Mavra Chang was once a master criminal, notorious throughout the galaxy. But for eleven long years she has been trapped in a nonhuman body on the Well World—the master control planet for the universe, where untold numbers of strange races exist, separated by barriers erected by the mysterious, vanished race that built the Well World billions of years ago.
Orbiting the planet is a planetoid concealing Obie, a supercomputer that could restore Mavra Chang to her original form—if she can reach it. Unfortunately, the only spaceship on the planet is hidden in the northern hemisphere, a place no living creature can survive. She soon learns that her enemies are plotting to eliminate her, steal the ship, and escape from the Well World. But many others have planned her demise before, and Mavra Chang is still alive and well—which is more than can be said of those who once wished her ill.
“Chalker knows how to tell a story…A master!”—Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine
Mavra Chang was once a master criminal, notorious throughout the galaxy. But for eleven long years she has been trapped in a nonhuman body on the Well World—the master control planet for the universe, where untold numbers of strange races exist, separated by barriers erected by the mysterious, vanished race that built the Well World billions of years ago.
Orbiting the planet is a planetoid concealing Obie, a supercomputer that could restore Mavra Chang to her original form—if she can reach it. Unfortunately, the only spaceship on the planet is hidden in the northern hemisphere, a place no living creature can survive. She soon learns that her enemies are plotting to eliminate her, steal the ship, and escape from the Well World. But many others have planned her demise before, and Mavra Chang is still alive and well—which is more than can be said of those who once wished her ill.
The war of the Well World has begun.
Antor Trelig, head of a ruthless interstellar syndicate, has seized a supercomputer with godlike powers that could make him omnipotent. The Council offers master criminal Mavra Chang any reward she desires if she can stop Trelig—and horrible, lingering death if she fails. But neither Trelig nor Mavra has taken the Well World into consideration. Built by the ancient Markovians, the Well World controls the design of the cosmos. When the opponents are drawn across space to the mysterious planet, they find themselves in new, alien bodies and in the middle of a battle where strange races fight desperately—with the control of the entire universe as the prize.
“A powerful storyteller.”—Orson Scott Card, Washington Post Book World
The war of the Well World has begun.
Antor Trelig, head of a ruthless interstellar syndicate, has seized a supercomputer with godlike powers that could make him omnipotent. The Council offers master criminal Mavra Chang any reward she desires if she can stop Trelig—and horrible, lingering death if she fails. But neither Trelig nor Mavra has taken the Well World into consideration. Built by the ancient Markovians, the Well World controls the design of the cosmos. When the opponents are drawn across space to the mysterious planet, they find themselves in new, alien bodies and in the middle of a battle where strange races fight desperately—with the control of the entire universe as the prize.
At the heart of a bizarre planet lay the goal of every being that had ever lived...
Below average in height and unprepossessing in appearance, Nathan Brazil is an unassuming if cynical starship owner, carrying passengers and cargo for a living-hardly the sort of person to hold the fate of the entire universe in his hands.
But when Nathan detours from his route to answer a distress call, a hidden stargate hurls him and his passengers to the Well World, the master control planet for the cosmos. Billions of years ago, a godlike race unlocked all the secrets of space and time and remade the universe according to their grand design. Then they vanished and left behind the Well World to maintain the pattern of the universe.
Now someone is searching for the planet's hidden control room-the Well of Souls-to seize control of the cosmos. Nathan must stop them, but this planet causes bizarre metamorphoses in visitors, changing them into centaurs, mermaids, and giant insects seemingly at random. As a result, Nathan no longer recognizes his friends, let alone his unknown enemies. His task seems hopeless-until his long-suppressed memories begin to return and he realizes who he really is.
"A big, bold book that takes traditional science fiction and turns it upside down!"-Leigh Brackett, science fiction author and screenwriter on The Empire Strikes Back
