Most Popular Books by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

Scarborough Fair and Other Stories includes ten works by the author of the Nebula Award–winning The Healer’s War and many other novels. In “Final Vows,” Mu Mao the Magnificent, the feline bodhisattva from Scarborough’s novel Last Refuge, helps guide a reincarnated cat in solving the mystery of his own betrayal and murder. “Whirlwinds” takes place on the Diné Trail of Tears, when the US military force-marched ninety-five hundred Navajo people from their ancient, sacred homeland to the barren Bosque Redondo area surrounding New Mexico’s Fort Sumner. A coveted princess packs on pounds when a disgruntled suitor casts an evil spell on her in “Worse Than the Curse.” How is a plump princess to cope? And “Long Time Coming Home,” cowritten with Scarborough’s fellow Vietnam veteran Rick Reaser, is a story of the battles and ghosts many vets face after returning from the war. These and other stories capably demonstrate Scarborough’s breadth of skill.

Elizabeth Ann Scarborough’s Godmother puts a new twist in contemporary fantasy with the assertion that fairy godmothers exist here and now, and they have magical power that allows them to intervene in real-world problems. What if someone wished for a fairy godmother would help the entire city of Seattle? An overworked, overstressed social worker named Rose Samson does just that when she makes an idle wish on a mustard seed. Felicity Fortune of Godmothers Anonymous shows up to help. Rose Samson is neither fashion model beautiful nor a twit, and she happily joins forces with Felicity Fortune, a “Godmother” who demonstrates that Grimm’s fairy tales are still relevant in our humdrum modern world. Fairy godmothers are on a magical budget, so every possible way they can get human beings or animals to assist one another, they will try, rather than using up their magical means. Felicity encounters many strangely familiar situations: a pretty stablehand named Cindy Ellis is mistreated by her cruel stepsisters. A rock star’s daughter, scared of the supermodel she married, runs away from home and encounters seven Vietnam veterans at an encounter session and retreat. One of them might be a big bad wolf, who knows? In all their encounters, Rose and Felicity try to blend their magical aid with realistic human initiative and social responsibility. Scarborough’s fully realized settings and the humor built into the mix of magical solutions and grim reality make this work an entertaining and compelling read.

A former military nurse in Vietnam, Scarborough here presents a mostly realistic novel of Army nurse Kathleen McCulley''s coming of age. Her tour of duty at China Beach puts the young woman from Kansas through the usual mixture of empathy for the Vietnamese and anger at the indifference or outright racism of army personnel. The unanticipated twist is a hallucinatory journey through the jungle with a one-legged Vietnamese boy, a battle-seasoned but crazy soldier and a magic amulet given her by a dying holy man.

“[A] solid start of a new series . . . fast-paced adventure.”—Publishers Weekly Twin brother and sister Ronan and Murel are true children of Petaybee, the sentient planet that is their home. Like their father, they are changelings, able to converse telepathically with creatures and to transform into seals. The Petaybeans wish to protect the twins from curious scientists, but no one realizes that Ronan and Murel hunger to discover the origins of their shape-shifting talent—and that their search for knowledge will place them in the path of peril. Meanwhile, Petaybee is changing. To investigate its sudden evolution, the twins’ father heads out to the open water in his seal form—and is presumed lost. Only Ronan and Murel, with their remarkable talents of transformation, can hope to find him and bring him home . . . if they dare to risk exposure and face the dangers of the newly unstable sea. “The story is exciting and generously laced with humor, but besides those qualities, the characters . . . and their interactions are so well realized as to utterly charm readers.”—Booklist

In Changelings, bestselling authors Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough returned to the sentient planet Petaybee with a story of growth and transformation in the face of deadly new threats. The telepathic, shapeshifting twins Murel and Ronan found that Petaybee had plans for them as well. Now those plans begin to bear fruit with fresh possibilities . . . and dangers. Now that Petaybee is forming a new equatorial island, the planet has agreed to harbor a group of new refugees, workers indentured to the powerful InterGal Corporation. But the mission to collect the immigrants becomes a rescue operation when it is revealed that InterGal is doing nothing to help these survivors of a world devastated by a meteor shower. Murel and Ronan set out to persuade the frightened refugees to come out of hiding, leave their world, and bring along their sacred totem animals, the gifted sea turtles called the Honus. But the twins discover that they’ve taken on more than they expected: The Honus are not the only animals sacred to the refugees. There are also the Manos, intelligent sharks who have lost none of their predatory habits–and who cannot be left behind to die. When the Manos are released into Petaybee’s waters, a tragic misunderstanding endangers the whole resettlement operation. At the same time, the mysterious sea otters who once rescued the twins’ father are suddenly revealed to be much more than they appear to be. Now it is up to Ronan and Murel, with the intrepid assistance of their river otter friend Sky, to smooth the waters before a maelstrom of revenge destroys Petaybee’s harmonious way of life. But even as the twins uncover startling new facts about Petaybee’s past that will change everything they thought they knew about the planet, the forces of InterGal are gathering, preparing to strike. . . .

