NOVELS OF THE STAR RIGGER UNIVERSE

Cover design by Pat Ryan,
from original art by Jael

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DRAGON SPACE: A Star Rigger Omnibus

Two Novels in One Ebook!
Dragons in the Stars and Dragon Rigger

Dragons in the Stars — When star pilot Jael LeBrae rebels against an abusive ship's master and dares to fly "the mountain route" through the Flux—the hyperspace navigated by riggers—she dismisses the legend claiming that dragons lurk waiting to duel unwary riggers. But appear they do, challenging Jael to a fight to the death. Thanks to the wisdom of a dragon named Highwing, she survives the encounter and returns to starport wiser and stronger. But she hardly expects that fate will bring her back to that realm, to defend Highwing against a darkness that seeks his death.

Dragon Rigger — War engulfs the dragon world, fueled by an unseen foe—a creature of terrible power, known as Tar-skel, "the Nail of Strength." Tar-skel seeks to shape all of space and time into a web of power and death. The Dream Mountain, source of knowledge and life to all dragons, is held by the enemy; and yet, a single hope burns in the dragons' hearts. Led by Windrush, son of Highwing, the dragons await the "One," whom prophecy says shall come from outside the realm—the One who will challenge the darkness. That "One" is Jael LeBrae, human star rigger. Once before, Jael aided the dragons in their struggle. Now she must return to face at last the terrible wrath of Tar-skel. And according to prophecy, the cost of changing the realm is Jael's own life.

Science fiction with mythic dimension, from the Nebula-nominated author of Eternity's End and The Chaos Chronicles. Includes the original Map of the Realm by Ellisa Mitchell, from the print edition.

Individual novels appeared in print from Tor Books and in ebook from E-reads. (See below.)

This book took me four years to bring to completion. Epic in length, it's the longest book I've ever written—including THE INFINITY LINK, my previous magnum opus—and it's a book I'm very proud of. It was a finalist for the Nebula Awards of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

• Download PDF (free sample) / read an excerpt online
• Tor Books hardcover 2000, ISBN: 0-312-85642-3
• Tor Books paperback 2001, ISBN: 0812534433
• German edition from Heyne

Ebooks (DRM-free): Kindle | Nook | Smashwords | Sony | Diesel | iTunes

"It's onward with [a] one-man Light Brigade, straight into the jaws of doom and destiny. He finds true love, cognitive dissonance, divisions among the enemy, ambitious schemes, another mission--this one deeper than anyone has ever gone before into the substrata of the Flux--and a final resolution that leaves the reader both breathless and satisfied." --Analog

"You don't want to wait for the paperback." --Science Fiction Chronicle

"A galactic epic that's much more than space opera, filled with both drama and bold ideas. Who would have thought a futuristic pirate story could be so original and smart?" --David Brin, author of The Uplift War

Cover art for Tor edition,
by Jael

DRAGONS IN THE STARS

Jael LeBrae, star rigger, dares to take "the mountain route" and learns the truth of the dragons. (See Dragon Space, above for complete description.) SF with resonances of fantasy. Cover art by Jael

Tor paperback, ISBN: 0-812-53303-8 / Science Fiction Book Club Alternate

• Ebooks: Kindle | Nook | Fictionwise | Baen | Sony | ereader | booksonboard | also available through iBooks
• Now included in Dragon Space: A Star Rigger Omnibus
• Download PDF (free sample)

Quotes and reviews:

"Carver is a strong SF writer, with a good feel for both the hard SF elements and the people he populates them with. Dragons in the Stars takes his writing ability one step further, as he shows he is not only comfortable working with fantasy elements, but able to succeed at the tough job of melding them into a science-fictional environment without making the SF aspects of the story lose their sense of realism. A well- written, enjoyable book that will impress the technology-oriented readers as well as social/characterization-oriented readers."
--C. von Rospach, Amazing Stories

