A fan from an early age, Chalker was also active as an editor, founding a small press in his early 20s, but it is as a writer that he is best known. Although his earliest novels were singletons, he soon turned his attention to the sequences that would dominate his career: most notably, The Well of Souls series. This omnibus collects the first volume of that series, MIDNIGHT AT THE WELL OF SOULS; book one of his Soul Rider series, SPIRITS OF FLUX AND ANCHOR; and standalone novel, THE IDENTITY MATRIX.

Nothing will ever mystify or challenge the Wonder. He masters entire libraries and languages with little effort. No equation, no problem is too difficult to solve.

His casual conversations with ministers and philosophers decimate their vaunted beliefs and crush their cherished intellectual ambitions. The Wonder compels obedience and silence with a glance. His mother idolizes him as a god. Yet no one is more hated or alone than the Wonder.

This is the chilling tale of Victor Stott, an English boy born thousands of years ahead of his time. Raised in the village of Hampdenshire, the strangely proportioned young Victor possesses mental abilities vastly superior to those of his fellow villagers. The incomprehensible intellect and powers of the Wonder inspire awe, provoke horror, and eventually threaten to rip apart Hampdenshire.

Long recognized as a classic of speculative fiction but never before widely available, The Wonder is one of the first novels about a "superman". J.D. Beresford's subtle and intriguing story of a boy with superhuman abilities paved the way for such noted works as Philip Wylie's Gladiator and A. E. van Vogt's Slan.

Welcome to the Well World: a construct of an ancient defunct race known as the Markovians. The Well World acts both as the controller of and the gateway to 1560 worlds created by the Markovians at the end of their time. *** Gilgam Zinder finally discovers the secret to the Markovian Well World but is then forced by the evil politician and drug dealer, Antor Trelig, to develop a computer that can control the artificial construct. *** Mavra Chang is a freighter pilot hired to rescue Zinder's daughter, who has been kidnapped by Trelig, and to save the worlds populating the construct from Trelig's malicious plans. In the process, Obie, the self-aware computer, accidentally causes a whole world to be automatically transported around the Well World, causing Mavra's ship to crash on a "non-tech" hex-world. *** As inhabitants of surrounding hex-worlds start to realize what is going on, they scramble to collect the pieces of the scattered ship in the hope of escaping the planet, resulting in a chaotic war between various races that might lead to the destruction of the Well World itself. *** Exiles at the Well of Souls is the second book set in the Well World universe.

In this final volume of the Dancing Gods series, Ruddygore and his heroes must face an ancient evil seeping forth from the Sea of Dreams. **** Long dormant evil is rising to challenge reality as we know it and it will destroy Earth and the magical world of Husaguahr if left to its own devices. **** The Rules require the Great McGuffin to challenge and stop the evil forces, but McGuffini is lost in Hell and Ruddygore must, once again, depend on the skills Marge and Joe (and Joe's estranged son, Irving).

Joe has reunited with his son, who has accompanied Joe to Husaquahr. But their joy at being united is cut short by news that the Dark Baron has escaped once again and is gathering a force in the North to capture and enslave them all. *** Can Joe and Tiana (and Irving) make another stand for their new world or is the Dark Baron finally going to vanquish Husaquahr?

Husaquahr has been saved by the brave actions of Joe and Marge. The Dark Baron has been defeated and exiled to Earth where all his magical powers have been stripped. *** But Ruddygore has badly underestimated his deadly enemy. The Dark Baron proves as resourceful on Earth as he was in Husaquahr and he enlists a computer to help him create even more effective spells to become more powerful than before. *** Helped by the forces of the underworld, he is poised to unleash hell on Husaquahr and only Joe and Marge can stop him

Sir Robert McKenzie, owner of the Magellan Corporation, dies suddenly in a mysterious and grisly way. His daughter may be next, for a Satanic cult is determined to herald the arrival of the apocalypse. *** Greg MacDonald unravels the mystery of the cult, run by scientists with a distorted sense of duty and a computer that may be the Antichrist itself.

While the initial battle for Husaquahr has been won, dark forces are gathering to the south. *** One of the Council of Thirteen has to be the Dark Baron and the Baron is plotting with the Demon Prince to shatter the fragile peace and bring Armageddon to the magic world beyond the Sea of Dreams. *** But before the Dark Baron and the Demon Prince can put their plans into action, they need to deal with Throckmorton P. Ruddygore, master sorcerer who suspects that all is not as it should be. *** Once again Ruddygore must call on the help of the two humans, Joe and Marge, and together they must face the evil forces that threaten Husaquahr with annihilation.

Something strange happens to Joe and Marge on the way to El Paso. They run into Throckmorton P. Ruddygore, a strange wizard who informs them that they are going to die in nineteen minutes and eighteen seconds. **** But they also have a choice. They can abandon the current world by taking a ferryboat across the Sea of Dreams to a new life in a new world, full of magic, fairies and wonder. **** But along with all its wonders, the new world is also the site of an ancient battle still being fought between the forces of Evil and Good, and the forces of Hell threaten to unleash perpetual darkness. **** Joe and Marge not only need their wits to survive in this unpredictable and dangerous world, but must somehow help prevent the oncoming Armageddon.

This is Book Three of the Epic Tetralogy, The Four Lords of the Diamond. **** Aliens are spying on Earth from one of the four worlds that make up the Warden Diamond. But it is impossible to send agents to any of the four worlds because of unique microscopic symbionts that make it impossible for visitors to leave the Diamond. **** Seeking a unique solution, each of the four worlds making up the Diamond is sent a person whose mind has been stripped of everything and who is now controlled by an agent of the Confederacy. **** Park Lacoch's body (stripped of his own mind) is exiled to the hell-world of Charon, one of the Warden Diamond worlds being investigated for alien influences and presence. Can he survive long enough to complete his investigation in this unbearably hot world where strange creatures roam and witchcraft is a normal way of life?