From the author of Neverness comes a powerful new epic fantasy series. The Ea Cycle is as rich as Tolkien and as magical as the Arthurian myths. The world of Ea is an ancient world settled in eons past by the Star People. However, their ancestors floundered, in their purpose to create a great stellar civilisation on the new planet: they fell into moral decay.Now a champion has been born who will lead them back to greatness, by means of a spiritual – and adventurous – quest for Ea's Grail: the Lightstone.His name is Valashu Elahad, and he is destined to become King. Blessed (or cursed?) with an empathy for all living things, he will lead his people into the lands of Morjin, into the heart of darkness, wielding a magical sword called Alkadadur, there to recover the mythical Lightstone and return in triumph with his prize. But Morjin is not to be vanquished so easily...

From the author of 'Neverness' comes a powerful epic fantasy series, the Ea Cycle, as rich as Tolkien and as magical as the Arthurian myths. This is the climactic final volume. The world of Ea is an ancient world settled in eons past by the Star People. However, their ancestors floundered in their purpose to create a great stellar civilisation on the new planet: they fell into moral decay. Now a champion has been born who will lead them back to greatness, by means of a spiritual – and adventurous – quest for Ea's Grail: the Lightstone. His name is Valashu Elahad, and he is destined to become King. Blessed (or cursed?) with an empathy for all living things, he will lead his people into the lands of Morjin, into the heart of darkness, wielding a magical sword called Alkadadur, there to recover the mythical Lightstone and return in triumph with his prize. But Morjin is not to be vanquished so easily... This is the fourth and final volume of the epic Ea Cycle. The battle will be...

From the author of Neverness comes a powerful new epic fantasy series. The Ea Cycle is as rich as Tolkien and as magical as the Arthurian myths. The world of Ea is an ancient world settled in eons past by the Star People. However, their ancestors floundered, in their purpose to create a great stellar civilisation on the new planet: they fell into moral decay.Now a champion has been born who will lead them back to greatness, by means of a spiritual – and adventurous – quest for Ea's Grail: the Lightstone.His name is Valashu Elahad, and he is destined to become King. Blessed (or cursed?) with an empathy for all living things, he will lead his people into the lands of Morjin, into the heart of darkness, wielding a magical sword called Alkadadur, there to recover the mythical Lightstone and return in triumph with his prize. But Morjin is not to be vanquished so easily...

Book One of David Zindell's epic trilogy set in Neverness, legendary City of Light, where inner space and outer space meet ... where the god program is up and running.Into its maze of color-coded streets of ice a wild boy stumbles, starving, frostbitten and grieving, a spear in his hand: Danlo the Wild, a messenger from the deep past of man. Brought up from Neverness by the Alaloi people, Neanderthal cave-dwellers, Danlo alone of his tribe has survived a plague –- because he is not, as he thought, a misshaped Neanderthal, but human with immunity engineered into his genes. He learns that the disease was created by the sinister Architects of the Universal Cybernetic Church. The Architects possess a cure which can save other Alaloi tribes. But the Architects have migrated to the region of space known as the Vild, and there they are killing stars.All of civilization has converged on Neverness through the manifold of space travel. Beyond science, beyond decadence, sects and disciplines...

Review'Zindell is adept at conjuring the history and mechanics of a fantasy world' DeathRay Praise for The Ea Cycle: 'Vividly imaginative and truly grand' Time Out 'An engrossing read from a great storyteller' SFX 'Captivating' Bookseller 'No one casts a better spell than Zindell' Northern Echo 'Remarkable for scale, ambition and a capacity to evoke sinister beauty ! with the inherent strengths of mythic structure, bringing to the tale a sense of urgency and spiritual depth ! heroism is not just heroic acts but an emotional space that goes with the acquisition of doomed love and mortal enemies. This is an impressive start to an interesting cycle.' Roz Kaveney AMAZON 'Every so often a novel comes along that threatens to redefine its genre. The Lightstone is such a novel ! Zindell re-imagines the epic on a grand scale ! The Lightstone shines brightly ' DREAMWATCH 'David Zindell's words are like magic, which manage to capture the tiniest nuances of his landscapes and characters and bring them to life ! If you want something that will make you think, that touches on elements of spirituality and philosophy and the fine lines between good and evil then The Lightstone is a winner' WHSMITH.CO.UK Praise for Neverness: 'Zindell makes you think' New Scientist 'Philip K. Dick would have been proud to conjure up such philiosophies' Manchester Evening News 'A thick, lush, vivid, panoramic view of evolved humans in an evolving universe far in the future' Twilight Zone About the AuthorDavid Zindell's short story Shanidar was a prize-winning entry in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future contest. He was nominated for the 'best new writer' Hugo Award in 1986. Gene Wolfe declared Zindell as 'one of the finest talents to appear since Kim Stanley Robinson and William Gibson -- perhaps the finest.' His first novel, 'Neverness', was published to great acclaim.