"An interesting and entertaining blend of genres." --Science Fiction Chronicle

"Carver's prose effectively lends a spare yet evocative resonance to the draconian realm. Like a good stage performer, this story should leave its audience wanting more." --John Bunnell, Amazing Stories

Cover art for E-reads
Ebook edition

Cover art for Tor edition,
by Boris

DRAGON RIGGER

Though the Dream Mountain, source of knowledge and life to all dragons, has been captured by the enemy, a single hope burns in the dragons' hearts. Led by Windrush, son of Highwing, the dragons long for fulfillment of the prophecy: the "One" who shall come from outside the realm, the One who shall challenge the darkness. The "One" is Jael LeBrae, human star rigger. Once before, Jael aided the dragons in their struggle. Now she must return to face at last the terrible wrath of Tar-skel.

And according to prophecy, the cost is her own life.

Online for the first time! Map of the Realm by Ellisa Mitchell

• Tor hardcover 1993, ISBN: 0-312-85061-1
• Tor paperback 1994, ISBN: 0-812-53323-2

Ebooks

• Kindle | Nook | Fictionwise | Baen | Sony | ereader | booksonboard | also at iBooks
• Now included in Dragon Space: A Star Rigger Omnibus
• Download PDF (free sample)

Quotes and Reviews:

"A most excellent adventure that would make a grand movie if it were not that the special effects budget would surely be quite brutal even in this age of computer animation.... If there is a motto for this novel, it is solidarnosc, solidarity, the power to be gained by sticking with one's friends, even by sacrificing for the good of others...there is immense verve, energy, momentum, and power...the reader stays with Carver all the way." --Thomas A. Easton, Analog

"A refreshingly unique setting and excellently realized characters." --Publishers Weekly

Cover for E-reads
Ebook edition

Cover art for Tor edition,
by Bob Eggleton

STAR RIGGER'S WAY

Only a compatible rigger team, their visions meshed in psychic unity, can safely harness the most turbulent currents of the Flux--and Carlyle's ship is being drawn inexorably toward a deadly maelstrom, the unthinkable stresses of the Hurricane Flume. For even a scant chance at survival, he needs the catlike alien's help. But the price for that help is a complete merging of minds and memories.

And Carlyle, at war with his own past, dreads that union more than death itself.

The novel that introduced the Star Rigger universe to thousands of readers.

Cover art for Tor paperback by Bob Eggleton.

• Dell paperback, 1978
• Main Selection of the Science Fiction Book Club
• Revised for Tor edition 1994, ISBN: 0-812-53444-1

Ebooks

• Kindle | Nook | Fictionwise | Baen | Sony | ereader | booksonboard | also at iBooks

Reviews and quotes:

"A novel of character-change, maturation, abandonment of illusions and discovering-of-self...it's an engaging science fantasy and the novel will leave you saying to yourself, 'Yeah!'" --Richard E. Geis, GALAXY

"Learning to communicate, to accept change, to understand the past, to express intimacy become rites of passage for the human Gev Carlyle and his felinoid cynthian crewmate Cephean." --PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Cover for E-reads
Ebook edition

Cover art for Tor edition,
by Alan Gutierrez

PANGLOR

Panglor is a good pilot, and never wanted to be part of the nefarious plot that has trapped him. But it's too late for regrets. For he, along with an intriguing female stowaway, has flown his ship through a window in space that leads to a world of impossible terrors, a world that cannot exist, cannot be real...and from which they can never return. There's only one way out...and that's to escape into sheer madness.

The novel that sets the stage for starship rigging--the discovery that enables the transition from "foreshortening" star travel to the freedom of the Flux, with a most unlikely hero.

• Dell paperback, 1980
• Revised for Tor reprint July 1996, ISBN: 0-812-53446-8

Ebooks

• Kindle | Nook | Fictionwise | Baen | Sony | ereader | booksonboard | also at iBooks

"An original and very charming novel, with a particularly unusual protagonist." --Publishers Weekly

Cover for E-reads
Ebook edition