The Black Swan: Memory, Midlife, and Migration

By Anne Batterson

Book Overview

Each an acclaimed author in his own right, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle have collaborated on some of the biggest bestsellers in science fiction history, including the No. 1 New York Times bestseller Footfall, as well as Lucifer's Hammer, Inferno, Oath of Fealty, and The Mote in God's Eye. Now Niven and Pournelle have combined their award-winning talents and imaginations to produce a masterpiece of epic fantasy that rivals the works of Robert Jordan and David Eddings.

Set in the world of Niven's popular The Magic Goes Away, The Burning City transports readers to an enchanted ancient city that often bears a provocative resemblance to our own modem society. Here Yagen-Atep, the volatile and voracious god of fire, holds sway, alternately protecting and destroying the city's denizens. In Tep's Town, nothing can burn indoors and no fire can start: by accident -- except when the Burning comes upon the city. Then the people, possessed by Yagen-Atep, set their own town ablaze in a riotous orgy of destruction that often comes without warning.

Whandall Placehold has lived with the Burning all his life. Fighting his way to adulthood in the mean-but-magical streets of the city's most blighted neighborhoods, Whandall alone dreams of escaping the god's wrath to find a new and better life. But his best hope for freedom may lie with Morth of Atlantis, the enigmatic sorcerer who killed his father

Both gritty and exotic, The Burning City is unique fantasy vision unlike any you have read before.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 141657509X
• ISBN13: 9781416575092
• Release Date: August 2007
• Publisher: Scribner
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Amazing and couragous

I met Anne at a CT Authors and Publishers meeting where she was the guest speaker. She kept us enthralled with her tales and adventures in her journey to be published after she had written this book. The journey never stops. I found it very inspiring to see someone have both the courage and support to take off on a cross country journey and then write about it. My ownself, I have fictionalized my experiences in "Forever Retro Blues." I am in awe of anyone who can put themselves out there like Anne did. It's a spiritual quest in addition to the physical one of finding herself in mid-life. Well done, Anne, well done.

Aviation, Vertical, Horizontal and More.

As an international skydiving champion, Anne Batterson was someone I admired when I began jumping in 1962. She went on to become a flight instructor and charter pilot. She understands flight and is fascinated by all who fly. Batterson describes her following of a fall bird migration with flashbacks to her earlier adventures. I loved reading about her skydiving in the early days. She relates the need to be alone from time to time. A good writer with a large and varied vocabulary, she crafts a good read. As an author, publisher and skydiver, I found this book fascinating and fun to read. Dan Poynter, ParaPublishing.com

The Black Swan

A beautiful, subtle, completely absorbing story that will stir the reader's own internal wild bird. It was such a privilege to share Ms. Batterson's journey. Hard to believe this is her first book and can't wait to read more from her.