Thomas Burnett Swann (1928-1976) earned a distinguished reputation among writers of science fiction, one that caused his enthusiastic following to nominate him again and again for awards. Unique in his talent, his novels dealt not with the far future, but with the enigma of the past. Prior to the dawn of human history, the Earth did not belong solely to humanity -- there were other intelligent species still fighting a last-stand battle against extinction.Remembered today only in legend, these are creatures of the trees and water, beings that combined beast and man, with strange lore of their own and sciences lost to the human victors.

GREEN PHOENIX is a tour-de-force of the final stronghold of the prehumans against the last legion of fallen Troy.

"He writes his own golden thing his own way..." --Theodore Sturgeon, The New York Times

"Swann's neo-romantic fantasies of the past are unique. He uses the stuff of myth with twists and inventions all his own." --The Village Voice

After being unavailable for many years, the complete works of Thomas Burnett Swann are being reprinted by Wildside Press -- all 16 novels and the complete short stories.

Here in THE FOREST OF FOREVER dwells the last Minotaur, and here too are the other lingering dwellers in that folk-whispered country where dwell the beasts that are human and the humans that are beasts...

Also in this series: DAY OF THE MINOTAUR

Thomas Burnett Swann (1928 - 1976) was an American poet, critic and fantasy author. The bulk of Swann's fantasy fits into a rough chronology that begins in ancient Egypt around 2500 BC and chronicles the steady decline of magic and mythological races such as dryads, centaurs, satyrs, selkies and minotaurs. The coming of more "advanced" civilisations constantly threatens to destroy their pre-industrial world, and they must continually seek refuge wherever they can. They see the advent of Christianity as a major tragedy; the Christians regard magic and mythological beings as evil and seek to destroy the surviving creatures, although some manage to survive and preserve some of their old ways through medieval times down to the late 19th Century and perhaps the 20th.

Thomas Burnett Swann was a brilliant fantasy writer who died in 1976. He wrote primarily about the ancient Greek and Roman world, blending myth with romance and adventure. A reviewer in the Village Voice sums his work up well: "Swann's neo-romantic fantasies of the past are unique. He uses the stuff of myth but with twists and inventions of his own." Swann's last published novel, Queens Walk in the Dusk is a retelling of the romance of Dido and Aeneas. It is a companion volume to Green Phoenix.

"The Minikins of Yam offers us an outre ancient world -- in this case Egypt -- where the creatures of myth ... exist alongside true historical characters and settings. The 12-year-old Pharoah, Pepy II (whom Swann tells us really existed), is a humanitarian soul, sneaking out of the palace at night in disguise to distribute largesse among the poor and downtrodden. But Pepy is threatened by the machinations of his sister and queen, who is plotting his murder so she can enjoy absolute rule -- a stunt she just might get away with since she can disguise the murder as a sacrifice to assuage a population panicked by the untimely and prophetic arrival of a phoenix on the palace walls." --SFReviews.net

"The Minikins of Yam offers us an outre ancient world -- in this case Egypt -- where the creatures of myth ... exist alongside true historical characters and settings. The 12-year-old Pharoah, Pepy II (whom Swann tells us really existed), is a humanitarian soul, sneaking out of the palace at night in disguise to distribute largesse among the poor and downtrodden. But Pepy is threatened by the machinations of his sister and queen, who is plotting his murder so she can enjoy absolute rule -- a stunt she just might get away with since she can disguise the murder as a sacrifice to assuage a population panicked by the untimely and prophetic arrival of a phoenix on the palace walls." --SFReviews.net