Plot-lines collide and family secrets are revealed in the third book of Mayer Alan Brenner's "Dance of Gods" series. Originally published by DAW Books, the books are a witty and intelligent science / fantasy crossover.

"Ya gotta love a series with a hero named 'Maximillian the Vaguely Disreputable'. READ THIS SERIES, shouts your FAQmaker, it's fast and furious, and fun..." -- The Recommended Fantasy Author List

Lewis Shiner is a two-time finalist for the Nebula (Frontera, Deserted Cities of the Heart), a finalist for the Philip K. Dick (Frontera), and won the World Fantasy award for Glimpses.

In Missing Persons we collect three of Lewis's own favorite suspense / mystery short stories, written between 1998 and 2004.

The plot thickens and larger issues may be at stake in the second book of Mayer Alan Brenner's "Dance of Gods" series. Originally published by DAW Books, the books are a witty and intelligent science / fantasy crossover.

"A winner ... I was utterly hooked. Its not a belly-laugh-inducing parody of a fantasy so much as an off-the-wall kind of fantasy in its own right..." --Interzone

"The book is titled Blind Shrike. It's not a rotten book, I think. In fact, it's a pretty traditional fantasy quest, just one that, to me, makes sense in George W. Bush's America. The hero of the story is on a quest for his own lost ignorance and innocence. He really doesn't want to know too much because, as many of us have learned, too much information is a soul-sucking pain in the ass. In the book you'll also find magic and monsters, angels and demons, magical swords and forbidden books. And blimps. Every fantasy novel should have at least one blimp." -- Richard Kadrey

Ventus is a novel of information apocalypse set in the far future. For a thousand years the sovereign Winds have maintained the delicate ecological balance of the terraformed planet Ventus. Now an alien force threatens to wrest control of the terraforming system away from the Winds...

Jordan Mason, a young tradesman, is thrust into the midst of an ancient galactic conflict when he becomes the only human on Ventus who can locate the source of the alien threat. But will he side with the Winds, who have brutally suppressed technological development among the human colonists of Ventus? Or will he throw in his lot with an entity that may be planning to remake Ventus in its own, deathly image? Ventus incorporates ideas about nanotechnology, terraforming, and information theory in an epic tale of war, tragic love, betrayal and transcendence.

"Deeply Satisfying"

--New York Times Book Review

"The finest science fiction novel of the year 2000."

--Barnes&Noble.com editorial review

"Delightful and engaging, both intellectually and viscerally: a superb achievement."

--Kirkus

This essay is Locke's most famous work. It concerns that nature of human knowledge and understanding. It was one of the primary sources for empiricism, influenced many enlightenment philosophers like David Hume and Bishop Berkeley. The main thrust of the essay is that man does not have innate ideas or principals, that all are developed by experience. Volume one is devoted to disproving the theory of innate ideas. Volume two shows how ideas, principals, and morals are formed from experience.