Books published by Perseid Press

Everything you've seen or read till now took you only to the brink . . . Neither pure fantasy, nor straight science fiction, nor earthbound dynastic saga, Janet Morris's Kerrion Empire Series is a stunning amalgam of all three. It is a family saga with the epic appeal of Dune and the action and excitement of Star Wars. It is an epic of love, power and treachery that will appeal to men and women equally; full of action, compulsively readable and quite unlike anything being published in the realms of fantasy today. The protagonist, Shebat, is a remarkable girl from Earth. She is brought to the vast empire of the Kerrion family by a renegade son; named as its future ruler on a whim of his autocratic father; abducted to the slums where the Kerrions' slaves drug themselves with powerful mystical sorcery; and finally rescued to take part in a great rebellion. She falls in love with one brother but marries another and becomes more Kerrion than some born to the name. A magical seductress of men, passionate in her lust for power, Shebat moves among those who control the destinies of millions, for whom treachery and betrayal are as easy as murder. Set in the timeless future on a primitive, savage Earth and on the sophisticated habitats of deep space, Earth Dreams is the final volume of a three-part saga.

JANET MORRIS' BEYOND WIZARDWALL - the northern cycle of Tempus and his Stepsons come to their apocalyptic conclusion at the Festival of Man, where the games are not the scheduled ones of prowess in swordplay or chariot-racing, but games of assassination and treachery.

FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED SILISTRA QUARTET. The cruisers called. She answered.Cruiser Dreams, Book II in the three-book Kerrion Empire saga Cruiser Dreams . . . She is heir to an empire beyond all imagining, where interstellar cruisers have become increasingly sentient and man's role among the stars is transformed. In this epic of political treachery, interstellar security, human passion, and artificial intelligence, Morris writes the saga of the fiery girl Shebat, stolen away from a decaying and primitive Earth to be the adoptive heir to the Kerrion Empire. Molded to serve the designs of the Kerrion state, Shebat instead becomes the harbinger of change sweeping the civilized stars. Against the chaotic background of simultaneous social and technological revolutions, Shebat finds that the man she loves is her implacable enemy, that the man she reluctantly married is perhaps her single ally, and that her space-faring cruiser may be her only true friend.

Everything you've seen or read till now took you only to the brink . . .Neither pure fantasy, nor straight science fiction, nor earthbound dynastic saga, Dream Dancer is a stunning amalgam of all three. It is a family saga with the epic appeal of Dune and the action and excitement of Star Wars. It is a saga of love, power and treachery that will appeal to men and women equally; full of action, compulsively readable and quite unlike anything being published in the realms of fantasy today.The heroine, Shebat, is a remarkable girl from Earth. She is brought to the vast empire of the Kerrion family by a renegade son; named as its future ruler on a whim of his autocratic father; abducted to the slums where the Kerrions' slaves drug themselves with powerful mystical sorcery; and finally rescued to take part in a great rebellion. She falls in love with one brother but marries another and becomes more Kerrion than some born to the name. A magical seductress of men, passionate in her lust for power, Shebat moves among those who control the destinies of millions, for whom treachery and betrayal are as easy as murder. Set in the timeless future on a primitive, savage Earth and on the sophisticated habitats of deep space, Dream Dancer is the first volume of the three-part Kerrion Empire saga.

Own the definitive Authors' Cut edition of Storm Seed, the seventh volume in the iconic Sacred Band series. High adventure awaits in Storm Seed by Janet & Chris Morris:- Travel with the Sacred Band of Stepsons to a future undreamed.- Meet the changeling son of Tempus and the Froth Daughter.- Learn what it takes to become a dragon.- Bring gods to a godless realm.Tempus the Black, avatar of the Storm God, and his partner Niko reunite the Sacred Band for a mission to a dying world. And from there -- should the gods allow -- to mystical Lemuria.- Praise for the Sacred Band series:"Janet Morris, Tempus (1987), and, with Chris Morris, Tempus Unbound (1989), The Sacred Band (2010)."A fantasy series about the Sacred Band of Stepsons, an elite army modeled on the fourth-century B.C.E. Sacred Band of Thebes. The stories explore the fraught personal relationships of mixed hetero- and homosexual troops, only sometimes paired, as they fight for their commander, the immortal Tempus. Morris includes archaeological and historical details, from physical items to social practices, religion, and philosophy, to create a fantasy world that is, in many ways, more historically accurate than many popular accounts of antiquity." -- Robert W. Cape, Jr, in Classical Traditions in Science Fiction, Brett M. Rogers & Benjamin Eldon Stevens, eds., Oxford University Press

Is this the Lemuria of antiquity, or of times to come? Once you've ridden the storm clouds of heaven from the edge of time, anything is possible. Demonic hordes threaten to destroy the very fabric of time itself. The fate of all humanity rests on the shoulders of Tempus the Black, Favorite of the Storm God. But even this hero of legend will encounter a challenge he has never faced before . . . present-day New York City.Praise for the Sacred Band series:"... much more than great Heroic Fantasy: it is classic literature, filled with sub-plots, a fine cast of well-drawn characters, insight and wisdom and recurring themes of honor, faith, brotherhood and love." -- Joe Bonadonna, Black Gate Magazine