From Publishers WeeklyThis intense third installment of Zindell's Lightstone epic (after 2007's The Silver Sword) finds seventh son Prince Valashu, descendant of the Star People, fighting both self-doubts and skeptical monarchs in his attempt to unite the free peoples of Ea against the magical assassins and mercenary armies following Morjin the Liar, the fallen angel known as the Great Red Dragon. In addition to the conventional fantasy hero challenges of tourneys, battles, quests and romance, Valashu struggles to determine his true place among the legendary figures looming large over the Grail-like Lightstone, which he stole from Morjin and must now reunite with its destined wielder. Zindell packs in frequent and substantial references to mythology and excerpts of prophetic poetry, sometimes mingling created theology with real-world mythical terms and sly pop culture references such as Valashu's lightning bolt–shaped forehead scar. This gives Ea an unusual depth and richness at the expense of slowing down and sometimes confusing the plot. (Apr.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review"Fans of Terry Goodkind, Greg Keyes, and Steven Erickson will find much to like."--Publishers Weekly on The Silver SwordPraise for The Lightstone “Here begins a saga that, substantially revised from its original British edition, may prove Zindell’s breakthrough to a larger audience. Seasoned fantasy readers will recall Tolkien as Valashu and Maram pursue their classic quest.”--Booklist (starred) “[With] vivid characters and richly detailed settings Zindell stirs together the grail legend, a dash of Blake and a sprinkling of Tolkien in this classic fantasy quest.”--Publishers Weekly

ReviewPraise for Neverness: 'Zindell makes you think' New Scientist 'Philip K. Dick would have been proud to conjure up such philiosophies' Manchester Evening News 'A thick, lush, vivid, panoramic view of evolved humans in an evolving universe far in the future' Twilight Zone 'Excellent hard science fiction! a brilliant novel' Orson Scott Card, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction About the AuthorDavid Zindell's short story Shanidar was a prize-winning entry in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future contest. He was nominated for the 'best new writer' Hugo Award in 1986. Gene Wolfe declared Zindell as 'one of the finest talents to appear since Kim Stanley Robinson and William Gibson -- perhaps the finest.' His first novel, Neverness, was published to great acclaim.

The price of greater life is death . . . . In an age of exploding stars and other cataclysmic galactic events in which Homo sapiens has long since split into different kinds, Mallory Ringess becomes a pilot of the Order of Mystic Mathematicians and Other Seekers of the Ineffable Flame. His quest to find the Elder Eddas – nothing less than the secret of life embroidered in humanity's oldest DNA – will lead him from Neverness's streets of colored ice into the deadly manifold, the "space beneath space" whose topology writhes and twists with hideous complexity like a nest of psychedelic snakes. Journeying in his lightship The Immanent Carnation far across the Milky Way, Mallory enters the Solid State Entity, a nebula-sized brain composed of moonlike biocomputers analogous to neurons. There is he tested; there he asks about the Ieldra, a mythical race of aliens said to have seeded the galaxy with its DNA eons before and to have initiated the evolutionary cycle.Mallory returns to...

The awe-inspiring sequel to The Broken God Danlo the Wild has started his quest into the stars, beyond the limits of the known universe to search for three things: his father, half god, half hero, Mallory Ringess; the lost city of Tannahill, home to the Architects; where he also hopes to discover the cure to the plague that is destroying his people.

From Publishers WeeklyZindell (_Neverness_) stirs together the grail legend, a dash of Blake and a sprinkling of Tolkien with other bits of lore in this classic fantasy quest, a revised version of an earlier novel and the first entry in a new series. Young knight Valashu Elahad, seventh and least son of the king of Mesh, has no love for war. But minions of the evil Morjin are at work in the land of Ea. King Kiritan of Alonia invites the knights of Ea to his court to formally begin the grand quest for the Lightstone, the long-lost Cup of Heaven. Driven by visions of the golden cup, Val sets off for Alonia, joined by warrior-scholar Master Juwain and hedonistic but goodhearted Brother Maram. Along the way Val's company grows, even as nightmares trouble his soul deeply. By the end, the company numbers seven, echoing an ancient prophecy: "A seventh son... will slay the dragon. The old world will be destroyed and a new one created." Vivid characters and richly detailed settings offset some uneven pacing and a few predictable elements. (June) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistStarred Review Zindell, a reputable writer of better-than-average fantasy, here begins a saga that, substantially revised from its original British edition, may prove his breakthrough to a larger audience. Seasoned fantasy readers will recall Tolkien as they read of the island continent Ea coming under the power of the fallen dark angel Morjin. All Morjin needs to rule forever is the Lightstone, a talisman so long lost that no one has any idea of where it might be. Most who seek it don't come back. Enter Prince Valashu, who as the seventh son in a royal household is somewhat at loose ends, and his companion-squire-whatever, Maram, who, of course, set out to find the Lightstone. En route, Maram becomes more than a sidekick, and Valashu encounters people and situations the likes of which he never met while living in the palace. What direction this saga will take is so much guesswork at this stage, but it seems that it will be character-centered and include a wide range of emotions and motivations as Valashu and Maram pursue their classic quest. Roland GreenCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved