The Serpent is a novel by British writer Jane Gaskell. It was first published in 1963. [1] It is the first part of the Atlan series, a set of four (or five) fantasy novels set in prehistory. The following novels are Atlan , The City , and Some Summer Lands . The stories are set in Atlantis and South America.
The Serpent was also published split into two books, titled The Serpent and The Dragon, hence the confusion over the numbering of the volumes.
The protagonist of the novel is Cija (pronounced 'kee-yah'), the illegitimate child of the Dictatress of a small kingdom and a high-ranking priest. The story itself is written from her point of view. She was kept in a tower and looked after by servants until she turned 17; until that time she had not met any men and believed that men were extinct and women ruled the world. She was also raised to believe she was a goddess, related to the gods of her country, to whom she refers to as her "cousins".
When she is 17 years old, her mother releases her from the tower and gives her as a hostage to Zerd, the half-Human, half-Reptilian warlord, leader of an invading army on their way to conquer the mysterious continent of Atlan. Cija is secretly instructed by her mother to seduce and kill Zerd. Eventually, she succeeds neither in killing Zerd, nor in warning the Atlantean empire about the invaders, but she ends up being married to Zerd and becoming Empress of Atlan.
Colin Greenland reviewed The Serpent for Imagine magazine, and stated that "rich with sensation and vitality that make much more recent fantasy writing look quite pale." [2]
The Colour of Magic is a 1983 fantasy comedy novel by Terry Pratchett, and is the first book of the Discworld series. The first printing of the British edition consisted of only 506 copies. Pratchett has described it as "an attempt to do for the classical fantasy universe what Blazing Saddles did for Westerns."
Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden, known by her pen names Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm, is an American writer of speculative fiction. As Hobb, she is best known for her fantasy novels set in the Realm of the Elderlings, which comprise the Farseer, Liveship Traders and Tawny Man trilogies, the Rain Wild chronicles, and the Fitz and the Fool trilogy. Lindholm's writing includes the urban fantasy novel Wizard of the Pigeons and science fiction short stories, among other works. As of 2018, her fiction has been translated into 22 languages and sold more than 4 million copies.
Tik-Tok is a 1983 science fiction novel by American writer John Sladek. It received a 1983 British Science Fiction Association Award.
The Godmakers (1972) is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert. The title of early editions was sometimes styled The God Makers.
Gardens of the Moon is the first of ten novels in Canadian author Steven Erikson's high fantasy series the Malazan Book of the Fallen.
Rogue Moon is a short science fiction novel by American writer Algis Budrys, published in 1960. It was a 1961 Hugo Award nominee. A substantially cut version of the novel was originally published in F&SF; this novella-length story was included in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two, edited by Ben Bova. It was adapted into a radio drama by Yuri Rasovsky in 1979.
The Chronicles of Morgaine is a 1985 omnibus of the first three science fantasy novels from The Morgaine Stories by C. J. Cherryh. The three novels included are Gate of Ivrel, Well of Shiuan and Fires of Azeroth.
Wizard of the Pigeons is a 1986 fantasy novel set in Seattle by Megan Lindholm, and a forerunner of the urban fantasy genre. It was the first work to draw wider attention to Lindholm. The novel explores themes of homelessness, poverty, and mental illness. It was issued as a paperback original by Ace Books in 1986, and was reprinted in hardcover by Hypatia Press in 1994 and as a 35th Anniversary Edition by Grim Oak Press in 2020. Several UK editions have also been published.
Jane Gaskell is a British fantasy writer.
The Affirmation is a 1981 science fiction novel by British writer Christopher Priest. The book follows the story of Peter Sinclair, who begins creating fantasy fiction, only to find his life merging with that of protagonist. The novel eventually earned praise among reviewers as one of Priest's best works.
Lisa Smedman is a science fiction and fantasy author and journalist. Her novel Extinction, set in the Forgotten Realms universe, was a New York Times bestseller. Smedman first became known for gaming adventure novels, and later published her own independent fantasy novels.
The Twilight of Briareus is a science-fiction novel by John Middleton Murry Jr., under his pseudonym Richard Cowper. It "combine[s] disaster and invasion themes". One critic sees it as the book that Cowper's other novels resemble at heart.
Atlan is a fantasy novel by British writer Jane Gaskell. It was first published in 1965. It is the second book in the Atlan series set in prehistoric South America and Atlantis. The first book in the series was The Serpent, and Atlan is followed by two more books, The City and Some Summer Lands.
Involution Ocean is a science-fiction novel by American writer Bruce Sterling, published in 1977.
Empire of the East is a novel by Fred Saberhagen published in 1979.
The Warrior Who Carried Life is a novel by Geoff Ryman published in 1985.
Damiano is a fantasy novel by R. A. MacAvoy published in 1984.
Worlds is a novel written by Joe Haldeman and published in 1981.
Protectorate is a novel written by Mick Farren and published in 1984.
The Best of John W. Campbell is the title of two collections of science fiction short stories by American author John W. Campbell. The first, a British edition edited by George Hay, was first published in hardcover by Sidgwick & Jackson in February 1973, and in paperback by Sphere Books in November 1976. Sidgwick & Jackson later gathered together with The Far-Out Worlds of A. E. van Vogt (1968) into the omnibus volume Science Fiction Special 15 (1975), and with Brian N. Ball's Singularity Station (1973) and Poul Anderson's Orbit Unlimited (1961) into the omnibus volume Science Fiction Special 20 (1977). The second collection of this title, an American edition edited by Lester del Rey, was first published in hardcover by Nelson Doubleday in May 1976, and in paperback by Ballantine Books in June 1976 as a volume in its Classic Library of Science Fiction. The American edition was reprinted by Del Rey/Ballantine in February 1995, and has also been translated into German.
 | This article about a 1960s fantasy novel is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. See guidelines for writing about novels. Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page. |