The Universes of Stephen Goldin

By Stephen Goldin

Stephen Goldin is a science fiction and fantasy author whose professional career spans more than 50 years. This handy guide contains:

* a very brief biographical sketch

* a list of the series he's written

* a list of his non-series novels

* a list of his short story collections

* samples from some of his best books

* a list of links to places where you can learn more about him

If you're curious about Stephen Goldin and his writing, this guide will be a good place to start.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Parsina Press
• Release date: Apr 12, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370913251

Book preview

TABLE OF CONTENTS

About Stephen Goldin

The Fiction of Stephen Goldin

Series

Individual Novels

Short Story Collections

Samples

The Eternity Brigade

Polly!

Shrine of the Desert Mage

Jade Darcy and the Affair of Honor

Scavenger Hunt

Assault on the Gods

Into the Out

Quiet Post

Free Ebook

Connect with Stephen Goldin

ABOUT STEPHEN GOLDIN

Stephen Goldin is a science fiction and fantasy writer whose professional career spans more than 50 years. Born in Philadelphia, he has lived in California since 1960. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Astronomy from UCLA and worked as a civilian space scientist for the U.S. Navy for a few years after leaving college, but has made his living as a writer/editor most of his life.

His first wife was fellow author Kathleen Sky, with whom he co-wrote the highly acclaimed nonfiction book The Business of Being a Writer. His current wife is fellow author Mary Mason. So far they have co-authored two books in the Rehumanization of Jade Darcy series.

He served the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America as editor of the SFWA Bulletin and as the organization’s Western Regional Director. He has lived with cats all his adult life. Artistically, he enjoys Broadway musicals and surrealist art.

This guide will give you an introduction to his work. You will find a list of his fiction titles (including the order in which his series should be read), introductory samples of some of his books, a way to get free ebook copies, and other ways to find out more about him.

THE FICTION OF STEPHEN GOLDIN

(most titles available at your favorite ebook retailer)

Series

Agents of ISIS

Welcome to the first great space opera decalogy of the twenty-first century! Agents of ISIS, an update of and an improvement on the old Family d'Alembert seriues, is an epic saga describing the fight by the men and women of the Imperial Special Investigation Service to preserve humanity from the forces of chaos and destruction. The author has expounded on the differences between the Family d'Alemberrt series and the Agents of ISIS series at his blog, The Ingesterie.

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BOOK 1: Tsar Wars. With humanity scattered across the galaxy on hundreds of worlds, the Empire is the only force for order across the stars. Without it, interstellar conflicts would bring chaos and billions of deaths.

But the tsar has been in a coma for five years now, and his grand-niece, the only apparent heir, is only 14 years old. In this hour of crisis, the task of preserving the Empire falls to two untrained--but far from unskilled--agents of the Imperial Special Investigation Service. Can they make a difference against the vast forces arrayed against them?

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BOOK 2: Treacherous Moon. Hundreds of thousands of people have visited the pleasure moon Vesa and simply vanished without a trace. Is this part of some vast galactic conspiracy?

To find out, the Imperial Special Investigation Service dispatches its two best agents to look into the matter--and the shocking truth they reveal leads to a chain of discoveries that eventually threatens the stability of humanity's entire interstellar Empire.

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BOOK 3: Robot Mountain. By sheer accident, the Imperial Special Investigation Service stumbled across a fiendish plot against the Empire--using a time bomb to blow up the tsaritsa and throw the galaxy into chaos.Now, to learn the truth, its agents must infiltrate a hollow mountain, the lair of a mad robotic genius, while simultaneously protecting her majesty from a hidden assassin. And somewhere, a time bomb is ticking.

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BOOK 4: Sanctuary Planet. The galaxy's top criminals have not only been getting away from police, they've disappeared from sight entirely. Suspecting something far more sinister than a mere crime wave, the top agents of the Imperial Special Investigation Service delve into the matter--only to discover this is the tip of a galaxy-spanning conspiracy that threatens to undermine the stability of the Empire itself.

