THE SORCERESS OF KARRES — Snippet 08:
Chapter 5
So they walked together into downtown Nikkeldepain City. You could see, right then and there, that Nikkeldepain was big on order. Probably law too, Goth reflected, but certainly order. The streets were straight, neat, and very uniform. All the shop-signs were the same size, precisely. People all wore clothes that were the same style and cut, within a certain range. Goth used a little lightshift to subtly alter her own appearance. Captain Pausert had never been too good on dress and noticing. She just had to remember what Sunnat had worn — and he had barely noticed. Hulik too, although to be fair the Imperial agent hadn’t really been after the captain, like that Sunnat had.
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TORCH OF FREEDOM — Snippet 40
Chapter Sixteen
Luiz Rozsak felt his mouth watering in anticipation as he cut through the pastry “jacket” into the juicy center of the nicely rare Beef Wellington. Mayan “beef” actually came from “mayacows” — locally evolved critters that looked sort of like an undersized brontosaurus crossed with a llama. Unlike the Old Earth animal from whom it had taken its name (more or less) the mayacow was oviparous, and quite a few of the local population were partial to mayacow omelettes. Those had never really appealed to Rozsak, but he’d decided over the past several T-years that he actually preferred mayacow beef to Old Earth beef. There truly were enormous similarities, yet he’d discovered some delightful, subtle differences, as well. In fact, he’d invested a modestly hefty percentage of his own income in backing a commercial ranching venture on New Tasmania, Maya’s smaller continent. Unlike a great deal of the planet, New Tasmania was tectonically stable, remarkably lacking in volcanoes, and blessed with huge expanses of open prairie. Even today, there was plenty of room for operations like the Bar-R to grow and expand, and Rozsak was already showing a tidy profit on the new markets he’d opened up in Erewhon.
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Dragon’s Ring — Snippet 28
Chapter 27
As fortune would have it, Haborym was as close to Yenfar as he dared to go, without the slow leeching of his life-energies affecting him enough to kill. The rocky caves of the little islet a few miles off the coast were much used by smugglers, and Haborym did a great deal of business with them. Even here, he could feel the effect of the magical wards . . . and then, abruptly he could not.
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THE CRUCIBLE OF EMPIRE — Snippet 08:
Chapter 3
Mallu rousted Jalta and Kaln out of their shared quarters at first-light. The two wanted to go down and explore the tantalizing native sea, glittering gray-green in the distance, but flow felt very insistent that it was time to inspect the new ship. Since it was an unfamiliar design, learning its strengths and weaknesses was of paramount importance if the Krants were to find a way to make themselves of any real use. They donned their worn harness, boots, and trousers, all the traditional maroon of their kochan, and headed out.
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TORCH OF FREEDOM — Snippet 39
“Third, one way or the other, within the next few months, it’s going to start becoming evident that the Monican Navy ended up coming into possession of over a dozen Solarian battlecruisers, courtesy of Manpower, Technodyne, and the Jessyk Combine. That being the case, I doubt anyone’s going to be all that surprised if it turns out that we had — I’m sorry, that Manpower had — a handful of additional battlecruisers lying around and handed them over to a bunch of ‘pirates’ it could be pretty sure would use them against Manty interests somewhere else, maybe a little closer to home.
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THE CRUCIBLE OF EMPIRE — Snippet 07:
Ronz hesitated as the waves rolled in and in. The wind gusted, carrying the acrid scent of seaweed and rotting fish. “I think the signs point to the Lleix.”
Wrot’s mind whirled. Everyone down to the youngest Jao crecheling knew that name. It was the stuff of legend. The Lleix had been a powerful force in the history of the Jao. “Them? Are you sure?”
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Dragon’s Ring — Snippet 27
Chapter 26
Fionn had seen Zuamar flying high across the mountainside, and known that the chase was finally on. A dragon, naturally, knew just what a dragon could see, and how to avoid being spotted from the air. Fortunately, most dragons could not see as far into the infrared as he could, or they would have had a worse problem. If it had not been laid into the very fibre of his being by the First that he should not kill dragons, Fionn would have cheerfully taken to the air then, and dealt with llarian.
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THE SORCERESS OF KARRES — Snippet 07:
They went down a corridor between the huge beds of vegetation from various alien worlds. Squat little robot tenders trundled around constantly. A taller, stilted robot was trimming a tree with heavy basket-ball sized fruits
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TORCH OF FREEDOM — Snippet 38
“Agreed.” Benjamin nodded, but his expression was calm. “On the other hand, we’ve already made our preparations. As you just pointed out, somebody like Kare’s going to realize he’s looking at something out of the ordinary as soon as he gets a detailed analysis. I doubt he’s going to have any idea just how ‘peculiar’ it is before they make transit, though, and once they do make transit, they’re not going to be in a position to tell anyone about it. I agree with Collin, Daniel, and Isabel, Father. The survivors are going to conclude that whatever it is that makes this terminus ‘peculiar’ is going to require a much more cautious — and time-consuming — approach before they try any second transit.”
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Dragon’s Ring — Snippet 26
Chapter 25
Zuamar settled on the wall of the royal palace. It cracked under his vast bulk, dropping pieces of alabaster carving that had survived the earthquake. Prince Gywndar arrived moments later. This was plainly no time for his usual folly of a slight delay to show his importance. It was always just a small delay, as Zuamar had eradicated the probability of longer ones some generations of alvar rulers earlier, by flaming a tower when he was kept waiting.
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