Chronicles of the Rogue Wizard Series

CAN A FREE CITY STAY FREE?   THE ROGUE WIZARD Magnus D'Armand, the renegade son of Rod Gallowglass, Warlock of Gramarye, has set out to prove himself twice the hero and liberator his father ever was, and asks his sentient starship to find him a world in need of revolution. But on the lost colony planet of Petrach, he finds far more than he bargained for: a Renaissance-era world of booming commerce, vicious mercenaries, and Machiavellian political intrigue.   THE CITY UNDER SIEGE The wealthy maritime free city of Pirogia's fledgling republic of merchantmen is about to be wiped off the map by an alliance of nobles determined to maintain aristocratic rule by any means necessary. Worse, the lords are backed by shadowy and powerful off-world organizations interfering with the planet for their own self-serving reasons.   Even the Rogue Wizard will need a miracle to keep Pirogia alive and free against such odds!

THERE'S NO JUSTICE, AND LITTLE FREEDOM, IN A WORLD WHERE MIGHT MAKES RIGHT   The medieval planet of Maltroit seems to be repeating Earth's bloody history in the worst possible manner: endless feudal warfare, at the expense of peasants just trying to survive. It's up to the Rogue Wizard to give the downtrodden a crash course in revolution, and set in motion a plan for the common soldiers to take back power and end the bloodshed.   Disguising himself as a mercenary soldier, teaching nobles the rudiments of democracy and schooling peasants in the basics of radical politics, before you can say "Magna Carta," the Rogue Wizard has bent the course of history and set the planet on a course toward peace and democracy.

THE REBEL SLAVES NEED A LEADER.  EVEN IF HE'S A WIZARD.  EVEN IF HE'S DEAD.   Dirk Dulain is a churl—a cloned serf bred to serve the aristocracy of the planet Melange—who escaped and joined a Resistance devoted to readying the churls for their next great attempt at freedom. Dirk is determined to foment revolution, but he needs the help of DeCade, the rebel peasant who led the last great revolt of the churls against their despotic feudal masters. One problem: DeCade died generations ago when his rebellion failed. His staff and bones were broken and lost; only his songs remain.   Now, with the help of the peasant spy Madelon and a mysterious giant named Gar, Dirk must somehow revive the legend of DeCade, trigger the revolution, and lead the slaves in a battle against their aristocratic overlords, a battle they must win... or die.

IN A POLICE STATE, LIBERTY IS TREASON   Interstellar liberator Magnus Gallowglass, the renegade psychic wizard, travels the stars fighting injustice and oppression. But this time the Rogue Wizard may have encountered a tyrant even he can't overthrow: a stern Protector whose oppressive regime makes Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth look like a Sunday-school picnic. For hundreds of years, this lost colony planet has preserved order by dictating every detail of its citizens' lives - where they live, what they think, even whom they may love and marry. Any dissent is punished with the torturer's rack. So successful is this brutal system that Magnus is hard-pressed to find anyone willing to oppose it - until he recruits a pair of star-crossed lovers to lead the revolution, and reeducates a band of deluded would-be aristocrats to become the planet's new rulers.   Here is Christopher Stasheff in top form: swashbuckling, stylish, and slightly subversive adventure from the author of the bestselling "Warlock" chronicles.

IN A WORLD OF ANARCHY AND CHAOS, ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE... TO RULE THE WEAK Magnus D'Armand, the Rogue Wizard, travels the stars fighting injustice and oppression, sowing the seeds of freedom and revolution throughout the galaxy. But on the planet Durvie, he may have met his match: a lost colony founded by idealistic anarchists, whose civilization has long since crumbled into utter chaos. Dozens of greedy warlords, ruling through fear and violence, wage never-ending petty wars over land and loot while the common folk struggle just to survive. Over the centuries, the history and knowledge of the original colonists has been forgotten, and the people have reverted to a medieval state. With no central government to overthrow, it seems impossible for Magnus to restore peace and order - until he discovers the hidden knowledge harbored by the Fair Folk within the countryside's Hollow Hills.

