Date: 1970-90

The Dragon and the George: The Dragon Cycle

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The Dragon and the George: The Dragon Cycle
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One minute he was a college teacher, the next he was a dragon!

Jim Eckert leads a peaceful, happy campus life. He’s a college basketball player and an expert in mediaeval history. But his life has been disrupted by the disappearance of his girlfriend Angie. While taking part in a laboratory experiment on astral projection she just vanished.

In an attempt to find out what’s happened he submits himself to the equipment. A very unwise move.

Next thing he knows he’s in the Middle Ages. Worse, he’s no longer human. He’s in the body of a dragon. Worse still, Angie has been nabbed by another dragon and taken to the Loathly Tower. Obviously, Jim has no option but to give chase . . .

This first volume in Gordon R. Dickson’s hilarious fantasy series is perfect for fans of Piers Anthony and Terry Pratchett.

Hour of the Horde

Hour of the Horde
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One man stands between Earth and a ravening alien horde. Classic military sf in the mode of Starship Troopers and Ender’s Game from a master of the genre.

The ravenous aliens known as the Horde make their way across the Universe like locusts, stripping bare entire galaxies and leaving death and destruction in their wake. Now, they stand on the edge of the Milky Way.

It seems all is lost, but the denizens of our galaxy are not content to give up without a fight. To that end, a galaxy-wide defense force has been assembled, with each star system contributing their greatest warrior to the battle.

Enter Miles Vander, the best a tiny backwater like Earth has to offer. Vander may be the key to destroying the Horde. But first he’ll have to prove his worthiness to his alien compatriots.

A classic of military sf from Hugo and Nebula Award-winning master of science fiction Gordon R. Dickson.

The Dumarest Saga

The Dumarest Saga
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Written from 1967 to 1986 by E.C. Tubb with a last book  published in 2008 2 year before the death of the author

The Dumarest saga was one of the inspiration for the Traveller (role-playing game)

Each story is a self-contained adventure, but throughout the series, Earl Dumarest, the protagonist, searches for clues to the location of his home world, Earth.

The stories are set in a far future galactic culture that is fragmented and without any central government. Dumarest was born on Earth, but had stowed away on a spaceship when he was a young boy and was caught. Although a stowaway discovered on a spaceship was typically ejected to space, the captain took pity on the boy and allowed him to work and travel on the ship. When the story opens in The Winds of Gath, Dumarest has traveled so long and so far that he does not know how to return to his home planet and no-one has ever heard of it, other than as a myth or legend.

This is the tale of Earl Dumarest. Space-wanderer, gladiator-for-hire, seeker of Man’s forgotten home.

Dumarest’s search begins on the ghost-world of Gath, where he becomes unwilling champion of the Matriarch of Kund, and must undergo a fight-to-the-death at stormtime.

Victory could give Dumarest his first clue to the whereabouts of the planet he fled from as a child – an obscure world scarred by ancient wars, which lies countless light years from the thickly populated centre of the galaxy; a world no-one else in the inhabited universe believed exists.

Earth, the birthplace of Man.

 

Conan the Warlord by Leonard Carpenter

Conan the Warlord by Leonard Carpenter
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pastiche of Conan by Leonard Carpenter

In the ancient land of Nemedia, Conan of Cimmeria agrees to impersonate Baron Eihnarson’s son and heir in order to escape a foul prison cell–at least until he can escape completely, with a pouch full of gold. Calissa, the Baron’s sensuous daughter, has other plans for Conan, as does Evadne, the voluptuous rebel maiden. Palace intrigues swirl–poison in the cup and the assassin’s dagger in the dark–and Conan must lead the army of Diander against the Cult of the Snake, the demon which burns and slays all whom it does not concert to half-serpent slaves of an ancient evil. In mouldering tombs the dead Lords of Einharson stir, and rise to strike down any who would threaten their line.

Conan the Champion by John Maddox Roberts

Conan the Champion by John Maddox Roberts
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pastiche of Conan by John Maddox Roberts known for his SPQR serie of historical mystery set in the final years of the Roman Republic

Stranded in the furthest northern reaches of Brythunia, Conan the Cimmerian pledges himself as the champion of the haughty, beautiful Queen Alcuina. Soon the mighty barbarian is enmeshed in a war with two kings, who want Alcuina’s lands, and the evil wizard Iilma, who plots to rule the entire northland and has his own foul designs on the queen’s body. From the blood-drenched snows of the Brythunian forests to the sorcerous Shifting Lands the battles rage. The dead rise to slay, and victory can only come from Conan the Champion.

The Warlock in Spite of Himself (The Warlock of Gramarye Book 1)

The Warlock in Spite of Himself (The Warlock of Gramarye Book 1)
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SCIENCE AND SORCERY DO NOT MIX–EXCEPT ON GRAMARYE

Skeptical, cynical Rod Gallowglass is a spacefaring man of science who does not believe in magic. He’s also an operative of the agency SCENT, tasked with finding lost colony planets, then guiding them toward democracy and eventual membership in the galactic community.