From the Hugo and Nebula award-winning authors comes the Petaybee series, full of gripping fantasy and daring adventure. Strange things are happening on the icy planet of Petaybee: Unauthorized genetically engineered species have been spotted; geologic survey teams sent to locate newly detected mineral deposits are either coming up empty or disappearing altogether. And the locals aren’t talking—especially not to the company bent on exploiting the planet. Disabled combat veteran Yanaba Maddock seems to be the perfect spy for the company. The frailty that was a liability in the military allows her to gain the trust of the Petaybean natives. But miraculously, with Yana’s relocation to the arctic planet comes the return of her health and strength. And the closer she gets to the people of Petaybee, the more determined she is to protect her new home. For something unusual and wonderful is happening on Petaybee. Something worth fighting for, even dying for—but especially, something worth living for. . . .

When two award-winning science-fiction masters like Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough collaborate, the results are astonishing. Their master creation is Petaybee, a sentient planet able to guide its own evolution and, with some help from its loyal inhabitants, defend itself against predation by offworlders. Now, at last, McCaffrey and Scarborough return to Petaybee for the thrilling conclusion of the Twins of Petaybee trilogy, the sixth novel of the amazing self-aware world. DELUGE InterGal Corporation has long desired to exploit the resource-rich Petaybee. But the planet and its guardians, led by Yana Maddock and Sean Shongili, along with their twin children, Ronan and Murel, have successfully thwarted every attempt by the Corporation to impose its iron-fisted dominion. Until now. In a bold two-pronged assault, the predacious Corporation has arrested Petaybee’s leading off-world champion, Marmion de Revers Algemeine, on trumped-up charges, while InterGal’s military arm has dispatched an invading force to subdue the planet once and for all. Marmion has allies within the Corporation who can halt the invasion. but if they cannot be found quickly, it will be too late for Marmion . . . and Petaybee. While their parents work to foil the invasion of their world, Ronan and Murel are captured and sent to a desolate prison world where an old enemy, Dr. Mabo, waits to continue her cruel experiments on the shape-changing siblings. The twins’ only hope of escape lies in the uncharted seas of the prison planet. But in the murky depths, something else is waiting. . . .

In the 21st century, overeducated and unemployable Viveka relunctantly joins the army. On her first mission, she is shot down and marched through the Tibetan Himalayas to a secret POW camp where Viveka notices that neither she nor her fellow cellmates can remember how long they''ve been incarcerated.

The spellbinding sequel to “Powers That Be,” by Hugo and Nebula Award-winning authors Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough. The natives of Petaybee claimed their planet was sentient, but the officials of Intergal did not believe them . . . or want to believe them. The planet was rich in valuable ore, and Intergal was determined to mine that ore no matter what the cost. Yanaba Maddock, once a company spy, was adopted by the planet and its people as one of their own. Now her loyalties are to Petaybee, not Intergal, and she is dedicated to keeping Intergal from killing the world she has come to love. But without proof of the planet''s sentience, Intergal will proceed with its mining operations. Can Yana find a way to convince Intergal of Petaybee''s sentience before it is too late?

“Riveting . . . exciting . . . The writing and characterization, as well as the infusions of Celtic u00adand Inuit lore, remain of high quality.”—Booklist Petaybee is growing up. Day by day, the feeling planet—like any child—is learning to recognize and understand the meaning of outside stimuli, to respond to those stimuli, to communicate its own needs and desires . . . even to use human speech. Yanaba Maddock has appointed herself defender of her adopted planet, and has even succeeded in proving its sentience to nonbelievers. But despite her efforts, few outsiders truly care for the emotions and intelligence of what they perceive to be a giant hunk of rock. Then Yanaba is kidnapped. The price of her freedom: control of the planet itself. But the only one who can speak for Petaybee is Petaybee—and no one knows what a living planet can do once it finds its voice. . . . “Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough collaborate seamlessly to tell a first-rate sf adventure.”—Library Journal, on Power Lines

Available for the first time as an ebook pairing, these two short stories by author Elizabeth Ann Scarborough serve as an mystical introduction to her work. In MUMMIES OF THE MOTORWAY, a woman and her niece and nephew travel to an English resort where something ancient and bandaged awaits in the mist. SCARBOROUGH FAIR finds the author helping a woman reconnect with her past at the story’s namesake fair along the English seaside.