The Carnelian Throne is Volume 4 in Janet Morris' bestselling Silistra Quartet. Still controversial after five decades, this Perseid Press edition has been expanded and revised by the author.Estri is a god, daughter of light.Chayin is a god, son of darkness.Sereth is 'hase-enor,' son of all flesh.Lovers and friends, could they be the prophesied three who would wield the Sword of Severance, Se'Keroth, and bring light out of dark?"One from the east, born of ease and destined; One from north of south, divine, exempt of question; The third from out the west, astride a tide of death," quoted Chayin. He was not smiling. It is a long epic. All has been foreseen. We all know that tale's end." -- Estri Hadrath diet Estrazi in Wind from the Abyss by Janet Morris*****"Engrossing characters in a marvelous adventure." -- C. Brown, Locus Magazine*****"The amazing and exotic adventures of the most beautiful courtesan in tomorrow's universe." -- Frederik Pohl*****"The best single example of prostitution used in fantasy is in Janet Morris' Silistra series: High Couch of Silistra (originally entitled Returning Creation), The Golden Sword, Wind from the Abyss, and The Carnelian Throne." -- Anne K. Kaler, "The Picara: From Hera to Fantasy Heroine."*****"[...] today I thought I'd look at one of the most successful fantasy debuts of all time, a series that became a huge international hit with its first release, launching the career of one of the most prolific fantasy writers of the late 20th Century: Janet Morris' The Silistra Quartet."The Silistra Quartet began with Janet's first novel, High Couch of Silistra [...] from Bantam Books in 1977 [,,,] the far-future tale of the colony planet of Silistra, still recovering from an ancient war that left the planet scarred and much of the population infertile. With a dangerously low birth-rate, it's not long before the human colonists of Silistra develop a new social order, with a hierarchy based on fertility and sexual prowess."All told, there were four volumes in what came to be known as The Silistra Quartet [...]."High Couch of Silistra (1977) [...] The Golden Sword (1977) Wind from the Abyss(1978) The Carnelian Throne (1979)" -- John O'Neill in Black Gate Adventures in Fantasy Literature

In a world where a witch can turn a warrior into a flea, where gemstone frogs can rain from the sky, where no one is ever what he seems, where loyalties are ensured by curses, wizardry, and the favor of warring gods… only the immortal Tempus can guarantee an army's success. And not even Tempus can tell the good guys from the bad in Tyse, where everyone plays both ends against the middle - or if the price of victory against Mygdonia will be his Stepsons' souls in their battle BEYOND THE VEIL, third novel in the Sacred Band book series..When a Rankan messenger is killed in Tyse, Randal, the Stepsons' pet wizard, must read the dead man's mind. What Randal learns brings Niko back from the Misty Isles of Bandara and forces Tempus and his Stepsons into an alliance unholy even by Tysian standards, with Cime the mage killer; Askelon, lord of dreams; and the Rankan Third Commando, a fighting unit so cruel it gives even the Stepsons pause. Together with Tempus' long-lost daughter, and his elemental lover, Jihan, they must venture beyond accursed Wizardwall to battle the Mygdonian Alliance and Roxane's Nisibisi witchcraft. The intrepid Band (whose central core is Tempus' beloved Stepsons) must figure out who among the Tysian locals, Rankan soldiers, and Mygdonian defectors they can trust before it's too late. Here is the third novel in Janet Morris' Sacred Band series. Set in Tyse, a town so mean and magic-ridden as to make Sanctuary seem like a singles bar, BEYOND THE VEIL features Tempus, Thieves' World most powerful and misunderstood character, and introduces Kama, his warrior daughter, as well as the deservedly infamous shock troops, the 3rd Commando.

Heroic Fantasy Novel #5 in the Sacred Band SeriesJoin Tempus and Niko on the triple shores of land, sea, and eternity . . .Where a young girl trembles between love and sorcerous obsession . . .Where a prince's refusal to admit his flaws makes him a pawn of hell . . .Where a city of immortals learn that Death has not forgotten it . . .Beneath a warlock's citadel, swords and courage face the jaws of demons --with a kingdom's fate, girl's life and a god's vengeance resting on the outcome.

