John Ringo and Travis S. Taylor’s Into the Looking Glass.
Make Tracks to the Stars!
0 Ye civilized of Earth: send forth your outcasts, your primitive throwbacks, your religious fundamentalists, your sexual separatists—and heck, you can even toss in your totalitarian crackpots in the bargain. Pack them all in sealed habitats, rocket them into space, and pronounce good riddance to those lunatics, oddballs and losers!
But if you happen to be an alien explorer stranded on that ship and looking to find a way home? Well then, your one chance lies in seeking out the true iconoclasts in a sea of nutcase societies—for verily, it is only the absolutely original and terminally weird who shall inherit the stars!
New York Times best-seller Eric Flint and Dave Freer deliver an adventure through the eeriest alien realm of all—human culture at its most extreme!
"[T]he sharpest moments in this giddy entertainment are those where [Flint and Freer] blithely skewer human mores."
—Publisher's Weekly on Rats, Bats & Vats
The Last Centurion
Centurions were the guardians of Rome. At the height of the Roman Republic there were over five thousand qualified Roman Centurions in the Legions. To be a Centurion required that, in a mostly illiterate society, one be able to read and write clearly, to be able to convey and create orders, to be capable of not only performing every skill of a Roman soldier but teach every skill of a Roman soldier.
Becoming a Centurion required intense physical ability, courage beyond the norm, years of sacrifice and a total devotion to the philosophy which was Rome. When Rome fell to barbarian invaders, there were less than five hundred qualified Centurions. Not because Rome had fewer people but because it had fewer willing to make the sacrifices. And the last Centurions left their shields in the heather and took a barbarian bride . . .
We are . . . The Last Centurions.
And this Rome SHALL NOT FALL!
http://www.thelastcenturion.com/
Ratha's Courage
"Screeching in pain and terror, the rogues backed off, but they didn't flee like the Un-Named raiders did. Something seemed to force them back into the fray, making them ignore their fright and their agony to attack again.
The flame-bearers' attack faltered as eyes met eyes and the enemy's ability to withstand the Red Tongue was passed quickly among the Named. Firekeepers . . .
Above the commotion, Ratha heard an agonizing shriek, so raw that she didn't recognize the voice.
She whirled, thinking one of the Named had been mortally struck. Instead she saw Bira, not in the battle but on the edge. Her ears were back, her mouth was open, but the sound from her throat wasn't a battle cry but a horrified scream.
"They're killing the cubs!" Bira paused only long enough to gather breath and shriek again, even louder. "They're attacking the nursery! They're killing the cubs!"

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