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BOOK 5: Stellar Revolution. A hidden conspiracy is plotting to use the tsaritsa's wedding as the occasion to overthrow the true ruler and start a bloody revolt to take over the throne for themselves. Meanwhile, in the depths of interstellar space, a flotilla of space pirates is gathering. Is it mere coincidence, or a coordinated attack to topple the Empire and seize control of all human-occupied space? The Imperial Special Investigation Service must unravel the plots and thwart these plans before it's too late.

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BOOK 6: Purgatory Plot. An armed cadre of fundamentalist extremists threatens the security of the interstellar Empire, while uprisings of separatist traitors spark outrage on dozens of planets around the galaxy. The agents of the Imperial Special Investigation Service must find the common thread and de-fang these vipers before the wildfire of revolution engulfs the galaxy.

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BOOK 7: Traitors' World. Space pirates harass interstellar shipping. On the frozen world of Gulag--where, for centuries,the Empire's worst traitors have been exiled--dangerous plots are hatching. Time is running out for agents of the Imperial Special Investigation Service to save the Empire from the most serious revolt in its centuries-long history.

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BOOK 8: Counterfeit Stars. Having had its plans thwarted too many times by the Imperial Special Investigation Service, the evil conspiracy declares war directly on the brave men and women who serve in the agency. Impostors sabotage the Service's work, and the Commissar himself falls under suspicion. ISIS must confront itself to prevent being torn apart from within.

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BOOK 9: Outworld Invaders. For centuries, now, humanity has expanded into space without encountering an alien civilization. Suddenly, the peaceful outlying planet Omicron is attacked by an ominous outside threat--and the Imperial Special Investigation Service finds itself joining forces with the conspiracy it's been battling for years to save mankind from external danger.

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BOOK 10: Galactic Collapse. Finally the evil conspiracy reveals itself in all its true power, bringing the Empire to its knees. Even the Imperial Special Investigation Service is helpless in the face of the unexpected, overwhelming attack. But the Empire strikes back with all the resources at its disposal--hoping against hope that will be enough to save humanity.

See the Amazon reviews

 The Parsina Saga

The Parsina Saga is an Arabian Nights-style epic fantasy tale, weaving romance and adventure through a world of djinni, undersea cities, flying carpets, and demons. It comprises four complete novels: Shrine of the Desert Mage, The Storyteller and the Jann, Crystals of Air and Water, and Treachery of the Demon King.

Now all four of these novels are gathered together in a single ebook boxed set, priced to provide a considerable savings over buying each of the books separately. The complete story appears, unexpurgated, in this one volume.

Impoverished storyteller Jafar al-Sharif is mistaken for the thief of a holy urn. He and his daughter Selima escape capture by impersonating mighty wizards--but this imposture brings them into further danger, and sets them on a journey around the world to recapture a lost relic. Meanwhile, the real thief of the urn is in league with the king of the demons to enslave the world under the power of evil.

The Parsina Saga is a gripping journey through an exotic world that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Each of the volumes is available for individual purchase;

See the Amazon reviews

Read a sample

 The Rehumanization of Jade Darcy

(Written in collaboration with Mary Mason)

Jade Darcy and the Affair of Honor

For the past five years, Jade Darcy has not seen another human being. A computer-augmented mercenary, she lives on the planet Cablans, a stopover point for traders from hundreds of worlds -- and a good place to meet customers who need the services of a skilled warrior.

She turns down what she considers a suicide assignment: traveling to an enslaved world to assassinate one of its military leaders. But then she learns there's another human being on Cablans -- a human being with the potential to expose Jade's mysterious past, with possibly fatal results.

All of a sudden, a suicide mission looks positively appetizing....

This is the first published volume in the Rehumanization of Jade Darcy series.

See the Amazon reviews

Read a sample

Jade Darcy and the Zen Pirates

At first, expecting her new job to be easy, Jade Darcy is oblivious to the religious strife wracking the world of Restaapa.

