Star Rigger Universe

ALL NEW NARRATION Dragons in space? A preposterous legend, dragons dueling with riggers. Nothing can live in the interdimensional Flux of interstellar space. But in the Flux, visions of the mind converge with reality, and visions can be perilous. When star pilot Jael defies an abusive ship's master and rigs "the mountain route to Lexis," dragons indeed appear in the night sky-and challenge her to duel to the death. Just one dragon, Highwing, offers her friendship. If she escapes, she would be wise never again to fly this route between the stars. But Jael has been caught up in an age-old struggle between good and evil, in unwitting fulfillment of an ancient prophecy of "One" from the outside who will shake the realm to its foundation. Fate has its ways, and when the currents of space once more bring her back to the dragon realm, she finds Highwing under sentence of death for the kindness he showed her. Only "the One" can intervene-and so Jael must, for the sake of one who risked his life to save hers. A genre-bending novel of the Star Rigger Universe, from the Nebula-nominated author of Eternity's End, and recipient of the Frank Herbert Lifetime Achievement Award for writing science fiction. "Carver writes powerfully and clearly and has produced a book that is likely to find an audience among hard SF readers." -Booklist

Adrift in space! His rigger crewmates suddenly and horribly dead, Gev Carlyle is adrift in the Flux, the "subjective sea" that carries ships at faster-than-light speeds between the stars. His lone companion and his only hope for survival is a cantankerous, catlike, castaway alien. Only a compatible rigger team, their visions meshed in psychic unity, can safely harness the most turbulent currents of the Flux-and Carlyle's ship is being drawn inexorably toward a deadly maelstrom, the unthinkable stresses of the Hurricane Flume. For even a chance at survival, he needs the alien's help. But the price for that help is a complete merging of minds and memories. And Carlyle, at war with his own past, dreads that union more than death itself. The novel that introduced the Star Rigger universe to thousands of readers, from the Nebula-nominated author of Eternity's End and The Chaos Chronicles, and recipient of the Helicon Award's Frank Herbert Lifetime Achievement Award for writing science fiction. Reviews: "A novel of character-change, maturation, abandonment of illusions and discovering-of-self . . . it's an engaging science fantasy and the novel will leave you saying to yourself, 'Yeah!'" - Richard E. Geis, Galaxy "Learning to communicate, to accept change, to understand the past, to express intimacy become rites of passage for the human Gev Carlyle and his felinoid cynthian crewmate Cephean." -Publishers Weekly

ALL-NEW NARRATION A Planet of Secrets Starship rigging once bound the galaxy together. But that piloting art has been lost, and the worlds of humanity now struggle to stay connected through slower technologies. The ocean world Ernathe may hold the key to the rediscovery of rigging, through a plankton-derived, psychoactive drug called mynalar. But a plankton-harvesting colony on Ernathe has come under attack... from a mysterious sea people, the Nale'nid. A young pilot named Seth Perland may be the one who can establish communication with the almost-human Nale'nid. A sea-woman named Lo'ela takes a keen interest in Seth and develops a special focus on him. Focus, he will learn, can mean love-but it can also mean radically other things for different Nale'nid. Focus is the key to understanding their inexplicable behavior-from seemingly aimless meddling with human activity to the crafting of enigmatic undersea grottos. Focus could also be the key to humanity's goal-a means of exploring the "world within the world," tantalizingly reminiscent of star rigging. But can Seth find a way to reconcile the desires of human civilization with those of these strange sea-beings? A touching story of love and personal discovery, Seas of Ernathe takes us on a journey first into the heart of a mysterious ocean people, and later-if he can succeed-toward relearning the art that once knit the galaxy together. Seas of Ernathe was Jeffrey A. Carver's first full-length tale of what was to become his popular Star Rigger Universe. Set farthest into the future of all the Star Rigger stories, Seas of Ernathe sets a stage for a new cycle of star-faring history. From the Nebula-nominated author of Eternity's End and The Chaos Chronicles, and the 2022 recipient of the Frank Herbert Lifetime Achievement Award for writing science fiction.

ALL NEW NARRATION by Grammy-winner Stefan Rudnicki! Blackmailed! Wrongly discredited as a space pilot, Panglor Balef is doomed to die in space, if sheer luck doesn't bring him through. But luck has never been in Panglor's cards. Bad enough to be coerced into a mission of murder and suicide, he must also contend with Alo-a young woman, stowaway, and impossible companion. Neither of them, nor his empathic ou-ralot, could possibly anticipate the journey through space-time they are about to embark on, through a door to an insane reality from which there is almost certainly no return. It could be the discovery of the millennium, but the only way home is to journey even further into the heart of madness. The stunning prequel to the famed Star Rigger Universe of Jeffrey A. Carver, Nebula-nominated author of Eternity's End and The Chaos Chronicles, and recipient of Frank Herbert Lifetime Achievemen Award for science fiction. PRAISE FOR PANGLOR: "An original and very charming novel, with a particularly unusual protagonist." -Publishers Weekly "Panglor is an interesting and different novel... a fun read." -Future Life PRAISE FOR NOVELS BY JEFFREY A. CARVER: "Masterfully captures the joy of exploration." -Publishers Weekly "Carver writes powerfully and clearly and has produced a book that is likely to find an audience among hard SF readers." -Booklist "Carver is a strong SF writer, with a good feel for both the hard SF elements and the people he populates them with." -Amazing Stories "One of the few hard SF writers whose characters are as interesting as the deep science." -Melissa Scott, author of Dreamships