Books by S P Somtow

The majestic conclusion of the original Inquestor Series, S.P. Somtow's classic masterpiece of the fall of a galactic empire, returns in a new edition in time for the publication of new novels in the series

In a vast and cruel galactic empire, a boy chosen to be the instrument of the empire's fall must juggle unlimited power and his two loves. From the iconic "Inquestor" series.

"His multicultural viewpoint may yet give us the best SF novel of all time" - AnalogFor twenty thousand years, the godlike Inquestors have held sway over the one million worlds of the Dispersal of Man. S.P. Somtow's limitless imagination has created a universe of breathtaking majesty, amazing beauty, and shattering cruelty. In games of makrugh played in elegant floating palaces, planets are destroyed or saved to preserve the balance of the galaxy. Exotic languages and customs, servocorpses, tachyon bubbles, childsolders with implanted laser-irises, people bins that hold populations of entire planets, delphinoid ships that sail the overcosm, utopias that must be hunted down and destroyed in the name of the High Compassion, thinkhives that connect the galaxy via the space between spaces …All this must end. And end it does, in what Theodore Sturgeon has described as "the greatest magnitude of color and spectacle since Stapledon."For the fortieth anniversary of the publication of the first Inquestor story in Analog, Diplodocus Press is bringing back revised editions of all four of the original Chronicles of the High Inquest - and releasing a fifth volume, Homeworld of the Heart. "he can create a world with less apparent effort than some writers devote to creating a small room … yet these tales are intricately wrought as those handcarved oriental balls within balls"- The Washington Post"his dense, poetic prose is as unique as his name"- Los Angeles Times"One of SF's formidable talents!"-Publishers Weekly

An extraordinary tale of a collaboration between a composing prodigy and a Washington politician, the story of how a Thai schoolboy came to create the entire oevre of an American composer is fabulous in the true sense of the world … a modern mythic journey. A true story … yet one that beggars belief … with cameo appearances by all sorts of members of the Washington "swamp" … and the odd science fiction writer dropping in for a chat.… "It's a story about the human need to want to break boundaries and exceed limitations. It's about dreams and aspirations, and in the end we need to ask questions about the very nature of art and about why we as humans need art in our lives. "It is also the story of two people from vastly divergent cultures, two people who both, perhaps, felt alienated from the people and situations that surrounded them, and who came to share a strangely intimate bond." A never-before-told secret history, this memoir by the first Asian to be awarded the European Cultural Achievement Award is an eye-opener.

Novelist, composer and conductor Somtow Sucharitkul (who writes books under the name S.P. Somtow) had an extraordinary epiphany while driving downthe California coast. At almost 50 years of age, having spent very little time in his native Thailand, he was seized by an overwhelming desire to enter a Buddhist monastery. This is the story of that journey, full of surprises, culture shock, discoveries, humor and spirituality. Visions, dreams, comedy, philosophy, wisdom and superstition mingle in an unforgettable fusion.

On this alternate Earth, Rome rules all...including the New World, known in other dimensions as America but here as Terra Novo.General Titus Papinianus is governor of that untamed land, and Aquila, chief of the savage Lacoti nation, is a Roman senator. But official titles aside, their duty is to Caesar. So when Caesar sends them on a quest for the fabled land of China, thought to be somewhere in Terra Novo, off they go.They are hardly prepared for bloodthirsty Aztecs, flying machines, time-traveling aliens, or Bigfoot - and Aquila's problem-solving strategies are unconventional to say the least!Before they know it, their adventures lead them into the hands of the Time Criminal, who is bent on altering all the multiple universes to suit his own evil whims. Somehow they have to stop him...before their world is destroyed!

Equus Insanus, son of Aquila, has been missing for three years on his quest to bring the vile Time Criminal to justice. His Roman half brother, Lucius, nephew to Caesar, fears him dead - until he begins receiving strange messages from the lost Lacoti warrior.Then Lucius learns that Equus has been captured by the Time Criminal, who plans to use him as the instrument which will destroy their world. Discovering that the secret to Equus's salvation may lie in the pyramids of Giza and in the riddle of the Sphynx, Aquila and Lucius set out for Egypt. They have no idea that the answers they find will lead them across the entire Roman Empire, through space, and ultimately through time itself - for the final confrontation with the Time Criminal and the battle for a man's soul!

Equus Insanus, son of the intrepid Aquila, finds the civilized life of Rome tedious. So he is eager to return to his native land of Terra Novo to assist in the construction of Caesar's latest fancy -- a transprovincial railroad.But on this alternate Earth where the Roman Empire rules America, things seldom go as planned. Soon the project is beset with savage Indian raids and inexplicable disasters...and Equus's father returns from the future with a dire warning: The evil Time Criminal is back and stronger than ever, and even Aquila of the time-trading Dimensional Patrol is powerless to act!Now only Equus Insanus stands between the Time Criminal and the destruction of the universe!