The Books

I’ve been writing for most of my life, and writing professionally for … most of my life, it seems. Here’s a list of my books, loosely grouped by series. For all the details (covers, ISBN, plot synopses, awards, reviews, publisher, price, format, where to buy them, links to bookstores, etc.), go to my websites, here for epic fantasy, and here for everything else (children’s and teens’ books, short stories and non-fiction).

GODS OF THE CARAVAN ROAD (i.e. the books linked by the immortal wanderer MOTH

In the days of the first kings in the north …

Blackdog
– Adult epic fantasy from Pyr. A caravan-guard is possessed by the guardian dog-spirit of an exiled goddess and finds himself forced into a conflict with a one of the seven devils of the legends of the north. Lots about Blackdog here.
The Leopard: Marakand Part One
– An assassin who cannot die is sent by the goddess who cursed him to kill the Voice of the Lady of Marakand. Set in the same world as Blackdog about a year later, this follows a different set of characters, though the Blackdog does make an appearance.
The Lady: Marakand Part Two
– Continues the story of the cursed assassin Ahjvar and his friend Ghu, as Marakand rises in revolt against its goddess. Both halves of Marakand are described in more detail here.
The Storyteller and Other Tales
– Includes “The Storyteller”, in which Moth travels back to Ulvsness. Death and destruction ensue.
Gods of Nabban
-Ghu travels home to Nabban and the doom of his godhead, taking Ahjvar with him into a land torn by civil war and threatened by a hidden devil. Another beautiful cover by Raymond Swanland, too.

THE WARLOCKS OF TALVERDIN
A secondary world fantasy series for teens.
Nightwalker
Maurey, a foundling, escapes execution as a warlock and joins Annot, runaway Baroness of Oakhold, to prevent a war between humans and inhuman Nightwalkers.
Treason in Eswy
Maurey and his liegeman the Fenlander chieftain Korby hunt for the missing heir of Eswy and thwart a plan to invade Dunmorra and rekindle hatred between humans and Nightwalkers.
Warden of Greyrock
The Yehillon, a cult dedicated to extermination of the entire Nightwalker race, holds Annot hostage and sets in motion a plan to invade Talverdin.
The Shadow Road
Half-human Nethin, poisoned and imprisoned by a human-hating group of Nightwalkers, finds himself in the heart of a Yehillon plan for genocide which might destroy the very world.

TORRIE (The Wild Forest)
Children’s secondary world fantasy. Adults like this world too!
Torrie and the Dragon
The first Torrie adventure and my first-published novel, long out of print, but revised and expanded as Torrie and the Dragonslayers.
Torrie and the Pirate-Queen
Torrie, oldest of the Old Things of the Wild Forest, joins Anna, Master Mariner, as she reclaims her late grandfather’s ship and sets out (with a crew of retired pirates) to rescue her father from the Pirate-Queen, encountering a marooned prince and a cursed island along the way. Translated in Danish as Sørøverdronningen, and soon to be out in Macedonian too.
Torrie and the Firebird
Anna and Torrie encounter Kokako, a boy falsely accused of a heinous crime in Keastipol, and go adventuring on the Great Southern Continent to take back the Oyon Opallion from the sorcerer Barramundi and his sand-goblins.
Torrie and the Snake-Prince
Prince Liasis of High Morroway is turned into a snake by Lord Abastor; Torrie joins the lame pedlar Wren in a quest to rescue him. Published in Macedonian as Тори и пиратската кралица.
Torrie and the Dragonslayers
Prince Rufik’s quest for the dragon-slaying sword Wormbane is rudely interrupted when he’s captured by the Duke of Mistglom’s wolf-headed guards; Torrie’s friend, Cossypha, rescues Rufik from her father’s dungeon and they set out to find the sword and slay the dragon; along the way, Cossphya runs afoul of the malevolent spirit of a long-dead sorceress.

THE CASSANDRA VIRUS
Near-future science fiction adventure for kids 9-14.
The Cassandra Virus
Computer genius Jordan O’Blenis develops a virtual Beowulf-cluster supercomputer which becomes self-aware; he and his friend Helen Chan-Fisher, the Igors, have to defend Cassandra from a corrupt university vice-president and government agents from Bureau 6, who want to seize the code for their own purposes.
The Drone War
Industrial espionage threatens Jordan’s sister’s work on a secret drone plane project at BWB Aerospace; Jordan, Helen, and Cassandra investigate and discover B6 isn’t the only spy agency taking an interest.
The Black Box
Strange interference with telecommunications and the SatNav system seem to have something to do with an archaeological dig in Nova Scotia.

PIPPIN AND MABEL
The picture book series, illustrated by Bernice Lum — sadly, now out of print.
Pippin Takes a Bath
Splish! Splash! Splosh! Pippin tries to escape her bath, but what is this black and white creature sleeping in the sun?
Pippin and the Bones
“Oh Pippin!” said Mabel. Pippin wants to find a place to bury her bone where it will be safe, even from Mabel (who doesn’t think much of having it buried under her tomatoes). Then she finds bones. Huge, brown bones.
Pippin and Pudding
Pippin brings home a kitten from the woods, but Mabel thinks two lively animals may be too many for one little house.

SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS
The Storyteller and Other Tales
“There is a storyteller’s cycle of tales, and they begin like this …” The title story is the earliest about Moth and Mikki, set a couple of centuries before Blackdog, during the time that the first of the seven devils escaped his grave. Also included are an unrelated bronze age secondary world fantasy, a story of Merlin’s daughter and the last days of Arthur’s Romano-Celtic kingdom, and a prose-poem on the Battle of Maldon.
The Serpent Bride: Stories From Medieval Danish Ballads
My second book. Ten literary fairy tales based on ballads from medieval Denmark. Shapeshifters, dragons, trolls, and true love. The Serpent Bride is out of print, but I still have some copies. If you’re interested in purchasing one, you can get in touch through the contact form on my website.

NON-FICTION
Quests and Kingdoms: A Grown-Up’s Guide to Children’s Fantasy Literature
Beyond Window-Dressing: Canadian Children’s Fantasy at the Millennium
The former is a history of English-language children’s fantasy literature, for parents, teachers, librarians, fantasy-lovers, etc. The latter is an examination of the state of Canadian children’s fantasy literature around the turn of the millennium.