"This was how it had been in the old days, when I had befriended others as easily as a child might blow seeds off a puff-flower. Those days seemed long ago."Dolan is a quiet young man who spends his days...

"I had come to tell him, in the cheerful manner boys have, that our world was about to be destroyed."He has taken a blood vow to the Jackal God to bring freedom to his land by killing Koretia's greatest...

"'This prisoner deserves special treatment.' The hooded man looked over at the young man again."Elsdon Taylor, a prisoner accused of committing a terrible murder. Layle Smith, a torturer with a terrible...

"'You have committed a vile and savage act, one that any other nation would punish with death. Our punishment, on the other hand, will only be to give you what you want. You have sought to live in a world...

"I came here hoping you would give me an excuse to kill you, but now I can only feel pity for you – pity and horror."For eighteen years, he has survived in an army unit where few soldiers live more than...

"'Death did not hold the name then that he holds now.'"In Mip's most notorious life prison, Death appears in a strange disguise.It had seemed for a while that the plan would work: a bold conspiracy by...

"Sometimes I feel that he is as mysterious as the gods, and that he is hiding something of vital importance from me. Something that would transform my life."Few events are more thrilling in a young man's...

Barrett Boyd has awakened from death to a new and baffling life. He knows that he is a guard in the queendom's royal prison, the Eternal Dungeon. But why do the prisoners matters so much to him? Who are...

"Oh, Mercy and Hell. He would gladly allow himself to be flayed for eternity if he could thereby escape the responsibility of disciplining his love-mate for any future violations of the Code."The Eternal...

"'The Eternal Dungeon is my home now,' the High Seeker said. But as he spoke, he lifted his face and looked at the Vovimian carving, as a man might look at a beloved he must leave forever."The Seekers...

"'Shall we allow criminals to roam the streets at will because we're afraid to take the chance of harming an innocent prisoner?'"A bloody knife from a crime scene becomes a mystery to be solved and a...

"Every psychologist of our day knows the origin of transformation therapy, though many prefer not to speak of it. It is considered embarrassing to be forced to admit that your primary tool for curing...

"'I am placed under the care of the Unknowable God; I obey his commands, wherever they take me. But you may have need of the amulet to protect you against the Prince.'"The boundaries of rank declare that...