P. G. Wodehouse meets space opera, as Ensign Thomas Innes Loche Kinago, fresh from the Academy is given his first command.
A crumb from the upper crust, he's eager to uphold the traditions of his family, and in particular, his mother, a distinguished Admiral of the Imperium. Of course, he's aware of the importance of always having simply smashing tailored uniforms on hand, and having his camera ready to record memorable moments for his scrapbook.
In the meantime, a charismatic leader has arisen who seems able to control the minds of anyone he meets, and may be on his way to taking over the entire galaxy. Can Kinago's aristocratic bearing and unbridled snobbery stand up to such a challenge? Fortunately, his constant companion, the unflappable Jeeves, er, Parsons, is on hand to look after the young, impulsive master, and somehow help his charge bumble his way through, perhaps even saving the galaxy in the process.
Like every other citizen of the Federation of Sentient Planets, Lunzie Mespil believed that no harm would come to her, but when the planet pirates attack the space liner on which she is a passenger, she might have to suffer more than just inconvenience.
Business is slow for M.Y.T.H., Inc., and its president, Bunny, is getting nervous that the company might not meet its quarterly goal. So when a job comes in that's worth an absurd amount of gold-and also happens to take them to Winslow, the most luxurious vacation resort in any dimension-the team jumps at the opportunity to recoup some cash and maybe catch some R&R. Only, magician Skeeve has an unsettling feeling that this mission might be trickier than it seems. Someone in Winslow is messing with the magic lines and working hard to ensure that the M.Y.T.H. crew gets nowhere near the powerful relic that they've been hired to find. And as the mysterious manipulation turns deadly, Skeeve, Bunny, Aahz, and the rest of their partners find themselves in a race not only to finish the job but also to escape paradise alive.
The Zang, an elder race of the galaxy, may be a shrinking population, but they're also intelligent, curious, and powerful. What's more, they practice a most unusual art form: they bonsai star systems. Eager to witness this first hand, Lieutenant Lord Thomas Kinago, accompanied as always by his personal assistant Parsons, sets out on a several-week jaunt to see the Zang destroy a moon to enhance the beauty of a star system.
But the trip is sidelined when Kinago's uncle offers to take him to the seldom seen human homeworld, Earth. Unable to resist, Kinago goes along, only to find on his return that the planet he's just visited may be in danger of being eradicated. Earth lies within the protective sphere of the Zang, but enemies of the Imperium are lobbying to have Sol system turned over to them.
It is up to Kinago and Parsons to save Earth. Kinago has the key, but will he be able to persuade the Zang to spare the human homeworld before it's too late?
It's a nightmare when master magician Skeeve and Aahz the Pervect fall into Dreamland ... Massha gets married with something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blew ... up. Bunny turns to Skeeve for help when an inter-dimensional beauty contest turns ugly. Reality shows were never quite like this. Contestants hunt down Princess Gloriannamarjolie for a chance to win the greatest treasure in the kingdom. Join Skeeve, Aahz, Massha, Tananda, Bunny, Gleep, the Fairy Godfather, and random myth-ical creatures in eight stories that span the manic MYTH universe. Robert Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye have compiled their favorite tales-and concocted some new ones-for this collection of myth-adventures.
Aahz gets an unwelcome visit from two blue-skinned bruisers and a small magician wanting Skeeve to cough up the dough for an extremely large bill that he skipped out on. Knowing that Skeeve has many faults, but welshing on a debt is not one of them, he enlists the aid of Chumley and Massha to go with him to the last place any self respecting Pervert would ever visit...the mall! Once there, they discover that the mall rats have created a scheme to steal customers' credit cards. Realizing that Skeeve is a victim of identity theft they set our to set matters right and to clear their friend's name...
Aahz discovers that the shabby-looking sword he bought at a flea market in a remote dimension is Ersatz, leader of the Golden Hoard, a fabled collection of powerful magical treasures that can turn any ordinary being into a hero. They go in search of the other members of the Hoard, only to find that they're not the only ones looking. A dancer named Calypsa, working with Aahz's old friend Tananda, is seeking to collect them to free her grandfather from the dreaded wizard Barrik. Trouble is, everyone wants the treasures for themselves, and there are good reasons why the Golden Hoard is never all in the same dimension at one time.
Skeeve has decided, at long last, to come out of his self-imposed retirement and get back into the problem-solving biz. He confidently expected walk in and take his rightful place as the head of M.Y.T.H., Inc. He didn't expect to have to face off against Aahz for the job. With their friends lending help but showing no favorites, they start a not-so-friendly contest to see who will run the company by taking opposite sides of the next case to walk in the door. Will the legendary partnership survive the battle, or will this be the end of a beautiful friendship?
