This Hugo Award–winning disaster epic from the Science Fiction Grand Master “ranks among [his] most ambitious works” (SFSite). The Wanderer inspires feelings of pure terror in the hearts of the five billion human beings inhabiting Planet Earth. The presence of an alien planet causes increasingly severe tragedies and chaos. However, one man stands apart from the mass of frightened humanity. For him, the legendary Wanderer is a mere tale of bizarre alien domination and human submission. His conception of the Wanderer bleeds into unrequited love for the mysterious “she” who owns him.
From a Grand Master of Science Fiction and Fantasy: In a post-apocalyptic future, a priest must fight the forces of evil in order to bring freedom to humanity. Three-hundred and sixty years after a nuclear holocaust ravaged mankind, the world is fraught with chaos and superstition. Endowed with scientific knowledge lost to the rest of humanity, Techno-priests of the Great God now rule. Jarles, originally of peasant descent, rises to become a priest of the Great God. He knows that the gospel is nothing but trickery propagated by non-believers. One day, he defies his priestly training and attempts to incite the peasants to rebel—but Jarles is not the only dissenter trying to bring down the priesthood—witchcraft is slowly gaining strength and support among the populace. Little does Jarles know his rebellion is about to throw him headlong into the middle of the greatest holy war the world has ever seen.
A professor discourages his wife’s witchcraft to disastrous ends in this classic tale—the basis for three films—from the Grand Master of Fantasy. Norman Saylor, a professor of ethnology, discovers that his wife, Tansy, has put his research in the field of “Conjure Magic” into practice for the sake of protecting him from other spell-casting faculty wives wishing to further their husbands’ careers. A man of science, Norman has only an academic interest in the subject of magic and superstition, and forces Tansy to cease all her workings and to burn all her charms. But, as soon as Norman burns the last charm, things start to fall apart. He has a run-in with a former student, his student secretary accuses him of having seduced her, and he is passed over for a promotion that seemed certain. Norman begins to have more than his fair share of small accidents: cutting himself while shaving, stepping on carpet tacks, cutting his hand with a letter opener, and more. He begins to imagine that there is a dark presence exploiting his fear of trucks. When Tansy takes his curse upon herself, Norman is forced to overcome his disbelief and use witchcraft to save his wife’s body—and her soul. Originally published in 1953, Conjure Wife is considered a modern classic of horror-fantasy and has been adapted for film three times: Burn, Witch Burn (1962), Weird Woman (1944), and Witch’s Brew (1980).
How can Thorn fight a dream foe -- risking life and sanity, that is exactly what he sets out to do . . . and his shrewd tactics and reckless daring create a pulse-hammering story against an all to real opponent!
