Five intergalactic criminal masterminds raid the tranquil world of Mount Pleasant, leaving behind only ruin and slaughter—and the orphaned child Kirth Gersen, who comes to manhood swearing to take bloody revenge. Now Gersen roams the galaxy, bringing vengeance to the Demon Princes one by one, in Jack Vance's classic series of hardboiled space opera.
The fourth Demon Prince, Lens Larque, combines murderous criminality with a taste for horrific practical jokes. Escaping Gersen once, Larque flees to his home world of Dar Sai, known for its strange mating rituals and the violent winner-take-all game of hadaul. Gersen follows his quarry to the milder world of Methel, where Larque plans a revengeful prank on a wealthy man. Gersen has a more final vengeance in mind.
Five intergalactic criminal masterminds raid the tranquil world of Mount Pleasant, leaving behind only ruin and slaughter—and the orphaned child Kirth Gersen, who comes to manhood swearing to take bloody revenge. Now Gersen roams the galaxy, bringing vengeance to the Demon Princes one by one, in Jack Vance’s classic series of hardboiled space opera.
Among worlds populated by slave-takers and poisoners, Kirth Gersen is hunting the third Demon Prince, Viole Falushe, an Earthman who conceals his true identity while ruling a remote planet from his decadent Palace of Love. Posing as a journalist and accompanied by the mad poet Navarth, Gersen infiltrates the palace and uncovers a history of erotic obsession. Somewhere among the revelers lurks Falushe, whom Gersen schemes to identify, before delivering harsh justice.
Five intergalactic criminal masterminds raid the tranquil world of Mount Pleasant, leaving behind only ruin and slaughter—and the orphaned child Kirth Gersen, who comes to manhood swearing to take bloody revenge. Now Gersen roams the galaxy, bringing vengeance to the Demon Princes one by one, in Jack Vance's classic series of hardboiled space opera.
In the fifth and final book of the Demon Princes series, Gersen trails Howard Alan Treesong, notorious for his imaginative and horrifying revenges. But Treesong has a sentimental streak, and longs for a childhood composition called The Book of Dreams. Exploiting this weakness, Gersen lures Treesong into a final confrontation.
Five intergalactic criminal masterminds raid the tranquil world of Mount Pleasant, leaving behind only ruin and slaughter—and the orphaned child Kirth Gersen, who comes to manhood swearing to take bloody revenge. Now Gersen roams the galaxy, bringing vengeance to the Demon Princes one by one, in Jack Vance’s classic series of hardboiled space opera.
Someone is stealing the children of the galaxy’s elite, and Kirth Gersen suspects that the kidnapper is Kokor Hekkus—second of the Demon Princes. Deciphering a complex pattern of clues and coincidences, Gersen tracks his quarry to a barbaric world, where Hekkus is protected by an invincible war machine. To confront Hekkus, Gersen must resort to a desperate plan.
Five intergalactic criminal masterminds raid the tranquil world of Mount Pleasant, leaving behind only ruin and slaughter—and the orphaned child Kirth Gersen, who comes to manhood swearing to take bloody revenge. Now Gersen roams the galaxy, bringing vengeance to the Demon Princes one by one, in Jack Vance's classic series of hardboiled space opera.
In a seedy tavern on Smade's Planet, Kirth Gersen picks up the trail of Attel Malagate, a member of an alien species called Star Kings, who masquerade as humans. Malagate maintains anonymity behind a screen of sinister henchmen, but Gersen will combine subtle guile and stark violence in a strategy to bring him face to face with the first of the Demon Princes.
Ajena a las maquinaciones diplomáticas y las artes oscuras del rey Casmir de Lyonesse, la princesa Madouc, determinada a conocer el secreto de su linaje, se aventura en una intensa búsqueda personal… que de algún modo se relaciona con el misterio de Dhrun, hijo de Aillas de Troicinet, de quien se ha profetizado que se convertirá en soberano de todas las Islas Elder.
Aillas de Troicinet defiende su reino, situado en el extremo sur de las Islas Elder, de las incursiones de los saqueadores ska que otrora lo esclavizaran, y de las incesantes maquinaciones del rey Casmir de Lyonesse. Mientras, el mundo de la magia se enfrenta a la maldad concentrada de una perla verde que desata olas de lujuria, envidia, muerte y destrucción.
