Showing results by author "Deborah J. Ross" in All Categories

Book View Cafe celebrates its fifth anniversary with an anthology of our favorite stories. From the fantasy and science fiction of our roots to steampunk, romance, historical and mainstream; from humor to life's hardest challenges, across the spectrum from light to dark.

In the era of The Hundred Kingdoms, a time of war and unrest, a legendary friendship is forged between king and keeper which will lead to a new destiny for Darkover.

Regis Hastur was the heir to the most powerful domain on Darkover. When his grandfather died, he would inherit the title Hastur of Hastur, Regent of Darkover - king in everything but name. But ironically, this mantle was the last thing Regis had ever wanted. For he dreamed of a different kind of life - a life with the freedom to live and love like an ordinary man, without the expectations and responsibilities of his position.

In Darkover’s dim past, before the tumultuous Ages of Chaos, small kingdoms still vied for power. But with the rise of psychic abilities called laran, unscrupulous leaders turned to half-trained sorcerers for an advantage. One such struggle arose between the realms of Hastur and its ambitious neighbor, Carcosse. Leora Hastur is still a child when her laran awakens, and the resulting crisis almost claims her life. Her beloved older sister, Neave, and her father’s small circle of telepathic workers manage to save her, but nothing can shield her from the horrors of the impending war.

In the era of The Hundred Kingdoms, a time of war and unrest, King Carolin of Hastur and his friend, Keeper Varzil Ridenow, work selflessly to put an end to the destruction caused by the long-range weapons of the magical matrix Towers. But Eduin Deslucido - who once called Carolin brother - has been consumed with a vengeful rage, and will stop at nothing to destroy the king and his plan for peace.

She's a Ranger, a wild and savvy knife-fighter, determined to get help in finding her partner who's lost on the treacherous northern border. He's a scholar who sees visions, eager to escape the confines of city life and the shadow of his charismatic mother. With the assassination of a beloved leader and the city in turmoil, the two have only each other to turn to. What begins as a rescue mission turns deadly as together they unravel the secret that lies beneath Laurea's idyllic surface.

Far in the future, an interplanetary civil conflict has ground to an uneasy halt, leaving its human victims bitter and desperate: Kithri, the daughter of a scientist, abandoned on a desolate mining planet with no hope to use her talents, and Eril, a shell-shocked pilot who finds adapting to peace more difficult than he dreamed. A freak accident sends them back to a time when their desert world was lush and green, when an alien civilization stands on the brink of a war of total destruction.

Across the Azkhantian steppe, warrior women ride to battle against foes both human and supernatural. From the world of The Seven-Petaled Shield come four fantasy tales, originally published in Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Sword & Sorceress. Prophecy links a mother and daughter in an unbreakable bond. A young woman defies tradition to become a shaman. When twins are magically divided, the survivor searches for the other half of her soul. A warrior woman discovers that to wield a magical blade dishonorably carries a heavy price.

From the age of steam and the heirs of Dr. Frankenstein to the asteroid belt to the halls of Miskatonic University, the writers at Book View Café have concocted a beakerful of quaint, dangerous, sexy, clueless, genius, insane scientists, their assistants (sometimes equally if not even more deranged, not to mention bizarre), friends, test subjects, and adversaries.

The crew of the spaceship Juno expected to find a fertile planet ready for colonization. Instead they discovered a fiery grave and a space station filled with corpses. What had happened here? A natural disaster...or an alien weapon capable of destroying entire worlds? What were they willing to do, and what price were they willing to pay, to prevent another disaster?

From the far-ranging imaginations of Book View Caf authors comes this delirious collection of classic tales newly twisted into dark, dangerous, and occasionally hilarious re-tellings. From the golden isles of Greece to the frozen north, from fairytale castles to urban slums, join us on an unforgettable journey! Stories by Vonda N. McIntyre, Laura Anne Gilman, Sherwood Smith, Judith Tarr, and more.