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CYCLOPS AND SIRENS, HALFMEN AND GODLINGS ... THAT OF WHICH MYTHS ARE MADE AND THAT FROM WHICH WORSHIP ARISES - THESE ARE THE MATERIALS THOMAS BURNETT SWANN WEAVES TOGETHER IN THE FANTASY - HISTORICAL TAPESTRY OF THIS NEW NOVEL, WHICH HE CONSIDERS TO BE.HIS MOST IMPORTANT WORK TO DATE. FOR THE AUTHOR OF GREEN PHOENIX AND THE FOREST OF FOREVER NOW TELLS OF A QUEEN OF ANCIENT JUDEA WHO WAS MORE THAN HUMAN, OF HER SON WHO BECAME LEGEND, OF THEIR CYCLOPEAN NEMESIS WHOSE NAME BECAME SYNONYMOUS WITH COLOSSUS, AND OF LOVES AND LOYALTIES AND COMBATS FIXED FOREVER IN THE FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN SOCIETY. THE EVER-GROWING AUDIENCE THAT THOMAS BURNETT SWANN HAS GATHERED FOR HIS UNIQUE NOVELS WILL FIND HOW ARE THE MIGHTY FALLEN A NEW FANTASY FICTION EXPERIENCE.

In MOONDUST, Thomas Burnett Swann stakes as his setting the city of Jericho under the siege; yet it is not a Biblical story nor a tale of warfare, but rather a marvelous science-fiction novel about a non-human intelligent species hidden from the world's eye, a mesmerizing narrative about their human and humanoid subjects, wrapped in the wizardry of a science older than humanity.

Table of Contents:

• The Dolphin and the Deep - (1963) - novella
• The Manor of Roses - (1966) - novella
• The Murex - (1964) - novelette

A strange tale of a remote island, an island which should have been a paradise but quickly became a nightmare in which all known rules of behaviour seemed to be reversed, where, in fact, a young man brought up amidst the proprieties of Victorian England, found that his only friend was one small, lonely dolphin - and his enemies included several well-ordered hammerhead sharks.

In this tale of the time of Rome and the Celtic kingdoms, Swann tells the story of the retreat of the pagan gods and all their array of sprites and nymphs and little folk. Facing the ruthless practicality of the new religion that denies their very right to exist, the varied prehumans face utter destruction unless they can find a sanctuary beyond detection. This short novel tells their tale and that of two of their defenders, who follow the trail of the legendary immortals to the very waters of the Styx. It is a masterpiece of poetic imagery, fantastic adventure, and sheer literary delight.

The 12-year-old Pharoah, Pepy II, is a humanitarian soul, sneaking out of the palace at night in disguise to distribute largesse among the poor and downtrodden. But Pepy is threatened by the machinations of his sister and queen, who is plotting his murder so she can enjoy absolute rule -- a stunt she just might get away with since she can disguise the murder as a sacrifice to assuage a population panicked by the untimely and prophetic arrival of a phoenix on the palace walls.

The Not-World: One would not have expected to find the last hideout of the ancient weird folk of legend and prehistory in an English forest of two centuries ago - and yet in that land which has always been haunted by the lore of little folk there had to be some truth behind such universal belief.

Here is the story of Dylan and Deirdre, of Thomas Chatterton - and of the balloon flight that brought them into an older and more enchanted land to mingle their fates with those of Arachne and the Night Mares in whom a rising industrial materialism could no longer believe.

In the time of the Etruscans, the half-forgotten civilization that preceded Rome, centaurs, fauns, and other manlike races still existed alongside humanity. Between mankind and the Weir Ones was constant fear and distrust. When the arrogant nobleman Lars Velcha enslaved one of these creatures, the fear and distrust turned into open warfare.

Will-o-the-wisp - the light that danced across the Devon Moors - enticing the good puritan people to death and devilment...For up on the tors dwelt the infamous Gubbings who crucified their victims, murdered and bewitched...

Were they really warlocks, or were they creatures of fantasy from another time, another planet?

Robert Herrick, poet, vicar and pagan, the golden giant with a lusty heart, dared to brave the moors and challenge the ancient myth...

Her Sybarite husband had instructed the servants to expose the baby for the White Wolves to devour. But Erinna had other plans altogether -- and they included finding her satyr and showing him his son. Thus, naive and courageous, she marched determinedly into the world of fauns, sibyls, dryads and the ancient powerful Gods...

The Tournament of Thorns is a beautiful and sensitive work created by an artist who has for decades enchanted readers throughout the world. In this superior novel, Thomas Burnett Swan draws upon his ability to blend history and legend, fashioning a brilliant tale of the Middle Ages.

Hugo Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November 1966. The story can also be found in the anthologies Modern Classics of Fantasy (1997), edited by Gardner Dozois. It is included in the collection The Dolphin and the Deep (1968).

Hugo Award nominated story. It originally appeared in Science Fantasy, #52 April. The story can also be found in the anthologies What If? Volume 2 (1981) edited by Richard A. Lupoff, Baker's Dozen: 13 Short Fantasy Novels (1984), edited by Charles G. Waugh, Martin H. Greenberg and Isaac Asimov, and Classical Stories: Heroic Tales from Ancient Greece and Rome (1996) edited by Mike Ashley. It is included in the collection Where is the Bird of Fire? (1970) and was expanded to the full novel Lady of the Bees (1976).

Swann wrote primarily about the ancient Greek and Roman world, blending myth with romance and adventure. A reviewer in the Village Voice sums his work up well: "Swann's neo-romantic fantasies of the past are unique. He uses the stuff of myth but with twists and inventions of his own."

Queens Walk in the Dusk is a retelling of the romance of Dido and Aeneas.

Prior to the dawn of human history, the Earth did not belong solely to humanity -- there were other intelligent species still fighting a last-stand battle against extinction. These are the beings remembered today only in legend, creatures of the trees and water, beings that combined beast and man, with strange lore of their own and sciences lost to the human victors. GREEN PHOENIX is a tour-de-force of the final stronghold of the prehumans against the last legion of fallen Troy.

Many of Swann's bucolic tales were set in the Ancient World and populated by mythic creatures. Lady of the Bees is a lyric retelling of the legend of Romulus and Remus.

The Minotaur Trilogy was written out of order.

The Minotaur Trilogy was written out of order.

It is the Dawn of Time. Dryads, Centaurs, and winged Thriae still dwell in the world of Men, practicing their ancient rites in the seclusion of the Country of the Beasts. But when the allure of the Dryads ensnares the King, two half-Beast children are brought into the Land of Men. In the glittering palace of Knossos they grow to youthful beauty... and then come the dread Achaeans, and it is the Day of the Minotaur.

The Minotaur Trilogy was written out of order.