Showing results by author "Piers Anthony" in All Categories

Beginning in the earliest origins of our ancient ancestors who emerged from the Eden of Africa millions of years ago, Shame of Man follows two lovers - Hugh, a dreamer and musician, and his beloved Ann, a beautiful dancer - as they struggle to preserve their family and their way of life during some of the most turbulent periods of our savage past.

Anthony and Margroff continue the saga of young Kelvin of Rud, a child of prophecy, whose adventures and destiny should keep listeners locked in from start to finish.

Slim's a Texas bluesman of a certain age, down on his luck, and just about broke - but hey, that's what the blues are all about. Then, one day, in a single hot burst of lightning that comes straight up out of the ground, Slim finds himself in Tejas. Not Texas, but somewhere else. It's a little bit magic and a whole lot different, but the blues are the same. And the blues - manifest here in the form of a maple-necked pearl-gray Fender Stratocaster with blue-chrome pickups a.k.a. The Gutbucket - needs him and needs him bad.

Herb Moss is a nice young man. He's a Vegan: a member of a genetically engineered species, part human and part plant, living on the planet New World. It's a good life, really: Herb's engaged to be married to his childhood sweetheart Lily; has a job with his father's firm; and can look forward to a solid if unexciting future. And as everyone keeps telling him, it's time to put down roots. If he happens to be bored every time he thinks about it - well, that's a normal part of growing up, isn't it?

Chthon was Piers Anthony's first published novel in 1967, written over the course of seven years. He started it when he was in the US Army, so it has a long prison sequence that is reminiscent of that experience, being dark and grim. It features Aton Five, a space man who commits the crime of falling in love with the dangerous, alluring Minionette and is therefore condemned to death in the subterranean prison of Chthon.

In this comedy by the legendary Piers Anthony, the six-year-old son of a wealthy man wants a pet for his birthday. So, he promises his son to get him whatever he wants. Well - the boy wants a Pegasus! The father, knowing such an animal does not exist, proves it to the boy by grabbing the encyclopedic edition for that very entry. Not only do they find the Pegasus doesn't exist, but the animals they know exist in fact - do not!

Penn and Chandelle, an older couple, rent a house in the city at a bargain price and discover that its back door opens onto an endless forest. Now they know why others were scared off. That's only the beginning of the oddities about this particular piece of realty. They decide to call in experts: their grandchildren, Lloyd and Llynn, who pitch in with a will to try to discover what and why. But it may be more of a challenge than they can handle.

When Aladdin is summoned to save the magical Sirens from a ruthless and mysterious enemy, he soon discovers that the Key to Hades has been stolen from the sea nymphs' lair. Now the King of Agrabagh must venture deep into the heart of the Dark Continent in search of the legendary entrance to the Underworld. But when a costly mistake unknowingly bestows upon their flying ship all the knowledge of the Universe, plans radically change.

Hari, a remarkably well-set-up young lad, has spent his entire life in a small village with his pious widowed mother, and the purity of his soul is largely uncorrupted by worldly sophistication. But now, poised on the brink of manhood, he feels himself moved by strange new urgings - urgings that will lead him far from the quiet life he has known. Though these strings are unfamiliar to him, virtuous Hari recognizes them for what they are: a hunger for spiritual enlightenment.

In collaboration with acclaimed nonfiction author Clifford A. Pickover, Piers Anthony, one of the most popular fantasy writers in America, brings listeners a disturbing tale of our own world, and the strange creatures with whom we share it.

Return to the magical land of the Arabian Nights....The end of "Aladdin of the Lamp" finds the cunning Aladdin ruler of a great kingdom. Now, many years have passed and Aladdin is older, richer and wiser - and heart broken. After losing his beloved wife and son to foul play, he resigns from being king and sets out to do what he does best.

Phthor is the sequel to Chthon, less intricately structured and less complicated in plot, but still quite dark and ugly in theme and detail. Rather than flashbacks and flash-forwards, it has a Y outline, with the stem the initial story and the ends alternate futures, neither of which is acceptable to Aton's son Arlo. Arlo has his own encounter with a Minionette, and naturally, destruction is upon him and all with whom he associates.

Life as the king of Agrabah is never boring, especially when the dashing Sinbad the Sailor requests a ship to save his kidnapped wife. Aladdin, never one to run from danger, agrees to help and accompanies Sinbad as they set sail to accumulate enough treasure to ransom the sailor's wife. Soon they run afoul of zombies, sirens, demons, nymphs, evil djinns, and a dastardly plot to take over his kingdom.

Lida Fisher knows that her beloved husband, Quincy, will die soon as the result of a rare and terrible brain rejection syndrome. But there is one hope. If Quincy consents to switch brains with one of the alien beings that have arrived from the other side of the galaxy, he will live on - albeit in the body of a starfish. And that means Lida must agree to let a new man into her life and her bed, one with the face and body of her adored husband but with the mind of an alien stranger.

In a tiny village, just off the universe-spanning trail of the Amoeba, young, telepathic were-creatures are schooled in the mystery and wonder of the human body—its practicalities as well as its pleasures. Eager to discover their alternate selves, they marvel at the possibilities. But when precocious were Wetzel, an infinitely curious and adventurous teenage boy—and unicorn—is enlisted into sexual service, his life is endangered by his own horn, a valued commodity. Villagers would kill for it, so Wetzel has little choice but to flee and find his destiny on the trail.

Elasa contacts the very special Awares, folk who attune so perfectly to their environment that they can disappear, literally and figuratively. She needs to work with them to try to save Earth from being eaten by huge telepathic galactic maggots.

Killing children is an ugly business, but the alternative is so much uglier. Abner Slate just watched his five-year-old daughter Olive kill his wife and son. Olive is a sopath. Born without souls, sopaths are children who will lie, cheat, rape, and murder to get what they want. There's one in every family these days, destroying America's heartland from within. After murdering his daughter in self-defense, Abner is taken in by a secret network of sopath victims called Pariah.

Elasa the robot's friend Mona exchanges to the colony planet to occupy the body of a woman five months pregnant. Even so, she gets more than she bargained for, as she works with a precognitive lamb.

When Shep participates in the student exchange program, he finds himself in the body of a man on a rustic colony planet. Then a native sheep comes to the door. It seems Shep must become a literal shepherd, to his dismay. These are very special sheep, deadly, telepathic, and precognitive, and their will governs. They also recruit a Vulture, a Python, and a lovely Elf girl for a dangerous journey. Then things get interesting. Soon Shep is deep in adventure and love. But he can't marry a native girl by proxy. Or can he?

Humanoid robots are surely in our future, but their uses are likely to be limited to body guarding, childcare, companionship, and sex. Other chores can better be done by smart non-humanoid machines designed for those specific tasks. But for these limited purposes, the best robots must be so realistic that they are indistinguishable from live people. Elasa is such a robot. You can't tell her nature if she doesn't reveal it. You can talk with her, embrace her, kiss her, and she is the perfect woman. Until she becomes the first conscious robot.