Irene Teasey came to Ireland to claim an unexpected interitance from an aunt she had never met . . . a legacy of land, a sprawling house, cottages with tenants, and even a horse . . . more than she had dared hope for. Enough to make her independent of her former husband. Enough to start a new life. Together with her children, Simon and Sara, she will find more than escape from an abusive relationship. She will find loyal friends, her extended Irish family . . . and a new love in this beautiful, ancient land.

Carla Murdoch had learned what it was to be alone, growing up on different army posts. But now her loneliness is terrible--for her officer father met a mysterious death on a foreign battlefield, and Carla has been sent to live in her new guardian's New England mansion . . . a remote, snowbound place where she finds she isn't really wanted. Together with her dog, Merlin, Carla must make a new start and face demons within and without--for her father's killer is now on her trail, too! A thrilling novel of romantic suspense by one of the world's favorite storytellers.

What do the world's most imaginative minds feast upon? Spiderfish Stew... Shrimp Anarchy... Surrealistic Fudge... Pa's Peasant Soup... and Marvellous Morphed Meat. How do the world's great science fiction and fantasy authors feed themselves when they're not whipping up tales of wonder? What did they eat before they were famous-and what do they serve to their friends? Compiled and annotated by best-selling author Anne McCaffrey, Serve It Forth is an unparalleled collection of recipes submitted by the writers themselves, so you can eat like Patricia Anthony (The I've-Been-to-Brazil-I-Know-What-Black-Beans-Are Dip), David Gerrold (Death to the Enemies of the Revolution Chili), and Poul Anderson (The Great Pumpkin). Each wonderful, dunce-proof recipe is accompanied by personal notes from the author-chefs, as they guide you into the preparation of such repasts as: Sherried Walnut Cake by Lois McMaster Bujold; Pig by David Drake; Comforting Clam Chowder by Peter S. Beagle; Night of the Living Meatloaf by Allen Steele; How (and Why) to Dress and Prepare Texas Armadillo by Ardath Mayhar; Catfish and Red Meat Flavouring by Larry Niven; And over 100 more Kurtz, Mercedes Lackey, John Brunner, Joan Vinge, M. K. Wren, and many more.

For use in schools and libraries only. This volume includes the first three books in the popular science-fiction Dragonriders of Pern series: Dragonflight, Dragonquest, and The White Dragon.

In a time when the deadly scourge Thread has not fallen on Pern for centuries--and many dare to hope that Thread will never fall again--a boy is born to Harper Hall. A musical prodigy who has the ability to speak with the dragons, he is called Robinton, and he is destined to be one of the most famous and beloved leaders Pern has ever known.

It is a perilous time for the harpers who sing of Thread--they are being turned away from holds, derided, attacked, even beaten. In this climate of unrest, Robinton will come into his own. But despite the tragedies that beset his own life, he continues to believe in music and in the dragons, and he is determined to save his beloved Pern from itself--so that the dragonriders can be ready to fly against the dreaded Thread when at last it returns . . .

Let the queen of dragons herself take you back to the earliest days of Pernese history as Anne McCaffrey brings to life events that shaped one of the most popular worlds in all of science fiction, in this first-ever Pern short-story collection.


From the Hardcover edition.

The Rowan was one of the strongest Talents ever born, but she was also lonely and without family, friends --or love. Then a telepathic message came from a distant world facing an alien threat, a message sent by an unknown Talent named Jeff Raven, and be it power, danger, or love--the Rowan is about to meet her match.

HOW CAN ONE GIRL SAVE AN ENTIRE WORLD?

To the nobles who live in Benden Weyr, Lessa is nothing but a ragged kitchen girl. For most of her life she has survived by serving those who betrayed her father and took over his lands. Now the time has come for Lessa to shed her disguise—and take back her stolen birthright.

But everything changes when she meets a queen dragon. The bond they share will be deep and last forever. It will protect them when, for the first time in centuries, Lessa’s world is threatened by Thread, an evil substance that falls like rain and destroys everything it touches. Dragons and their Riders once protected the planet from Thread, but there are very few of them left these days. Now brave Lessa must risk her life, and the life of her beloved dragon, to save her beautiful world. . . .


From the Trade Paperback edition.

In Freedom's Landing, galactic invasion forced thousands of humans to colonize a new planet. In Freedom's Choice, human Kris Bjornsen and her comrades found new hope for rebellion. Now, in Freedom's Challenge, Kris and her Catteni lover Zainal prepare to face danger and pain, in the final fight...for liberty.

The second in the Dragonriders of Pern trilogy.

