Early ReviewersDave Duncan

Two hundred miles wide and higher than the moon, Sungoback has stood over central Africa for thirty years, a pillar of light by night and of darkness by day. Science cannot explain it; it destroys technology. What secret lies at its centre: aliens, eternal life, distant past, or far future? Most who venture inside Sungoback are never seen again. Why would anybody dare? They all have their reasons. Pillar of Darkness tells of a party of nine very dissimilar people, who venture into Sungoback together, bound by their motives, their sufferings, and—eventually—their fates.

Dave Duncan fans: once more into the fray! Niall’s father taught him about honour, about the value of a man keeping his word. And this is a tenet by which Niall has lived his life, even while training to be a Blade. Now, however, King Ambrose is dead, and his daughter, Malinda, wears the Chivian Crown, and even as Niall is made Prime of the Blades, he’s been put under dire oath to the Queen, made a spy, and about to face a challenge to everything he had been taught about honour and the privilege of being a Queen’s Blade. In this the last of the King’s Blades series, Dave Duncan takes his readers on a high adventure and what will be remembered as a deeply satisfying conclusion.

The Tales of the King’s Blades continues…. So what happens next? Sir Rhys, Sir Sharp, and Sir Trusty—three of the world’s greatest swordsmen―are released from the Royal Guard in their twenties with no pension, no job, and no money. Rhys’s father is the great Blade hero, Sir Spender, who finds himself in the same predicament. Spender knows of a fabulous treasure that was lost more than thirty years ago and thinks he knows where it may be. Why shouldn’t the four of them go and look for it? But King Ambrose also remembers that treasure and believes it belongs to him. Why shouldn’t he try to stop them?

K. N. ‘Cannon’ Ball and his superstar wife, Tempest, are running for their lives. Cannon has exposed a fraud so huge even heads of government are implicated and determined to keep Cannon from ever testifying. Nowhere is safe, so they step out of time to a research station fifty million years in the past. The dinosaurs died out eons ago and there aren’t any people around, so they ought to be safe then, right? Wrong, very wrong! A new Dave Duncan novel is always a reason to celebrate, and his trademark blend of high adventure, hard science, and wry humour makes Eocene Station a must read.

From Amazon: When Nostradamus is hired to find a foreign spy by Venice's ruling Council of 10, the only clues they can offer him are the spy's intercepted messages, encoded in a seemingly unbreakable cipher. But Nostradamus soon detects evil influences working against him, and realizes the spy can only be caught by occult means. He turns to his able apprentice, the young swordsman Alfeo Zeno, whose unique talents may prove essential to unraveling the truth.

At sixteen, Ivor of Bracken is too young to be a swordsman like his nine older brothers, but he has strong legs and a fine memory, so he can serve his lord as a runner, carrying messages. That sounds safe enough, except that this is Dark Age Scotland. Dangerous outlaws and sinister old gods still roam the glens. Fortunately Ivor is a survivor―but sometimes only just! Dave Duncan is the award-winning author of over 50 novels. The Adventures of Ivor brings together three of his young adult novellas into one convenient omnibus edition.

The Eye of Strife, reveals Dave Duncan at his best: Sword fights and romance, miracles and mystery, treachery and sly humour. A god summons a curious assortment of witnesses to his temple to testify on what they know about a jewel lost a thousand years ago. At least one of them is guilty. Others are lying.

When the wyrd-woman warned Ivor he was going to meet a monster, he didn’t believe her. He thought he had worse things to worry about. He was wrong about both.

Earl Malcolm has reason to fear the ferocious Northmen raiders of the Western Isles are going to attack the land of Alba, so he sends Ivor on a desperate mission with a chest of silver to buy them off. But the situation Ivor finds when he reaches the Wolf's Lair is even worse than he was led to expect. Only a miracle can save him now.

First of a new series of novelettes from award-winning author, Dave Duncan. Young Ivor dreams of being a swordsman like his nine older brothers, but until he can grow a beard he's limited to being a runner, carrying messages for their lord, Thane Carrak. That's usually boring, but this time Carrak has sent him on a long journey to summon the mysterious Rorie of Ytter. Rorie is reputed to be a wizard—or an outlaw, or maybe a saint—but the truth is far stranger, and Ivor suddenly finds himself caught up in a twisted magical intrigue that threatens Thane Carrak and could leave Ivor himself very dead.

When we left the Brothers Magnus, they had assembled in Cardice to help Anton Magnus defend the castle from attack by a neighboring state with a significant military advantage and several officers who at any moment could request help from saints—or, depending on your perspective, from the devil. But Cardice has a secret weapon in the form of young Wulfgang Magnus, who can ask a few favors of his own from these devil-saints. The only problem is that Wulf is in love with Madlenka, the countess from Cardice who was forcibly married to Anton to explain why he’s suddenly leading the country. Even Wulf is unsure if family and political loyalty should override love. He’s also beginning to realize that the magical battle he’s stepped into has some serious rules that he doesn’t know, and has no way to learn. And when several wild cards in every battle can tap into nearly limitless sources of magic, who knows how far and wide the battle might range? This stunning continuation of the story begun in Speak to the Devil amps up the romance and intrigue, while letting readers spend more time with master fantasist Dave Duncan’s unique, complex, and ornery-but-delightful characters. When the Saints is a Kirkus Reviews Best of 2011 Science Fiction & Fantasy title.

The realm's most feared swordsman, Sir Wolf has earned his name, the "King's Killer", well. Unlike many of his brother Blades, however, Wolf detests his sworn duty to do the bloody bidding of a liege he can never respect. But when an impregnable fortress is breached, and a former royal mistress is abducted by brazen assailants, Wolf must leap into the fray. Burdened with the company of his disgraced brother, Sir Lynx--the only Blade ever to lose his ward and live--and shadowed by a mysterious Inquisitor with a secret agenda, Wolf must make his way across a landscape of nightmares vivid and terrible enough to chill any fearless heart. For somewhere in this dark, unfamiliar world, the fate of all Chivial hangs in the balance--and it is the destiny of one reluctant Blade to tip the scales to salvation...or doom.

The King has decreed that new Blades, elite warrior swordmen, must be sworn into the service of the Grand Duke Rubin, deposed by a foul usurper and currently on the run. But none of the rough youths being readied at Ironhall possess the seasoning to survive what better, more skilled Blades already have not. Still, two woefully unprepared candidates are approached with an offer of early bonding and probable death: deft but dense, rude Ranter, and eager impetuous Ringwood, with a third, the inadequate swordsman but potentially able spy Bellman, enlisted into their threadbare ranks. Joining the Duke's entourage along with the courageous and prescient White Sister Trudy, the would-be champions must restore a rightful ruler to the throne or die in the process. But before them waits an army of the dead. And the Duke whom the Blades must protect to the last drop of their lifeblood is not the liege they imagined.