Magos de siniestra comicidad, nobles recalcitrantes, reyes moribundos y una nueva perspectiva de los bárbaros ska se dan cita en esta segunda entrega de las crónicas de las Islas Elder. En ella, el humor, el romance y la aventura más tradicional dan paso a secuencias de intensidad casi onírica, conformando una de las tramas más ricas y disparatadas de la fantasía moderna.
En una época fabulosa olvidada por la historia, existe un archipiélago aún no reclamado por las aguas, situado en el golfo de Vizcaya, frente a las costas de la antigua Galia, donde medran hombres y toda suerte de criaturas mágicas. En ellas se encuentra el reino de Lyonesse, cuyo rey, Casmir, conspira contra sus vecinos para eregirse como monarca absoluto del archipiélago, hasta que un día sus meticulosos y bien trazados planes topan con un obstáculo inesperado: la tozudez e ingratitud de su hija, la princesa Suldrun.
Award-winning long-form journalist Eva Holland had always felt that her deepest fear was the death of a loved one. When her mother suddenly passes away, she's sent spiraling into an odyssey of confronting fear itself. Along with investigating the science of fear, Holland uses herself as a test subject, jumping out of airplanes, rock climbing, and delving into her fears of loss to better understand what her research in the science, medicine, and history of fear reveals. Along the way, Holland meets the scientists who are developing a pill to leech the fear and horror from traumatic memories and seeks out the sufferers of a rare disease that prevents them from ever feeling fear. She sifts through what we know about the dynamics of how fear spreads in a crowd (and, too often, how it metastasizes into anger and hate). And she applies what she learns to manage her own fears. A mix of Mary Roach and Cheryl Strayed, Holland explores the universal human questions: Why and how do we feel fear? Why does fear seem to spread through groups and crowds like an airborne virus? And, most importantly, is there a cure for fear-and, if so, is "facing our fears" really that cure?
Eleven essential classics in one volumeThis last volume in the definitive collection of the best science fiction novellas published between 1929 and 1964 contains eleven great classics. No anthology better captures the birth of science fiction as a literary field.Published in 1973 to honor stories that had appeared before the institution of the Nebula Awards, The Science Fiction Hall of Fame introduced tens of thousands of young readers to the wonders of science fiction and was a favorite of libraries across the country.This volume contains the following:Introduction by Ben BovaThe Martian Way by Isaac AsimovEarthman, Come Home by James BlishRogue Moon by Algis BudrysThe Spectre General by Theodore CogswellThe Machine Stops by E. M. ForsterThe Midas Plague by Frederik PohlThe Witches of Karres by James H. SchmitzE for Effort by T. L. SherredIn Hiding by Wilmar H. ShirasThe Big Front Yard by Clifford D. SimakThe Moon Moth by Jack Vance
Stranded on the distant planet Tschai, young Adam Reith is the sole survivor of a space mission who discovers the world is inhabited—not only by warring alien cultures but by human slaves as well, taken early in Earth’s history. Reith must find a way off the planet to warn Earth of Tschai’s deadly existence.
Against a backdrop of baroque cities and haunted wastelands, sumptuous palaces and riotous inns, Reith will encounter deadly wastrels and murderous aliens, dastardly villains and conniving scoundrels—and always the random beauty in need of rescue.
“Exotic adventure, dastardly villains, beautiful women, baroque landscapes, all served up with the inimitable, incomparable Vance style and wit: dazzlingly inventive, utterly delightful, and absolutely, unequivocally essential to any collection.”—Kirkus Reviews
The Pnume were an ancient race of the planet Tschai, living underground in a vast network of caverns with their human slave-species, the Pnumekin. The Pnume were the historians of Tschai, collecting its past with ruthless and scholarly dedication. Surface dwellers never saw the Pnume—if they were lucky. Adam Reith was not so fortunate. The Pnume had heard rumors of a strange man claiming to have come from the planet Earth, and they wanted him for Foreverness, the museum of Tschai life. Adam Reith was about to become an alien exhibit.
This, the fourth and final novel of Jack Vance’s classic series of the Planet of Adventure, is complete in itself but presents a surprising and exciting climax to Vance’s greatest creation.
“Exotic adventure, dastardly villains, beautiful women, baroque landscapes, all served up with the inimitable, incomparable Vance style and wit: dazzlingly inventive, utterly delightful, and absolutely, unequivocally essential to any collection.”—Kirkus Reviews, praise for the series