Here it is! The first novel in the brand new Myth Adventures Series, by the authors of Liscence Invoked! Robert Asprin teams up with Jody Lynn Nye (Applied Mythology and Advanced Mythology) to bring you a brand new set of Myth Adventures with Skeeve, Aahz, Tanda, and the rest of the gang! Will be followed in 2004 by Myth-taken Identity. 'You want me to do what?' Aahz gasped, spitting a mouthful of beer clear across the open dance floor. The tuba player gave him a chiding glance and turned his instrument over to empty it. 'Ten... Female... PERVECTS!? A dimension full of Wuhses? The Deveels cheated them out of their last dime, and the Pervects got it back for them? And now they want us to throw the Pervects out? Mmm, mmm.' He slammed his mug down. I recoiled slightly at the violence of the gesture. His lips twisted. His shoulders started to heave. 'Mmm mmm mmm. Ha ha ha ha. HAWHAWHAWHAWHAW! HAWHAWHAWHAWHAW!' He laughed until the building rang with the sound of his voice. The other patrons watched him nervously as he slapped me on the back, stood up, slipped to his knees, and slid down the trestle of the table until he was sitting on the floor laughing. Soon, he recovered and climbed up to his feet again. He took my hand in a crushing grip. 'Aw, part-Skeeve,' he said, wiping tears from his yellow eyes. 'I've missed you, kid. That is one of the best jokes I've heard in months. Really did me good. Fraulein!' He held up a hand and snapped his fingers. 'A round for my friends!' 'But I'm serious,' I stated.
FROM BEST-SELLING AUTHORS TRAVIS S. TAYLOR AND JODY LYNN NYE. A teenage girl and her fellow Bright Sparks must do what it takes to stay alive and achieve success in this sequel to Moon Beam. Barbara Winton and the rest of the Bright Sparks, Dr. Keegan Bright's team of young scientists, find themselves facing a challenge that will test all of their scientific skills and personal courage. They are competing in the first ever race to completely circle the Moon. The Sparks, and twenty-five other teams, have to count on one another as they face thousands of kilometers of unknown dangers, where even a simple accident can have fatal consequences. They form close friendships with racers from all over Earth, but also have to deal with former Spark, Pam, a mysterious and threatening figure whose departure from the Sparks program is shrouded in mystery. While the Sparks compete in the race, Dr. Bright himself is part of a groundbreaking project to seek out rare minerals underneath a crater. On the far side of the Moon, in the airless, frozen depths beneath the lunar surface, disaster strikes. On the thinly settled Moon only the Bright Sparks may be close enough help him. The young scientist find themselves not only racing for victory, but to save their beloved mentor.
STAY ALIVE ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE MOON What happens when you get the one thing you wanted most in life? Lonely 16-year-old farm girl Barbara Winton has been following one reality show for years. Then in an instant she goes from fangirl to participant when the call comes from Dr. Keegan Bright: She's been selected out of a horde of applicants to join him on the Moon. She'll be one of his Bright Sparks, six students with expertise in STEM and plenty of their own ingenuity chosen to work with Dr. Bright and given big responsibilities to undertake new projects important to the growth of the colony. Her first task? Build a radar telescope using an entire crater on the far side of the Moon. But Barbara soon learns that life on a burgeoning frontier outpost like the Moon is a far cry from safe, civilized Earth. The loner from farm country must find a way to weld a functional team out of fiercely independent thinkers. Not only are they a bit trickier to work with than farm robots, not only is the working environment incredibly dangerous-she also has to perform this miracle in front of millions of fans. . . .
The Giants of Speculative Fiction Present the Bestselling New Sci-Fi & Fantasy Short Stories of the Year
- 27 Award-Winning short stories and illustrations
- Three short stories from New York Times bestselling authors: L. Ron Hubbard - Brandon Sanderson - Jody Lynn Nye
- Essays on writing and illustration by: L. Ron Hubbard - Orson Scott Card - Jerry Pournelle - Ciruelo
- 16-page color gallery of artwork
Your search for something new and different in sci fi and fantasy ends here. Enjoy this year's collection of fresh voices, fabulous worlds, and fantastic new characters.
Each year, the Writers and Illustrators of the Future contests' blue-ribbon judges search the world to discover and introduce to you the very best new talent in sci fi and fantasy.
Created by L. Ron Hubbard, whose commitment to help new writers and artists gave rise to the annual Writers of the Future anthologies-a launching pad for writers and artists who are sure to command our attention for decades to come. Read them today. Discover the future now!
