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Dragon (Steven Brust Novel)
''Dragon'' is a fantasy novel by American writer Steven Brust, the eighth book in Vlad Taltos series, published in 1998 by Tor Books. It is both the second and fourth book of the series in chronological order, largely occurring after '' Taltos'' and before ''Yendi'', with brief interludes taking place shortly after the events of ''Yendi''. Following the trend of the Vlad Taltos books, it is named after one of the Great Houses in Brust's fantasy world of Dragaera and features that House as an important element to its plot. Plot introduction Vlad joins Morrolan's army and fights in a war against a rival Dragonlord. Plot summary The plot cuts between three timelines. The first timeline follows Vlad's actions at the final battle of a war he has joined. The second follows the events that lead up to the battle. The third marks the events after the battle. Each chapter begins in the first timeline, then switches to the second, while several interludes and the epilogue trace the third. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steven Brust
Steven Karl Zoltán Brust (born November 23, 1955) is an American fantasy and science fiction author of Hungarian descent. He is best known for his series of novels about the assassin Vlad Taltos, one of a disdained minority group of humans living on a world called Dragaera. His recent novels also include ''The Incrementalists'' (2013) and its sequel ''The Skill of Our Hands'' (2017), with co-author Skyler White. As a drummer and singer-songwriter, Brust has recorded one solo album and two albums as a member of Cats Laughing. Brust also co-wrote songs on two albums recorded in the mid-1990s by the band Boiled in Lead. Writing career The Dragaeran books The Vlad Taltos series, written as high fantasy with a science fiction underpinning, is set on a planet called Dragaera. The events of the series take place in an Empire mostly inhabited and ruled by the Dragaerans, a genetically engineered humanoid species, having characteristics such as greatly extended lifespans and heights ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yendi (novel)
''Yendi'' is a fantasy novel by American writer Steven Brust, the second book in his Vlad Taltos series; it is a prequel to the first novel, ''Jhereg''. Originally printed in 1984 by Ace Books, it was reprinted in 1999 in the omnibus ''The Book of Jhereg'' along with ''Jhereg'' and ''Teckla''. Following the trend of the Vlad Taltos books, it is named after one of the Great Houses in Brust's world of Dragaera and features that House as an important element to its plot. ''Yendi'' is Brust's least favorite book. Plot Six months after he took control of his own territory in the criminal Organization, Vlad engages in his first turf war with a rival boss. Each chapter's epigraph is a quote from its chapter. Vlad narrates this story from a point in his life before the events of ''Jhereg''. He quickly summarizes the series of turf wars and assassinations that led him to rise in the ranks of the Organization from low-rung assassin to the boss of his own neighborhood. As the story begins ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1998 Fantasy Novels
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently shadowed craters near the Moon's poles. * January 11 – Over 100 people are killed in the Sidi-Hamed massacre in Algeria. * January 12 – Nineteen European nations agree to forbid human cloning. * January 17 – The '' Drudge Report'' breaks the story about U.S. President Bill Clinton's alleged affair with Monica Lewinsky, which will lead to the House of Representatives' impeachment of him. February * February 3 – Cavalese cable car disaster: A United States military pilot causes the deaths of 20 people near Trento, Italy, when his low-flying EA-6B Prowler severs the cable of a cable-car. * February 4 – The 5.9 Afghanistan earthquake shakes the Takhar Province with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (''Very strong''). With u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1998 American Novels
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently shadowed craters near the Moon's poles. * January 11 – Over 100 people are killed in the Sidi-Hamed massacre in Algeria. * January 12 – Nineteen European nations agree to forbid human cloning. * January 17 – The ''Drudge Report'' breaks the story about U.S. President Bill Clinton's alleged affair with Monica Lewinsky, which will lead to the House of Representatives' impeachment of him. February * February 3 – Cavalese cable car disaster: A United States military pilot causes the deaths of 20 people near Trento, Italy, when his low-flying EA-6B Prowler severs the cable of a cable-car. * February 4 – The 5.9 Afghanistan earthquake shakes the Takhar Province with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (''Very strong''). With up ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jo Walton
Jo Walton (born 1964) is a Welsh and Canadian fantasy and science fiction writer and poet. She is best known for the fantasy novel ''Among Others'', which won the Hugo Award, Hugo and Nebula Awards in 2012, and ''Tooth and Claw (novel), Tooth and Claw'', a Victorian era novel with dragons which won the World Fantasy Award in 2004. Other works by Walton include the ''Small Change'' series, in which she blends alternate history with the cozy mystery genre, comprising ''Farthing (novel), Farthing'', ''Ha'penny (novel), Ha'penny'' and ''Half a Crown (novel), Half a Crown''. Her fantasy novel ''Lifelode'' won the 2010 Mythopoeic Award, and her alternate history ''My Real Children'' received the 2015 Tiptree Award. Walton is also known for her non-fiction, including book reviews and SF commentary in the magazine ''Tor.com''. A collection of her articles were published in ''What Makes This Book So Great'' (2014), which won the Locus Award for Best Non-Fiction. Background Walton w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steven H Silver
