Don Sakers

Imagine a world where creatures communicate by scent and taste as much as sound and sight, where meaning lives in every rock and stream, and every breeze brings a new voice... A pair of linked novellas introduces us to the planet Kaa and its alien inhabitants. From the viewpoint of a remarkable alien, Dleef, we witness a world alive with sensation and emotion; and we meet a Human explorer, Treyl, who is witness to a powerful and profound transformation. For on Kaa, consciousness and sapience are new experiences - and Treyl is present at nothing less than the birth of intelligence and culture on Kaa. Sixty years later, with the Human galaxy convulsed in war, Kaa's fragile and beautiful society is menaced by the arrival of a notorious war criminal. Standing in his way is Captain Le Galvao of the Terran Empire. But Le is opposed by the Human inhabitants of Kaa. For in the depths of the forest, a secret project is underway, a project that could alter the future of Humanity...

Maj Thovold has led the Galaxy for three decades, a Golden Age of peace and prosperity. She is weary and ready to resign, but two pieces of unfinished business remain. The first is her choice of a successor; the second, an old enemy that only she has the power to defeat. The last battle will take place on the strangest battlefield known: a web of living tendrils that stretches across interstellar space. A web where Maj's enemies wait, like spiders, for their prey....

THE NEW BOY IN CLASSAt first Keith Graff dislikes his new school, Oak Grove High. He misses his old friends, and despairs of ever fitting in. Then he joins the school's drama club, where he meets the boyishly cute Bran Davenport: "Be honest, fella, he said to himself as he looked out the window at the cloudy October sky. Bran Davenport probably doesn't even like boys, at least not in the way you're thinking of. And if he did, which was a pretty big if, even if he did he probably wouldn't give you a second look. He's a senior, member of the Thespians, star of last year's play, and aide to the drama teacher. You're a newcomer, lower than a freshman..." Since its original publication in 1986, Act Well Your Part has become a classic, an unabashed love story set not in the world that was, but in the world as, perhaps, it should be. Speed-of-C Productions is proud to bring this timeless tale back into print for its adult fans as well as a new generation of teens

The PsiScouts: X-Men meet Buck RogersIn the 26th century, three psi-gifted teenagers find themselves on the same flight to Earth: Gael Rimma of Wargal, code-named Bolt, controls electrical fields and can generate electrical charges. Confident and outgoing, Gael comes to Earth in search of her missing brother. Royd Kar of Taarla, code-named Coulomb, controls magnetic fields and forces. Shy but affable, Royd is fleeing the desolation of his economically-depressed world, hoping to find a job through which he can support his family back home. Iris Krall of Ceres, code-named Mentaxa, is a powerful telepath. Her cold, aloof exterior, a defense against the constant intrusion of others' thoughts, hides an inner insecurity. Thrown together by chance, the kids use their remarkable abilities to foil an assassination attempt against Colleen Artveldt, the galaxy's richest person. In response, Artveldt announces that she wants them to be founding members of a new organization, a corps of similarly-talented youths to be called the PsiScouts. This first title in the ongoing PsiScouts series has its roots not only in the legendary sf adventures of E. E. "Doc" Smith and Edmond Hamilton, but also in the tales of superheroes such as the X-Men and the Justice League. Yet authors Don Sakers and Phil Meade bring modern, cutting-edge sensibilities to his story, crafting a science-fiction adventure yarn for the modern age. Both teenagers and adults will delight in this first tale of the heroic PsiScouts

In the 26th century, psi-powered teens from across the Myriad Worlds come together as the PsiScouts. Whether it's a mission deep into a theocracy to rescue endangered kids, or a time-travel odyssey to save history itself, the PsiScouts are equal to the challenge.

Elevenses is a collection of sf and fantasy short stories, intended as bite-size snacks. There are 11 of them (naturally), including "The Cold Solution" (award-winning answer to Tom Godwin's classic "The Cold Equations"), "The Slow Train," and "The Geas Ingenerate," a new Hoister Family story.

"When we were in charge of Mars, it was a magnificent place, full of wonders: ancient ruined cities, world-girdling canals, alien races terrible or kind, and a hospitable second home for humanity. Then science got its hands on the planet and basically trashed the place. No canals, no cities, no wise ancients-heck, when science is done, there won't be any life at all on the Red Planet. It's an interplanetary tragedy." Science fiction isn't just one thing. The field is a cosmos of many mansions, with something to please almost everyone. Your guide to the many varieties of sf is Don Sakers: sf writer, retired Librarian, book reviewer for Analog Science Fiction and Fact magazine. Based on the first five years of his popular review column, this volume examines & explains dozens of types of science fiction along with hundreds of reviews. Whether you're exploring the state of the field or looking for just the right sf book for you, A Cosmos of Many Mansions is the guidebook you need. Readers who enjoyed Jo Walton's What Makes This Book So Great? will surely find much to like.

THE RULE OF FIVEFIVE...colony ships fall into a pocket universe. FIVE...dimensional planes, rent by a cosmic fissure. FIVE... Lineages. FIVE...hundred settled worldsFIVE...thousand year pass. Space opera adventure. Pirates. Judges. Weird physics. Desperate refugees. Struggling colonists. Missing persons and a mystery ship. A quest for human origins in a pocket universe.

When his best friend Keith moved away, there was a big hole left in Frank's life. Then a bad car crash put him in the hospital. While there recovering, he got a visit from the star of his high school basketball team, Purnell Johnson. It wasn't long before his luck started to improve. Out of print for over 30 years, this companion to Sakers' Act Well Your Part is a story of young gay love in a world in which sexual orientation matters only as much as eye color or left-handedness.