From the Nebula Award winning author comes this modern Christmas classic. The chief executive of a Seattle-based high-tech company, Monica Banks is a workaholic who has closed herself off to any kind of home life, family, or love. Then one snowy Christmas Eve, she discovers a ghost in her office computer. The ghost is none other than Ebenezer Scrooge. Awakened by a bright and lonely eight-year-old girl named Tina using the password “Humbug,” Scrooge is ready and willing to take his turn as a Christmas spirit. But he finds that the world has changed a lot since his day, and though he knows that the spirit of love, generosity, and forgiveness is eternal, it will take more than a little tech support for him to convince Monica before the morning light. “Reading Scarborough is a joy.”—Anne McCaffrey “[A] modern Christmas Carol…a beautiful story.”—Midwest Book Review

Chessie, a pregnant Barque Cat, is kidnapped and her Cat Person Janina and Dr. Jared Vlest attempt to free her before an alien feline Pshaw-Ra with psionic power takes her to his planet so they can begin the universal domination of the unknown universe.

The spacefaring Barque Cats are valued members of every vessel’s crew, thanks to their special bond with humans. Then Pshaw-Ra, a mysterious cat with highly advanced knowledge, gives the felines the power of telepathy. When panic over a virulent plague drives the government to exterminate animals, Pshaw-Ra guides the cats and humans of the starship Ranzo to safety on his home planet, Mau. But Pshaw-Ra has a hidden agenda. His ultimate goal? Mate the Barque Cats with their godlike counterparts who rule on Mau and create a superior race to conquer the universe. His plans, however, may be doomed by his daughters’ battle royal to become queen, by a suspicious Barque Cat with an equally curious human friend—and by something stirring deep beneath the city with a hunger to devour all life . . . and an undying hatred for cats.

A portentous song sparks an unlikely adventure in this lighthearted contemporary fantasy by the Nebula Award–winning author of The Healer’s War. Colin Songsmith sings a song to an old witch who takes an unlikely revenge. The witch’s granddaughter rescues him from the dire threat of being eaten alive by the cat. She hears the song, which happens to concern her recently married sister and a gypsy. Convinced that she has to save her sister, she takes the minstrel, the cat, and her magical resources to Rowan Castle. The story is rich with descriptive details of setting and encounters with magical and fantastic creatures such as a talking cat, a lovesick dragon, and a bear prince. The characters speak in contemporary slang, which plays nicely against the traditional fantastic settings.

Our mysteries this issue include Josh Pachter’s “The Secret Lagoon” (Michael Bracken’s pick), Larry Allen Tyler’s “Just a Little Before Winter’s Set In” (selected by Barb Goffman) and a solve-it-yourself from Hal Charles (the writing team of Hal Blythe and Charlie Sweet). A futuristic detective tale by Larry Tritten, and a classic Nick Carter novel from 1903, The Plot That Failed, round things out. On the science fiction & fantasy side, we have a vampire classic by Carl Jacobi, “Revelations in Black” (which was also the title story of one of his Arkham House collection); “Bullard Reflects,” by Malcolm Jameson, which is classic SF from Astounding; “Strike,” by Richard Wilson, about newspaper reporters coming a shipping strike in space; and “Three Bananas,” by Larry Tritten—which is one of his gonzo cross-genre mashups. Fun stuff. Plus the already-mentioned “Extended Family,” by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough. (Did we mention that this is one of those stories you won’t want to miss?) Here’s the complete lineup: Mysteries / Suspense “The Secret Lagoon,” by Josh Pachter [short story] “The Game’s Afoot,” by Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself Mystery] “Just a Little Before Winter’s Set In,” by Larry Allen Tyler [Barb Goffman Presents short story] The Plot That Failed, by Nicholas Carter [novel] “Three Bananas,” by Larry Tritten [short story] Science Fiction & Fantasy “Extended Family,” by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough [Cynthia Ward Presents, short story] “Bullard Reflects,” by Malcolm Jameson [short story] “Three Bananas,” by Larry Tritten [short story] “Strike,” by Richard Wilson [short story] “Revelations in Black,” by Carl Jacobi [short story]

A modern fairy godmother takes a young girl under her wing in this tale by the Nebula Award-winning author of The Godmother. Ireland proves a fertile training ground for Sno Quantrill. A gateway to Faerie, a door to the past, and a funeral procession for the King of the Cats bring together an unlikely group of comrades. And Sno''s adventures are only just beginning.

Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough are two of science fiction''s favorite authors. Together they have created the world of Acorna, the unicorn girl. Now Acorna''s children start to have their own adventures. FIRST WARNING Acorna''s daughter, Khorii, must contend with an overwhelming legacy to forge a path of her own. A simple journey to visit her relatives turns into a race against time when Khorii comes across a derelict spacecraft drifting in space, its crew dead in their seats. But this gruesome discovery is only a dread harbinger - a deadly plague is spreading across the universe and not even the healing powers of the Linyaari can slow its horrific advance. Khorii, one of the few unaffected by the outbreak, must find a cure before the disease consumes all in its path - including her beloved parents.