But when he stumbles across the strange new planet Gramarye, he’s shocked to discover a medieval society full of witches and warlocks, elves and monsters. How is it even possible? Worse, Rod’s advanced technology quickly gets him labeled a warlock, despite his constant denials.

Moreover, the Kingdom is in political turmoil, with a young girl-queen on the brink of civil war with her rebellious lords. Rod slowly discovers off-world organizations are behind the unrest, trying to subtly corrupt Gramarye away from democratic rule. His mission is threatened at every turn by fascists, anarchists, and double-dealing royalists playing vicious political power games for the future of the most unique–and perhaps most important–planet in the galaxy.

Aided only by a coven of teenage witches, a ragtag army of beggars, and his epileptic robot horse Fess, Rod decides the only way to thwart these destructive influences—-both native and off-planet—-is for him to become a part of the local fabric and lead Gramarye as one of their own. But to do so, Rod Gallowglass must put aside his own convictions and beliefs, and become a warlock, in spite of himself.

Hardwired

Hardwired
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There is also a little known novelette published 3 years after in the same universe available here

Hardwired, the acknowledged inspiration for the games Cyberpunk Red and Cyberpunk 2077, is now available in a deluxe edition for its thirtieth anniversary, with new content by the author.

Earth lies prostrate beneath the lash of the Orbital powers, and Earth’s Balkanized nations have no choice but to let the Orbitals plunder their remaining wealth. Below the zone of Orbital control, buttonheads, panzerjocks, dirtgirls, and hustlers scramble for their ticket out of the gravity well.

But now, if the criminal underworld and the guerrilla underground can join forces, there is a chance to shift the balance of power— in a war fought on the ground by hardwired commandos, in the air by high-flying deltajocks, and by genius hackers in the neural interface.

Kane saga by Karl Edward Wagner

Kane saga by Karl Edward Wagner
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Where once the mighty Kane has passed, no one who lives forgets. Now, down the trail of past battles, Kane travels again. To the ruins of a devastated city peopled only with half-men and the waif they call their queen. To the half-burnt tavern where a woman Kane wronged long ago holds his child in keeping for the Devil. To the cave kingdom of the giants where glory and its aftermath await discovery. To the house of death itself where Kane retrieves a woman in love.

The past, the future, the present – all these are one for Kane as he travels through the centuries.

Contents:
“Undertow”
“Two Suns Setting”
“The Dark Muse”
“Raven’s Eyrie”
“Lynortis Reprise”
“Sing a Last Song of Valdese”

Legion from the shadow (Bran Mac Morn)

Legion from the shadow (Bran Mac Morn)
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see also : Conan: Road of Kings, another pastiche of Howard by Karl Edward Wagner

Karl Wagner wrote this pastiche of Robert E. Howard’s pictish king, Bran Mac Morn during the heyday, resurgence, or whatever it was of Howard reprints in paperback. Wagner wove a tale of swords and sorcery around the very real disappearance of the Roman 9th Legion in Britain and what a tale it is. Despite his success as a writer of heroic fantasy, Wagner always considered himself more a writer of horror than of sword and sorcery. As was his trademark at the time (and predating the “splatterpunks”) there’s particularly shocking and gruesome scene in this book that will surprise you and stick with you. Bran Mac Morn is, unfortunately, not well known among Howard’s great fantasy characters.

This book was intended to be the first of a series and a second, “Queen of the Night” was written but never published in English due to it becoming entangled in the bankruptcy of Zebra Books for whom it was written (although there are rumors that it appeared in Germany). Pity. Some publisher would do us all a service by extracting “Queen of the Night” from limbo. In addition to his own novels and stories of Kane, Wagner went on to write one more Howard pastiche, a celebrated Conan novel titled “Road of Kings.” And although that book is equally worth your attention, “Legion From the Shadows” ranks as an outstanding example of what a pastiche should a work true to the spirit of the original author’s work while respectfully and creatively furthering the mythology of the character. If you’re a Howard fan or a Karl Wagner fan and this book isn’t on your self you have a gap there that seriously needs filling.

 

Conan: Road of Kings

Conan: Road of Kings
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Often regarded as one of the best Conan pastiches

see also : Legion from the shadow, another pastiche of Howard by Karl Edward Wagner

Facing the gallows for defending his honor-by killing the captain of the guard-the mighty Conan jumps feet first into a rescue attempt of one of his fellow prisoners. When Conan learns his rescuers are the daring Rebels of the White Rose, he joins their blood-soaked insurrection.

But Conan’s struggles are only beginning, for the road to the throne is defended by the Final Guard–indestructible warriors made of stone. Conan must draw steel against these indomitable foes and pray that Krom will guide his blade both strong and true.