BEYOND SANCTUARY by Janet MorrisTHE SACRED BAND GOES NORTH - TO WAR!Here is the newly revised Author's Cut edition of BEYOND SANCTUARY, the first ever full-length novel to take you beyond the notorious Thieves World(TM) fantasy universe, where gods still stalk the land, warring with demons and human sorcerers and trampling unfortunate humanity underfoot.If you like stories of bold brave knights employed in meritorious duty, or tales of ladies delicate and fair, be warned: Beyond Sanctuary, set at the foot of notorious Wizardwall, may be too realistic for your sensibilities. War is coming to Tyse, an occupied town at the foot of Wizardwall. And so is the Sacred Band, commanded by Tempus, who is called the favorite of the storm god, the Riddler, Tempus the Black, and worse by his enemies.Tempus longs to align his cavalry with the Nisibisi freemen on Wizardwall's slopes,fighting to regain their homeland against the allied sorcerers of Black Nisibis and the evil Mygdonian empire, intent on conquering all who stand in their way.BEYOND SANCTUARY lies occupied Tyse, a war-torn town in the shadow of Wizardwall that hosts refugees, insurgents, murderers, thieves, and wizards whose allegiance shifts with the wind. And abutting Tyse is godless Peace Falls, where anything can happen, and often does. . . .To some, Tempus is a villain. To others, a hero, albeit a hero with a terrible curse: any he loves will spurn him; any who love him soon die of it. His curse grants him immortality, the gift of healing, and great prowess on the battlefield, but denies him sleep and love -- a curse so dreadful that even the southern storm god he once served has turned against him. But god or no god, Tempus and his Stepsons, with help from his sorcerer-slaying sister Cime and Jihan the Froth Daughter, must battle Datan, the archmage of Black Nisibis and the inhuman legions of Roxane, Death's Queen.In BEYOND SANCTUARY, Tempus and his Sacred Band must war against the deadliest demons and most malevolent mages conceivable. In this war there is no such thing as honorable defeat, or even honorable death in a losing cause. The winners will eat your soul.BEYOND SANCTUARY is the first novel in Janet Morris' Sacred Band of Stepsons: Beyond Trilogy, followed by BEYOND THE VEIL and BEYOND WIZARDWALL.

This Perseid Press Author's Cut Edition is revised and expanded by the author and presented in a format designed to enhance your reading experience with larger, easy-to-read print, more generous margins, and covers designed for these premium editions.Wind from the Abyss is the third volume in Janet Morris' classic Silistra Quartet, continuing one woman's quest for self-realization in a distant tomorrow.Aristocrat. Outcast. Picara. Slave. Ruler ....She is descended from the masters of the universe. To hold her he challenges the gods themselves.Praise for Janet Morris' SIlistra Quartet: "The amazing and erotic adventures of the most beautiful courtesan in tomorrow's universe." -- Fred Pohl"Engrossing characters in a marvelous adventure." -- Charles N. Brown, Locus Magazine.The best single example of prostitution used in fantasy is Janet Morris' Silsitra series." -- Anne K. Kahler, The Picara: From Hera to Fantasy Heroine.Wind from the Abyss starts with this . . .Author's NoteSince, at the beginning of this tale, I did not recollect myself nor retain even the slightest glimmer of such understanding as would have led me to an awareness of the significance of the various occurrences that transpired at the Lake of Horns then, I am adding this preface, though it was no part of my initial conception, that the meaningfulness of the events described by "Khys' Estri" (as I have come to think of the shadow-self I was while the dharen held my skills and memory in abeyance) not be witheld from you as they were from me.I knew myself not: I was Estri because the girl Carth supposedly found wandering in the forest stripped of comprehension and identity chose that name. There, perhaps, lies the greatest irony of all, that I named myself anew after Estri Hadrath diet Estrazi, who in reality I had once been. And perhaps it is not irony at all, but an expression of Khys' humor, an implicit dissertation by him who structured my experiences, my very thoughts, for nearly two years, until his audacity drove him to bring together once more Sereth crill Tyris, past-Slayer, then the outlawed Ebvrasea, then arrar to the dharen himself; Chayin rendi Inekte, cahndor of Nemar, co-cahndor of the Taken Lands, chosen so of Tar-Kesa, and at that time Khys' puppet-vassal; and myself, former Well-Keepress, tiask of Nemar, and lastly becoming the chaldless outlaw who had come to judgment and endured ongoing retribution at the dharen's hands. To test his hesting, his power over owkahen, the time-coming-to-be, did Khys put us together, all three, in his Day-Keeper's city -- and from that moment onward, the Weathers of Life became fixed: siphoned into a singular future; sealed tight as a dead god in his mausoleum, whose every move brought him closer to the sum total, obliteration. So did the dharen Khys bespeak it, himself. . . .

High Couch of Silistra is a story of sex, power, metaphysics and adventure told from the perspective of one world's most desirable courtesan.FOR ADVENTUROUS READERS ONLY"We are all bound," is the great truth of Silistra: Bound by biological necessity and genetics, the men and women of Silistra struggle to sort Nature from Nurture - where Nature always wins.Welcome to Silistra, a glimpse of a far distant future wherein a civilization proclaims the greatest feat an individual can perform is to produce one child, yet distrusts the sciences that brought them to the verge of extinction. Here women and men coexist uneasily in a society ravaged by war, technology, and infertility, each vying for power, seeking dominion over one another.Be warned, if your tastes run to simplistic plots, throbbing organs, swooning damsels or kick-boxing women in men's armor, Silistra may be too challenging. Misogynists, misanthropes, misandrists, or fans of political diatribe, this is not the book for you.High Couch of Silistra, first of the notorious Silistra Quartet, brings us to a realm where thought alters probability, where creativity is inextricably linked to the urge to own and dominate, and where the universe itself is amenable to a focused mind. Rooted deeply in humanity's mythic past yet unaware of the planet Earth, High Couch of Silistra begins one woman's quest for self-knowledge - with surprising results.