Award-winning fantasy author Anne McCaffrey returns with her bestselling Harper Hall Trilogy, wonder-filled imaginative classics now available in digest format.

Finally together in one volume, the first three books in the world's most beloved science fiction series, THE DRAGONRIDERS OF PERN, by Anne McCaffrey, one of the great science fiction writers of all time: DRAGONFLIGHT, DRAGONQUEST, THE WHITE DRAGON. Those who know these extraordinary tales will be able to re-visit with Lessa, F'lar, Ruth, Lord Jaxon, and all the others. And for those just discovering this magical place, there are incomparable tales of danger, deceit, and daring, just waiting to be explored..

The spacefaring Barque Cats are valued members of every vessel's crew, thanks to their special bond with humans. Then Pshaw-Ra, a mysterious cat with highly advanced knowledge, gives the felines the power of telepathy. When panic over a virulent plague drives the government to exterminate animals, Pshaw-Ra guides the cats and humans of the starship "Ranzo" to safety on his home planet, Mau. But Pshaw-Ra has a hidden agenda. His ultimate goal? Mate the Barque Cats with their godlike counterparts who rule on Mau and create a superior race to conquer the universe. His plans, however, may be doomed by his daughters' battle royal to become queen, by a suspicious Barque Cat with an equally curious human friend--and by something stirring deep beneath the city with a hunger to devour all life . . . and an undying hatred for cats.

The men who rode the dragons were a breed apart. Chosen when the dragons were first hatched, they became soulmates for life

with the huge, magnificent beasts they controlled — the green, blue, brown and bronzes — beautiful — terrible — the only creatures who could defend the planet Pern from the blood-red star. But without the Queen, the dragons would become extinct. Only the gigantic, golden Queen could breed the new flights. And the Queen was fading...dying...leaving behind one last, huge, golden egg.

DRAGONFLIGHT is the first book in Anne McCaffrey’s world-famous Chronicles of Pern.

Another Turn, and the deadly silver Threads began falling again. So the bold dragonriders took to the skies and their magnificent flying dragons swirled and swooped in space, belching flames that destroyed the shimmering strands before they reached the ground.

But F’lar knew he had to find a better way to protect the peoples and lands of Pern, and he had to find it before the rebellious Oldtimers could breed any more dissent...before his brother, F’nor, would be foolhardy enough to launch another suicide mission...and before the mercurial fire-lizards could cause even more trouble.

DRAGONQUEST is another superb adventure in Anne McCaffrey’s

world-famous Chronicles of Pern.

There was a sudden stench of a dead sea creature. There was the sudden horror of a huge black shape closing over her. There was nothing... Then there were pieces of memory, isolated fragments that were so horrible her mind refused to accept them. Intense heat and shivering cold; excruciating pain; dismembered pieces of the human body. Sawn bones and searing screams. And when she awoke she found she was in a world that was not earth, and with a face and body that were not her own. She had become a Restoree...

In Changelings, bestselling authors Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough returned to the sentient planet Petaybee with a story of growth and transformation in the face of deadly new threats. The telepathic, shapeshifting twins Murel and Ronan found that Petaybee had plans for them as well. Now those plans begin to bear fruit with fresh possibilities . . . and dangers.
MAELSTROM
Now that Petaybee is forming a new equatorial island, the planet has agreed to harbor a group of new refugees, workers indentured to the powerful InterGal Corporation. But the mission to collect the immigrants becomes a rescue operation when it is revealed that InterGal is doing nothing to help these survivors of a world devastated by a meteor shower. Murel and Ronan set out to persuade the frightened refugees to come out of hiding, leave their world, and bring along their sacred totem animals, the gifted sea turtles called the Honus. But the twins discover that they've taken on more than they expected: The Honus are not the only animals sacred to the refugees. There are also the Manos, intelligent sharks who have lost none of their predatory habits-and who cannot be left behind to die.
When the Manos are released into Petaybee's waters, a tragic misunderstanding endangers the whole resettlement operation. At the same time, the mysterious sea otters who once rescued the twins' father are suddenly revealed to be much more than they appear to be.
Now it is up to Ronan and Murel, with the intrepid assistance of their river otter friend Sky, to smooth the waters before a maelstrom of revenge destroys Petaybee's harmonious way of life.
But even as the twins uncover startling new facts about Petaybee's past that will change everything they thought they knew about the planet, the forces of InterGal are gathering, preparing to strike. . . .

"From the Hardcover edition."