Jade and Megan Cafferty, her employer, discover that the Restaapans are in the process of choosing a new heir to the throne. During this process, the candidates hatch plots against anyone they see as a danger to their victory. Each one of them will go to any extreme, even murder, to assure his election as Restaapa's heir.

Jade and Megan are pegged as threats that must be eliminated. And Jade has the difficult task of restoring order to Restaapa as well as protecting her own life.

This is the second published volume in the Rehumanization of Jade Darcy

 Mindsaga

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Mindflight

Alain Cheney is a spy who desperately needs to come in from the cold. Earth is able to maintain what control it can over its former colonies by using telepathic spies. But what even the spies don't know is that, once they reach their late thirties, they begin exhibiting mental instability and must be eliminated to protect the program as a whole.

Alain Cheney is one of Earth's best telepaths, but this only makes him more susceptible. He has to battle not only his physical condition, but also his own organization in an attempt to survive.

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Mindsearch

On the planet Iwagen, Richard and Mara Cheney have taken over their late parents' project, a hospice for telepausal Dur-ill telepaths, hoping to start a new telepathic generation.

But someone else is interested in Dur-ill telepaths, too. A mind-being called the Mentad has been growing on Dur-ill worlds, absorbing Dur-ill telepaths into itself and becoming a collective consciousness with many bodies. It learns about the Cheneys' hospice and stages a deadly raid.

When his sister is taken by the Mentad, Richard must seek the aid of the Terran Intelligence Agency, the very group responsible for trying to kill his parents. With Agency assistance,Richard will stop at nothing to free his sister and the others from the Mentad's clutches.

 The Star Rooks

(Written in collaboration with Kathleen Sky)

Painting the Roses Red

Marc Shikari, an inspector for the Interstellar Investigation Institute, knows something illegal is going on. The diMedici family, a clan of interstellar swindlers, is trading stock madly among several different worlds--all among themselves. Every transaction seems legit, but Shikari knows there's got to be more to it than that. What's their angle?

The Devil Behind the Leaves

Marc Shikari, an inspector for the Interstellar Investigation Institute, knows the diMedici family, a clan of interstellar swindlers, is out to steal a priceless statuette. They've practically admitted it to him.But knowing it's going to happen and preventing the theft are two entirely different matters!

Individual Novels

 The Eternity Brigade

A classic of military science fiction.

Hawker was a good soldier -- so good, in fact, that the Army asked him and his buddies to sign on for an extended hitch. What they couldn't know was that the extension would last forever. Century after century, war after war, Hawker and his comrades were re-animated over and over to fight on alien planets with ever more advanced weapons. The reasons for the wars were incomprehensible, but that didn't matter. All that counted was the fighting itself.

From incarnation through incarnation, one goal remained in Hawker's mind. Somewhere, somehow, there had to be a way out of the loop. And he was determined to find it.

See the Amazon reviews’

Read a sample

 Polly!

A comic novel of hope and blasphemy

Herodotus Shapiro has had an unbelievably bad week. His wife left him. The IRS is after him for thousands of dollars. His home/bookstore burned down. On his way to take refuge at his brother's place he got a speeding ticket. And now his car has broken down in the middle of the desert in front of a large mansion. What more can go wrong?

But now his world takes a turn for the weird. The mansion has a snowman on the front lawn--in the desert in July. The house, which is bigger on the inside than on the outside, is owned by Polly, the most preternaturally beautiful young woman he's ever met. Polly is an acrobat, a gourmet chef, a psychologist, an international financial consultant, a physicist and a woman of who-knows how many other incredible talents. She has an unbelievable library, an art collection of all the world's great masterpieces and a print of a previously unknown Marx Brothers film. Her toilet paper is actually silk.

And she seems to have some mysterious plans for him....

Read the Amazon reviews

Read a sample

 Into the Out

Tamara Ruben and ten of her high school classmates are on a field trip in the California desert when they stumble across a long-dormant spaceship. Without warning, the ship takes off with them aboard, stranding them alone in interstellar space with no idea where they're going or what they must do when they get there.

