John Morressy

A wizard's life is not an easy life. One never knows who, or what, one's next client will be, or what kind of unpleasantness he, or she, or it, is bringing. And there's always the certainty of travel to far places over bad roads in nasty weather. It's no wonder wizards prefer to live solitary lives in isolated towers or ruins or caves. They're looking for some peace and quiet. But it makes for a lonely life. So when a young man of 160 or so - no age at all for a wizard - meets a beautiful enchanted princess and releases her from a cruel spell, it seems the perfect chance to settle down to a life of cozy domesticity. With a bit of magic here and there to take care of the housework and a loyal house-troll to do the heavy lifting, things ought to be idyllic. And they would be, if it weren't for the unreasonable clients, the barbarian swordsmen, the home furnishings with minds of their own, the otherworldly intruders, and the rest of those annoying day-to-day problems of the profession.

A wizard's work is never done! For Kedrigern, though, wizardry has been a rewarding profession. The hours are unpredictable and far too much travel is required, but it provides the chance to exercise talents usefully and meet interesting people. The pay is good, and dependable no one stiffs a wizard. For Princess, wizardry is a new experience. Her life has not been easy: Long years hunkered down small and green on a lily pad in a swamp at an age when a lovely young lady prefers to be taking her place in polite society had been followed by a rapid succession of disenchantments and re-enchantments and re-disenchantments, despellings and respellings and re-despellings. Unknown to her, these awkward and uncomfortable years have revealed a latent talent for magic. And she also acquired a very handy pair of wings in the process! Join Kedrigern, Princess, their friends, colleagues, clients and adversaries, as well as an array of colorful characters (talking spiders, talking mirrors, talking dragons, and talking swords among them) in a second collection of novels and short stories, including Kedrigern and the Dragon Comme il Faut, never before available in English, and one never-before-published short story!

215 p. ; 18 cm

Wizardry sure isn't what it used to be. Spells don't seem as potent, and there's been a general decline in quality of wizards practicing the craft. But when the Wizards' Guild votes to open its meetings to alchemists -- as far as Kedrigern is concerned, that's the last straw. Leaving the Guild meeting in a huff, Kedrigern -- master magician and purveyor of counterspells -- bids adieu to his conjuring comrades to pursue a life of quiet contemplation and study. However, he soon finds just how lonely such a life can be -- even with a helpful house-troll named Spot for company. What's a 160-year-old bachelor to do? The opportunities for socializing around Kedrigern's home atop Silent Thunder Mountain are zilch. And Kedrigern is decidedly too young to even contemplate marriage -- by wizardly standards, of course. It's not until after much thought that our humble hero resolves himself to marriage... and so begins his quest for a bride. But will Kedrigern rush into wedlock with the first enchanted princess who speaks up?

Beran makes a pact with the devil to become the greatest juggler in the world.

The Earthmen and the natives of the planet Ziax join forces to find out why water seems to be disappearing from the planet.

Synopsis - The Onhla are a race of hunters on the frozen planet of Hraggellon. Half Beast, Half – human, wholly inscrutable, they and only they can hunt down the silver pelted corwal. When the Onhla are decimated by disease, only one of their number survives. Hult the last of the Onhla must set out for the far planet where legend tells that other Onhla settled long, long ago. A perilous odyssey into the unknown to save his race from extinction.

Shortly after moving into the home of an uncle who disappeared, Tommy falls through an opening into both a past and future time.

A young Earth Pioneer finds himself a prisoner on Planet Ziax II.

239 p. 22 cm

A frustrated smartass middle school teacher suffers from performance Observations, brat students, uncertainty about his girlfriend, reading lists, bitterness, faculty meetings and pamphlets. Although written in the 1960s when students presumably behaved better, this book gives humorous insight into the frustrations of teaching.