Kirjahaku

A collection of short fiction by Donald Huffman Graff, featuring seven science fiction and fantasy stories."The Dream Regime," in which an experiment that failed succeeds beyond anyone's wildest dreams."The House on Cucullu Street," a Cthulhu Mythos spoof that could even be labeled a boof."Chateau Renouveau," a contemporary fantasy about life, love, ennui, and renewal."The American B.E.M." tells the story of a penniless immigrant from outer space who achieved the American Dream, only to find it all on the line in a savage, no-holes-barred game of golf."Flaying Star," a tale of romantic illusions, action, and conflict, in which the main character, Kenelm, learns that coming to know his enemy and to know himself may also lead to knowledge that he never would have wished for."The Crypt of the Soldonieris," a tale of betrayal, magic, and action set in the Italy of Machiavelli and the Medicis."TimeSift." Alien minds want to know, and our minds are sifted and gleaned from the sands of time.The book concludes with the found-object collage/poem "Three Fortunes," a rare relic from the mid-90's 'zine heyday.

Based on a true story, The Jaguar's Heart brings to life the first encounter of Maya and European in the 16th century. It tells the story of Gonzalo Guerrero, a Spanish sailor shipwrecked on the coast of Yucatan in 1511, between Columbus' discovery of the Americas and Cortez' conquest of Mexico. Maya lords enslave Guerrero and his fellow castaways, but he eventually gains his freedom. Encountering Ix Chan Can, the beautiful younger sister of the Maya lord Nachan Can, Guerrero chooses to remain among her people and win her love. Guerrero earns renown in a war against Nachan Can's enemies, and finally Ix Chan Can's hand. After they have two children, the only other still-living castaway, the clergyman Jeronimo de Aguilar, brings word of Cortez' landing. Guerrero refuses to rejoin his countrymen, cleaving to his family. But with Aguilar as interpreter, Cortez conquers the Aztecs, and the Spaniards inevitably return to impose their rule and religion on the Maya. Nachan Can now demands that Guerrero fight, and at last accepting that he must do so to protect his family, Guerrero tragically stakes his life for his adoptive people against ever-mounting odds.The Jaguar's Heart reveals the struggle of a man caught between cultures and conflicting loyalties at a pivotal moment in the history of the Americas. It is a book with the captivating setting of Gary Jennings' Aztec and its sequels, yet which reveals the humanity of both Spaniard and Indian, and with the compelling theme of W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear's Contact: The Battle for America series.

"Madstones" is a new collection including six works of fantasy and science fiction, representing several different constructs - short stories, a stage play, a screenplay, and a prose poem."Rama with the Ax," a short story, opens the collection, pitting a sinister stage magician, his undead assistant, and an alien god-beast from beyond time against a black man with a horn and his blues brothers. Who will win this bizarre battle of the bands?"Doom of the Autochthon" is a fantastic short story, set in another world, another time. If you've ever been inclined to be angry at the sun, this one is for you. Corruption and Empire were never like this before "Retro Beach Party" is a screenplay. Check out what happens to these otherwise perfectly normal college students when a bale of contraband washes ashore during spring break. And when extraterrestrials crash this shindig, things get really wild. Remember, it all comes from the sixties, kids. This one is a trip in time back to those halcyon days of yore, and a reminder of how hard it is to laugh in these times."Hurdy-Gurdy Rondo" is a play in one act for the theater of the absurd. What do we really know about the past? We may know more as science marches onward. But not everybody sees these things the same way. Can't we all just...get along?"The Eidolon of Clay" is a prose poem with a historical setting, passing fleetingly into the realm of fantasy upon the finding of a forgotten piece of statuary. Times change, cherished ideas change, but the human heart?"The Hilbert Hotel," a short story, closes the collection. In it we learn along with our heroine that there are many infinities and that some are bigger than others, and what it actually takes to change the world. The answer may surprise you "Madstones" will appeal to readers from eighteen to eighty who like imaginative fiction with wit as well as a sense of wonder. "Madstones" is six zircons in the rough, hair of the dog that bit you for the psyche.