Now they must figure out the ship's workings to keep themselves alive... and Tamara realizes her mind is being taken over by a set of alien Voices that may or may not be trying to help her. Can the inexperienced teenage crew learn to cooperate to solve the unprecedented challenges they'll face on their historic journey?

Read a sample

 Scazvenger Hunt

It was supposed to be a game. The idle rich of galactic Society loved to invent useless little games to keep themselves occupied--and the greatest was the Scavenger Hunt. Visit different worlds, pick up hard-to-get items that can't simply be bought, and have a fine time. A clever way to pass empty moments.

Tyla deVrie and her twin brother, Bred, follow the family tradition of entering the Scavenger Hunt. But little do they realize as they hop from planet to planet aboard Bred's decadent space yacht that the Scavenger Hunt is far more than a game; it will irrevocably change their lives. That is, if it doesn't end them first.

NOTE: This book was originally published by Laser Books in two parts, Scavenger Hunt and Finish Line. The Parsina Press edition is complete in one volume, as it was originally intended.

Read s sample

 Assault on the Gods

Starship captain Ardeva Korrell is used to fighting prejudice, both because she's a woman in what's normally a man's line of work and because she's from a world with a misunderstood religion. But now, on a trading mission to a backwater planet, she finds herself with another kind of fight on her hands; she and her small crew must battle an army of robots and defeat the tyrannical, god-like beings who have enslaved the native population.

The task before them is straightforward: to storm the gates of Heaven itself!

Read a sample

 A World Called Solitude

Birk Aaland is a political outcast from Earth's tyranny, and has been living for years on a planet inhabited solely by robots, ever since his ship crashed here. Now another ship has crashed, and there is again a single survivor -- a woman who's desperate to warn Earth of an alien invasion.

But Birk is perfectly happy with his current exile -- until a twist of fate intervenes, causing each of them to re-evaluate their lives and their total existence.

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 Quiet Post

A surreal comedy

The Quasiverse: A land that’s a combination of Oz, Wonderland, Discworld, and general surreality, where anything can happen and often does; a land of snow globe mines and french fries plantations; a land where bossy birds can have teeth and locks can be very particular about how you stick a key in them; a land where you never know what color the sky will be when you wake up in the morning and where murder victims can be only randomly dead.

Martia Rosenthal is escaping from a bad love affair, and enlists for a diplomatic assignment in the Quasiverse. With the combination of her wealth and the position of sub-legate, she’s assured it will be a quiet post. But she reckons without the vagaries of this bizarre world, where the unusual nature of her friends, as well as her enemies, threatens to end her sanity, if not her very life.

Quiet Post is an absurdist comedy with surprises around every turn and smiles never far from your lips.

Read a sample

 And Not Make Dreams Your Master

Dream broadcasting is the latest entertainment medium. Wayne Corrigan and his colleagues at Dramatic Dreams can broadcast dreams directly into your mind as you sleep for the ultimate in personal adventure.

But when a mysterious malfunction occurs, Wayne is called on to enter a Dream started by another Dreamer. Once inside, he finds a situation run wild and people enslaved by the original Dreamer--a genius bent on self-destruction.

Now, tens of thousands of people--including the woman Wayne loves--are in danger of dying or going insane unless he can find some way to wrest control of the Dream away from a madman.

 Alien Murders

Debprah Rabinowitz Mysteries

Deborah Raboinowitz is a literary broker. She travels to alien worlds via virtual reality and sells the publishing rights to Earth books on other planets. But when an alien is murdered right before her eyes, there's no way she can keep from being involved and solving the murder herself.

Then, when an old friend is accused of a murder on a different world, Deborah has to become a lawyer and defend her friend before a kangaroo court by solving that murder, too.

 Crossroads of the Galaxy

A book in the tradition of the Heinlein juveniles.

Young Alex Bredakoff always wanted to be a