When Masterharper Zist takes over as Harper for Natalon's coal-mining camp, he takes with him his apprentice, the orphaned, mute Pellar, and Pellar's fire-lizard Chitter. Pellar has become a gifted tracker and Zist gives him his own mission - to find out if the recent thefts of coal are the work of the Shunned, criminals condemned to a life of wandering and hardship. Halla is one of the children of the Shunned. Though innocent of their parents' crimes, these children have inherited their cruel punishment. With no shelter when the lethal Thread falls again they will have no protection against it. Life is even tougher for Halla, all her family are dead and she must fend for herself. Yet Halla is kind and gentle, devoted to helping those more helpless than she, unlike Tenim, a fellow child of the Shunned. Tenim is in league with Tarik, a crooked miner from Camp Natalon, who helps him steal coal in exchange for a cut of the profit. But Tenim soon realizes there is a lot more to be made from firestone, the volatile mineral that enables the dragons of Pern to burn Thread out of the sky. Tenim doesn't care what he has to do, or whom he has to kill, in order to corner the market. Cristov is Tarik's son. Dishonored by his father's greed and treachery, he decides he must make amends somehow... even if it means risking his life by mining the volatile firestone, which blows up at contact with the slightest drop of moisture. When the last remaining firestone mine explodes in flames, a desperate race begins to find a new deposit of the deadly but essential mineral, for without it there can be no defence against Thread. But Tenim has a murderous plan to turn the tragedy to his own advantage, and only Pellar, Halla and Cristov can stop him - and ensure that there will be a future for all on the world of the Dragonriders.

Fantasy fans, rejoice! Seven years after writer and editor Robert Silverberg made publishing history with "Legends," his acclaimed anthology of original short novels by some of the greatest writers in fantasy fiction, the long-awaited second volume is here. "Legends II" picks up where its illustrious predecessor left off. All of the bestselling writers represented in "Legends II" return to the special universe of the imagination that its author has made famous throughout the world. Whether set before or after events already recounted elsewhere, whether featuring beloved characters or compelling new creations, these masterful short novels are both mesmerizing stand-alones--perfect introductions to the work of their authors--and indispensable additions to the epics on which they are based. Beyond any doubt, "Legends II" is the fantasy event of the season.
ROBIN HOBB returns to the Realm of the Elderlings with "Homecoming," a powerful tale in which exiles sent to colonize the Cursed Shores find themselves sinking into an intoxicating but deadly dream . . . or is it a memory?
GEORGE R. R. MARTIN continues the adventures of Dunk, a young hedge knight, and his unusual squire, Egg, in "The Sworn Sword," set a generation before the events in "A Song of Ice and Fire.
"ORSON SCOTT CARD tells a tale of Alvin Maker and the mighty Mississippi, featuring a couple of ne'er-do-wells named Jim Bowie and Abe Lincoln, in "The Yazoo Queen."
DIANE GABALDON turns to an important character from her Outlander saga--Lord John Grey--in "Lord John and the Succubus," a supernatural thriller set in the early days of the Seven Years War.
ROBERT SILVERBERG spins an enthralling tale of Majipoor's early history--and remote future--as seen through the eyes of a dilettantish poet who discovers an unexpected destiny in "The Book of Changes."
TAD WILLIAMS explores the strange afterlife of Orlando Gardiner, from his Otherland saga, in "The Happiest Dead Boy in the World."
ANNE McCAFFREY shines a light into the most mysterious and wondrous of all places on Pern in the heartwarming "Beyond Between."
RAYMOND E. FEIST turns from the great battles of the Riftwar to the story of one soldier, a young man about to embark on the ride of his life, in "The Messenger."
ELIZABETH HAYDON tells of the destruction of Serendair and the fate of its last defenders in "Threshold," set at the end of the Third Age of her Symphony of Ages series.
NEIL GAIMAN gives us a glimpse into what befalls the man called Shadow after the events of his Hugo Award-winning novel "American Gods" in "The Monarch of the Glen."
TERRY BROOKS adds an exciting epilogue to "The Wishsong of Shannara" in "Indomitable," the tale of Jair Ohmsford's desperate quest to complete the destruction of the evil Ildatch . . . armed only with the magic of illusion.

"From the Hardcover edition."

Stranded on an uninhabited planet by alien overlords, Kris Bjornsen and her fellow slaves would surely have died—without the help of the exiled alien Zainal. Not only did they survive on the world they named Botany, they eventually drove their enemies away.

Now the freed slaves must struggle to find their place in a newly configured universe. In the wake of the alien devastation, Earth needs food. Botany needs technology. And Kris, Zainal, and their people need to decide what kind of world they will become.