Synopses & Reviews
Join bestselling authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, world-builders extraordinaire, as they triumphantly return to their epic galaxy-spanning fantasy adventure that began in The Mantle of Kendis-Dai. Enter a remarkable universe where science and magic co exist in uneasy equilibrium. A cosmos populated by elves, dragons, minotaurs, and synthetic minds. . . where ultimate power rests in a fabled sword able to bend reality itself to the will of whoever wields it . . .
Thousands of years ago, the mad emperor Lokan controlled the Nightsword--and imposed his twisted desires on all that lived. At his slightest whim, whole worlds were destroyed, and entire races were transformed. Then Lokan mysteriously vanished behind the Maelstrom Wall, into the quantum chaos of the galactic core. But legend says that somewhere behind the Wall, lost amidst the ghost ships of Lokan's doomed fleet, the Nightsword is hidden, its awesome energies waiting to be used again . . . for good or evil.
While most dismiss the legend as fairy tale, others believe, and hunger for such godlike power. Though no one knows the course Lokan's fleet followed millennia ago, several have tried to track it, only to perish in the treacherous quantum fields behind the Wall. But when Earther astronaut Jeremy Griffiths donned the Mantle of Kendis-Dai and became blessed--and perhaps cursed--with infinite knowledge, he learned the exact direction of Lokan's ill-fated route. And now the secrets stored in his head have made him the target of everyone who has ever coveted the Nightsword for their own ends.
A man with unrivaled magical abilities and insidious instincts, Targ of Gandri yearned for the Nightsword to rule the universe once and for all. His protégé and now-nemesis, Merinda Neskat, believes the sword has the power to restore the ancient empire of Kendis-dai--the goal to which she has dedicated her life. For the mysterious Sentinels of the Order, the artifact would ensure the success of their rebellion and grant them victory in their long struggle for total domination. Caught in the middle, Jeremy Griffiths wants only to get his crew safely home to Earth--and to impress the bewitching, bewildering Merinda Neskat. Yet he is caught firmly in the middle of galactic agendas beyond his control, and this new quest will prove to be the challenge of a lifetime . . .
Starshield: Nightsword is a dazzling addition to Weis and Hickman's interstellar epic of magic and adventure--a series destined to stand with Dragonlance® and Death Gate as classics of modern fantasy.
Synopsis
Fantasy and sf storytellers extraordinaire Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman continue to push the frontier of imaginative fiction, returning to the world of their stunning Del Rey debut in the second epic Starshield adventure.
In a remarkable universe of dragons, minotaurs, and synthetic minds, where magic and science co-exist, absolute power belongs to whoever wields the Nightsword -- a weapon that controls reality itself. The mad emperor Lokan held the sword until he vanished into the quantum chaos of the galactic core, leaving the Nightsword to drift for thousands of years awaiting a new master. Merinda Neskat has dedicated her life to finding the sword and using its godlike power to restore the ancient empire of Kendis-Dai. Meanwhile, the treacherous Targ of Gandri seeks the same prize as a tool for ultimate domination. Caught between them, Earth astronaut Jeremy Griffiths is blessed -- or cursed -- with the infinite knowledge that could lead him to the Nightsword ... and plunge him into a battle for control of all existence!
About the Author
Margaret Weis was born and raised in Independence, Missouri. She attended the University of Missouri, Columbia, graduating in 1970 with a BA in creative writing. In 1983, Weis was hired as a book editor at TSR, Inc., producers of the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing games. Here she met game designer Tracy Hickman and the two teamed up to write the bestselling Dragonlance® novels. Weis has two children, David and Elizabeth Baldwin. Weis and her husband, Don Perrin, live in a converted bard in Wisconsin with two collie dogs, Laddie and Robbie; a Sheltie, Jo-jo; and two cats, Niclolai Mouseslayer and Motley Tatters.
Tracy Hickman was born in Salt Lake City. He currently resides in a large Victorian home he built for his wife and four children in the tall mountain pines of Flagstaff, Arizona. He has coauthored with Margaret Weis four New York Times bestselling series, including Death Gate Cycle and the Dragonlance® series--which have more than eleven million copies in print--and has published his own solo works as well.