Steven H Silver (born April 19, 1967) is an American science fiction fan and bibliographer, publisher, author, and editor. He has been nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer twelve times and Best Fanzine seven times without winning (three for ''Argentus'' and four for ''Journey Planet''). The "H" is his middle name and not an initial. Editor, publisher, and writer Silver was born in Hinsdale, Illinois. He is a longtime contributing editor to SF Site and wrote that site's news page from its inception in 2002 until it closed in 2014. Anthologies In 2003, he co-edited three anthologies with Martin H. Greenberg, '' Wondrous Beginnings'', '' Magical Beginnings'', and '' Horrible Beginnings'', which reprinted the first published stories of authors in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres. From 2004 through 2012 he was the publisher and editor of ISFiC Press. He co-edited the alternate history anthology ''Alternate Peace'' in 2019 with Joshua Palmatier. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of Book Publishing and Bookselling". With 51 issues a year, the emphasis today is on book reviews. The magazine was founded by bibliographer Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ... Frederick Leypoldt in the late 1860s, and had various titles until Leypoldt settled on the name ''The Publishers' Weekly'' (with an apostrophe) in 1872. The publication was a compilation of information about newly published books, collected from publishers and from other sources by Leypoldt, for an audience of booksellers. By 1876, ''The Publishers' Weekly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Widow's Peak
A widow's peak is a V-shaped point in the hairline in the center of the forehead. Hair growth on the forehead is suppressed in a bilateral pair of periorbital fields. Without a widow's peak, these fields join in the middle of the forehead so as to give a hairline that runs straight across. A widow's peak results when the point of intersection on the forehead of the upper perimeters of these fields is lower than usual. Definition A widow's peak is a distinct point in the hairline in the center of the forehead; there are varying degrees of the peak. Although it is commonly taught as an example of a dominant inherited trait, there are no scientific studies to support this. Etymology The term stems from the belief that hair growing to a point on the forehead – suggestive of the peak of a widow's hood – is an omen of early widowhood. The use of peak in relation to hair dates from 1833. The expression widow's peak dates from 1849. The use of peak may refer to the beak or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jhereg
''Jhereg'' is a fantasy novel by American writer Steven Brust, part of his Vlad Taltos series, originally published in 1983 by Ace Books. Ace later republished it in 1999 as part of the three-book omnibus, ''The Book of Jhereg''. Marvel Comics adapted the story into a graphic novel titled ''Steven Brust's JHEREG'' in 1987. The novel is named after House Jhereg, the Great House to which Vlad Taltos belongs. Plot introduction Vlad Taltos, a mobster and assassin in the magical metropolis of Adrilankha, is given the largest contract of his career, but the job is even more complicated than he expects. Plot summary The novel opens with a brief history of Vlad Taltos and a description of how he acquired his jhereg familiar, Loiosh. Despite being an Easterner in the Dragaeran city of Adrilankha, Vlad is a minor boss in the criminal activities of the Jhereg Organization. One day he is approached by ''the Demon'', an extremely powerful member of the Organization's ruling Council, and of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dragaera
Steven Karl Zoltán Brust (born November 23, 1955) is an American fantasy and science fiction author of Hungarian descent. He is best known for his series of novels about the assassin Vlad Taltos, one of a disdained minority group of humans living on a world called Dragaera. His recent novels also include ''The Incrementalists'' (2013) and its sequel ''The Skill of Our Hands'' (2017), with co-author Skyler White. As a drummer and singer-songwriter, Brust has recorded one solo album and two albums as a member of Cats Laughing. Brust also co-wrote songs on two albums recorded in the mid-1990s by the band Boiled in Lead. Writing career The Dragaeran books The Vlad Taltos series, written as high fantasy with a science fiction underpinning, is set on a planet called Dragaera. The events of the series take place in an Empire mostly inhabited and ruled by the Dragaerans, a genetically engineered humanoid species, having characteristics such as greatly extended lifespans and heights ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taltos (Steven Brust Novel)
''Taltos'' is a fantasy novel by American writer Steven Brust, the fourth book in his Vlad Taltos series, set in the fantasy world of Dragaera. Originally published in 1988 by Ace Books, it was reprinted in 2002 along with ''Phoenix'' as part of the omnibus ''The Book of Taltos''. It does not follow the trend of being named after one of the Great Houses of the Dragaeran Empire, and instead takes its title from its protagonist. Due to the series being written out of chronological order, the events of this book are actually the earliest in the series' timeline. Plot summary The story follows three separate timelines that ultimately come together by the end of the book. The first timeline begins each chapter and features Vlad performing an extremely complicated ritual of witchcraft. Vlad actually begins this ritual towards the end of the third timeline. Early life The second timeline charts the details of Vlad's development through childhood. Much of it overlaps with parts of '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Hickman
Stephen Hickman (April 9, 1949 – July 16, 2021) was an American artist, illustrator, sculptor, and author. Biography Hickman's professional career was launched in 1972 when he got a job creating T-shirt designs for Shirt Explosion in Lanham, Maryland. Hickman was given virtually unlimited artistic freedom. His entry into book illustration came in 1974, when Neal Adams of Continuity Studios introduced Hickman to Charles Volpe, art editor at Ace Books. Volpe bought the printing rights of items from Hickman's portfolio, and later commissioned paintings which were used for reprints of Ace Doubles in the ''Classics of Science-Fiction'' series. Hickman then became a full-time artist. His most prominent work is Space Fantasy Stamps, a series of science fiction and fantasy postage stamps made for the United States Postal Service. These stamps are a series of five scenes that depict space travel. Awards * 1994 Hugo Award, for Best Original Art Work * Six Chesley Awards The Chesley A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
