count_fenring gets the box full of Wild Cards books.That paperback pile is getting smaller. I've still got a few more stacks to give away, though.
Today, a couple of space opera trilogies by Jack L. Chalker.
"But wait!" you're saying. "I count five books there. Two trilogies would be six books!"
Well, yeah. I've got one complete trilogy and the first and last book in a second trilogy... which is in fact a sequel trilogy.
I read both of these many years ago, but only remember the first.
The Quintara Marathon consists of:
- The Demons at Rainbow Bridge
- The Run to Chaos Keep
- Ninety Trillion Fausts
The story that runs through the series is the discovery of a race of "demons" in suspended animation. All the intelligent races of the galaxy have myths about demons, and all their myths describe demons similarly — because, as it turns out, they all have racial memories of this ancient, powerful species. Which, in this trilogy, returns to life with attendant death and destruction.
It's not the war against the demons I enjoyed so much as the three-sided point of view of the three dominant galactic civilizations: The Exchange, a hyper-capitalistic empire ruled by AIs, the Mycohlians, a parasitic race that takes over its hosts and rules an expansionist empire, and the Mizlaplan, a race of mind-controllers. All of these empires are inhabited largely by humans and a few other species. What made them interesting is that while each of them would appear to be a "bad guy" empire (the Exchange is a libertarian nightmare, the Mycohlians' empire is a brutal meritocracy where you advance by killing whoever is ahead of you, and the Mizlaplan enslave their subjects with religious fanaticism), the books focus on groups of main characters from each of the three empires, and Chalker does a good job of showing how from the viewpoint of each of these civilizations, it's the other guys who suck worse.
The Watchers of the Well
- Echoes of the Well of Souls
- Gods of the Well of Souls
This trilogy (of which I have books one and three) is a sequel to the Well World series. I read the first five books of the original series (starting with Midnight at the Well of Souls) and enjoyed it, but... I really don't remember the Watchers of the Well at all. I am not even sure if I ever read these books. So, I am tossing them in with the above three, but I'd suggest you start with the original Well World series first.
Rules:
1. Only ask for these books if you actually intend to read them. I'd like you to post a review here on
bookish, though this is not obligatory.2. I will choose one winner randomly.
3. You must PM me your address if you are chosen.
4. U.S. only.
Still more books to come!
Feel free to discuss these books or Jack L. Chalker below, even if you don't want the books.