Encounter telepaths, wizards, and more in these five fantasy stories from the New York Times–bestselling Science Fiction Writers of America Grand Master. Warlocks of other worlds—or scientists of times unknown? Craike, a man hunted in two worlds . . . Miss Rutheven, whose needles pointed to secret kingdoms . . . Dagmar, with the fatal fascination of Helen of Troy . . . Ully, whose music touched the powers before mankind . . . Tamisan, the sorceress who found herself the victim of her toy . . . These and others like them inhabit Andre Norton’s world of High Sorcery, where the primeval desires and fears of man—his loving and loathing—are merged with his dreams of future knowledge and technological power. Those who have enjoyed the alchemy of Norton’s other mind-bending tales should enjoy these!

One twin plots in a dark tower, mastering the arcane forces of magic and learning the secrets that will allow him to enter the Portal and challenge the gods themselves. The other twin hides from personal demons at the bottom of a bottle, not yet having found the courage and wisdom to become whole. Their legend will change both the history of Krynn and its future. The legends of other heroes stand waiting to be written. Personal journeys, great quests, and heroic sacrifices all lie ahead. Sometimes it is not the world that needs to be saved, but a soul. The River of Time not only provides the chance to find the forgotten history of Krynn, but a chance to visit the world as it might have been. Discover an Ansalon untouched by Cataclysm, where the Godpriest reigns supreme; visit a magocracy, a land in which the Orders of High Sorcery rule through the power of magic; roam the dragonlands, crushed under the terrible might of the Dark Queen and her dragon highlords. Legends of the Twins is a resource for games set in the world of DragonLance. Inside one will find information for players, including variant rules for character traits, new feats, prestige classes. New spells and magic items allow characters to journey across the River to Time. Dungeon Masters will discover an amazing wealth of campaign possibilities, including travel into Ansalon's distant past or many different alternate versions of the world-available to introduce into a current campaign or as a launching point of one that is entirely new. All information within this volume is fully compatible with the revised edition of the d20 System game. Book jacket.

Of course, Magic is Magic wherever. But Ceremonial Magic - with or without a k ending - is perceived as largely European in origin and practice. The Golden Dawn, Aurum Solis, O.T.O were European and even AMORC, B.O.T.A., G.B.G. were mostly European inspired. As valid as these esoteric orders were and are, they are at best schools and the knowledge taught is now widely available. What is key is not the knowledge but the self-accomplishment that comes only through personal experience (otherwise known as ''self-initiation''). The essence of Magic is a simple formula based on the exercise of Will, Imagination, and Gnosis or Magical Trance. It is a ''technology'' and must be mastered like any technology through understanding and practice. Like playing the piano, it takes discipline to continue practicing basic exercises until it all becomes second nature and can function as an art as well. "And, what for? " Not to perform tricks or miracles. Not to wear fancy robes and chant barbarous words. Not to reach high degrees with grand titles in a secret order. No, it is to transform and transmute your own self and thus to become more than you were, not merely to accelerate normal human evolution but to actually move beyond and be a co-creator. And to finally answer those questions: "Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going?" High Magic is an active program for self-discovery and Self-Realization. This book by a famed contemporary German magician self-instructs the student through a series of basic exercises and real magical practices that train the magician through a consistent program combined with examples and explanations. Each step isthorough without extravagance; the program is effective and entirely self-directed (as must be all real learning); the book is encyclopedic in depth and inclusive even of chaos and cyber magic. Tables and Charts simplify the learning process. The system starts with immediate immersion in ritual practice starting with the Kabbalistic Cross and Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram and moves through beginning to advanced levels of Practical Sigil Magic, Ritual Magic, Elemental Magic, the Greater Ritual of the Pentagram, Planetary Magic, the Hexagram Ritual, Mantra Meditation, the Magical Gaze, Magical Trance, the Pan Ritual, Money Magic, Talisman Magic, Moon Magic, Chaos Magic and Cyber Magic. In each case, practice is used to instruct - nothing is presented as ''theory only.'' You will find everything analyzed, explained and justified with refreshing and truly uncommon common sense! The author fully dispels the myths and subterfuges of archaic magical orders and explores the role of the Unconscious Mind, the issues of Religion and Mysticism, the nature of High and Low Magic, the function of Myth and the role of Drama in Ritual, the Magical Nature of Reality and Magical Perception, Dream Work in relation to Magical Training, the Magical Imagination and training for Visualization, Psychic Protection, Invocation and Evocation, the Calling and Movement of Energies, Charging, Paradigm Shifting, what is really means ''to Keep Silent, '' the power of Intention & definition of Magical Goals, the ritual use of Symbols and Gestures, the power of Words, the Magician''s Universe, the magical pronunciation of Hebrew Letters, the Magician''s Tools, Mantric Sigils, the IAO formula, andmuch more. High Magic is as central to Western culture as are science, technology, the rule of law, democracy and the entrepreneurial economy. Its practice and application should be part of your daily life starting now.

The first book in a seafaring fantasy trilogy that George R. R. Martin has described as “even better than the Farseer Trilogy—I didn’t think that was possible.” Bingtown is a hub of exotic trade and home to a merchant nobility famed for its liveships—rare vessels carved from wizardwood, which ripens magically into sentient awareness. Now the fortunes of one of Bingtown’s oldest families rest on the newly awakened liveship Vivacia. For Althea Vestrit, the ship is her rightful legacy. For Althea’s young nephew, wrenched from his religious studies and forced to serve aboard the Vivacia, the ship is a life sentence. But the fate of the ship—and the Vestrits—may ultimately lie in the hands of an outsider: the ruthless buccaneer captain Kennit, who plans to seize power over the Pirate Isles by capturing a liveship and bending it to his will. Don’t miss the magic of the Liveship Traders Trilogy: SHIP OF MAGIC • MAD SHIP • SHIP OF DESTINY

Between Chronicles and Legends, what made Raistlin aspire to godhood? Raistlin Majere has become a Black Robe wizard and travels to Neraka, the lord city of the Dark Queen, ostensibly to work for her, though in reality he means to further his own quest for power. But Takhisis finds out that the dragon orb has entered her city and sends her draconians to find and destroy the wizard who has it in his possession. Before her agents can strike, though, Raistlin finds out that Takhisis means to take control of all wizardly magic. She has ordered Kitiara to set a trap for the Gods of Magic on the Night of the Eye, when all the high-ranking wizards will be in Neraka to celebrate. As the forces of light, with help from the good dragons, are turning the tide of battle, Raistlin is forced to flee, for his foes are closing in on him. As the Dragon Highlords vie for the Crown of Power in the Temple of the Dark Queen, Raistlin Majere wages his own desperate battle against Takhisis in the dungeons below and meets again the brother he betrayed. The fate of the world hangs in the balance.

The mortal races of Krynn can see the presence of the gods by simply turning their gaze to the night sky. There the constellations of the gods of good, evil, and balance wheel about in silent struggle to influence their children who live and die on the world below. The gods have blessed the world with miracles of healing and salvation, but so also have they inflicted war and terrible cataclysms.