IF YOU'RE TOO TALL OR TOO SHORT, YOU'RE A SLAVE.   Gar Pike, a.k.a. renegade psychic wizard Magnus D'Armand, finds himself on the distant planet Siegfried amid a lost colongy modeled after medieval Scandinavia from Old Earth, complete with the Norse pantheon, dwarves, and even giants.   But the three human races have hated each other since the dawn of time, and the planet is beleaguered by racism and prejudice. Giants, dwarves, and humans have waged constant war with each other for as long as anyone can remember.   It's a tough nut to crack, even for an experienced psychic liberator. Can Gar unify the peoples of Siegfried, teach them to tolerate and live with one another in peace? And, most importantly, can he teach the lonely girl Alea to live with and - dare he hope - love him?

NO GOVERNMENT, NO PROBLEM . . . FOR THE INVADERS. During his last fight for peace and democracy on a forgotten planet, the interplanetary liberator Gar Pike somehow managed to get himself a new traveling companion: Alea, a young with a certain amount of psychic ability - and a heavy dose of attitude to boot. Now the ship feels like it's shrinking, and Alea's always around, asking questions, sticking her nose in, and tensions are rising. But when they finally land on their next target planet, it's... strange. There doesn't seem to be ANY government to overthrow, good or bad - yet life still seems to be orderly, peaceful, and happy. Until a forest outlaw builds an army and starts conquering villages, that is. With no government and no military, there's nothing and no one to stop him. The locals pray the mythical "Scarlet Company" will, but it's nowhere to be seen... and may not even exist. Can Magnus and Alea alone save these peaceful people from brutal conquest? One thing is clear: when a wizard and a warlord square off, you can expect the unexpected.

CAN YOU STOP AND ENDLESS CYCLE OF VIOLENCE? When Gar Pike - the Rogue Wizard - and his traveling companion Alea land their ship on a planet harboring a lost colony to do some minor repairs to the ship's computer, they decided to take some time for shore leave, and explore. It's not long before they meet one of the indigenous life forms of the planet: Fairies. As Gar and Alea explore more of the world and meet more of the inhabitants, they quickly come to realize that every clan is feuding with their neighboring clans. Though everyone secretly wants peace, nobody will listen to those with the courage to preach it, those who have been sent into exile for wanting everyone to get along. Posing as traders and healers, Gar and Alea team up with the Fairies, the Wee Folk, the Druid priests, and two particularly courageous exiles to reintroduce the abandoned Druidic religious tradition to the people and, hopefully, reintroduce peace to all the clans. Under the nom de guerre of Gar Pike, renegade psychic wizard Magnus D'Armand travels the stars fighting injustice and oppression, like his father, Rod Gallowglass, the Warlock in Spite of Himself. But unlike his famous father, Magnus refuses to play by the rules, sowing the seeds of freedom and revolution throughout the galaxy. When Gar and Alea land their ship on a planet for computer system maintenance, they aren't expecting to run into Fairies, Wee Folk, Druid priests, and feuding clans transplanted from Scotland and then forgotten. Can they, along with two courageous exiles and the psychic powers of the Fairies, and Wee Folk, bring peace and order to this world?

IN A SUPERNATURAL WORLD, BETTER THE DEVIL YOU KNOW.   Interplanetary liberators Magnus and Alea land on the lost colony planet of Oldeira, where the peasantry live in fear.  Ghosts and dragons fill the woods, mutants and madmen lurk in the ancient abandoned cities, and the local Magician Lords are as likely to abuse their peasants as protect them. Worse, the common folk have given up all thought of resistance.  How can they fight back against mystical powers they can't even see, let alone understand?  Even if they could overthrow their Magician Lord, who would protect them from the ghosts, dragons, and other magicians?  No, life may be harsh, but at least it's stable... so they've resigned themselves to their fate. Can Magnus and Alea convince the downtrodden to fight back, to believe that they CAN fight back?  Thankfully, they have a secret weapon: The Way, a competing philosophy of passive resistance.  But when the Magician Lords move to crush the movement with armies of ghosts... will it be enough?