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Gramarye - Christopher Stasheff's Gramarye

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From: Michael Martinez 
Subject: WorldFAQ: Christopher Stasheff's Gramarye
Date: 1999/07/12
Message-ID: <7me4ol$1msm@drn.newsguy.com>
X-Deja-AN: 500346123
Organization: The Xenite.Org Domain -- Worlds of Imagination on the Web
Newsgroups: alt.fan.created-worlds,alt.fantasy,alt.books,rec.arts.books


                            WorldFAQ:
                 Christopher Stasheff's Gramarye

----------------------------------------------------------------
1].  Quick Reference

     In a future history, Gramarye is a little out-of-the-way
     world that has been colonized by romantic Terrans who
     wanted to return to a pseudo-historical past era.  Some of
     them had latent powers of extrasensory perception and a
     local fungus responds to their mental projections.  Rodney
     D'Armand is sent by a secret organization to help prepare
     Gramarye's inhabitants for eventual inclusion in the
     Terran Sphere. Primary sources are Stasheff's books (see
     bibliography below).
----------------------------------------------------------------
2].  Printed Sources Bibliography

Items marked with an asterisk (*) denote information obtained
second-hand from the Doubleday books.  The Book Club editions
don't normally contain printing dates, but probably I bought
them in 1986 or later.

THE WARLOCK series:
------------------

TO THE MAGIC BORN, Doubleday Book Club.  Contains ESCAPE
VELOCITY and THE WARLOCK IN SPITE OF HIMSELF.

THE WARLOCK ENLARGED, Doubleday Book Club.  Contains KING
KOBOLD REVIVED, THE WARLOCK UNLOCKED, THE WARLOCK ENRAGED.

THE WARLOCK IN SPITE OF HIMSELF, *Berkley Publishing Group,
1969.

KING KOBOLD, *Berkley Publishing Group, 1971.  Originally
about a time travel adventure for Rod Gallowglass.

THE WARLOCK UNLOCKED, *Berkley Publishing Group, 1982.

ESCAPE VELOCITY, *Berkley Publishing Group, 1983.

KING KOBOLD REVIVED, *Berkley Publishing Group, 1984.  A
rewrite of KING KOBOLD.  The time travel motif was removed
and the duplicate Rod Gallowglass was converted to a
witch-moss construction.

THE WARLOCK ENRAGED, *Berkely Publishing Group, 1985.

THE WARLOCK WANDERING, Ace, 1986, ISBN 0-441-87361-8.

THE WARLOCK IS MISSING, Ace, 1986, ISBN 0-441-84826-5.

THE WARLOCK HERETICAL, Ace, 1987, ISBN 0-441-87286-7.

THE WARLOCK'S COMPANION, Ace, 1988, 0-441-87341-3.

THE WARLOCK INSANE, Ace, 1989, ISBN 0-441-87364-2.

THE WARLOCK ROCK, Ace, 1990, ISBN 0-441-87313-8.

WARLOCK AND SON, Ace, 1991, 0-441-87314-6.


THE WARLOCK'S HEIR'S series:
---------------------------

A WIZARD IN ABSENTIA, Ace, 1993, ISBN 0-441-51569-X.

M'LADY WITCH, Ace, 1994, ISBN 0-441-00113-0.

QUICKSILVER'S KNIGHT, Ace, 1995, 0-441-00229-3.


THE ROGUE WIZARD series:
-----------------------

These books are about Magnus D'Armand, Rod's oldest son.
He leaves Gramarye in A WIZARD IN ABSENTIA.  A WIZARD IN
BEDLAM was originally published in different form and then
adapted to this series when it was republished.  It is
Stasheff's intention to have Magnus return to Gramarye
eventually, if the series is completely published.

A WIZARD IN MIND, Tor, 1995, ISBN 0-312-85695-4.  A Tor/Forge
paperback version was published in 1996, ISBN 0-812-53648-7.

A WIZARD IN BEDLAM, Tor, 1995, ISBN 0-812-53647-9.  The
copyright page says it was copyrighted in 1979.  Several
people have told me that this book was originally written
as an independent novel.  It ppears to have been slightly
altered to fit in with the Gramarye books.
Doubleday, 1979, ISBN 0-385-144970-0.
DAW paperback 1980, ISBN 0-87997-551-2 .
Ace Science Fiction, 1986, ISBN 1-441-90215-4.

A WIZARD IN WAR, Tor Books, 1995, ISBN 0-312-85696-2.  A Tor
paperback version was published in 1996, ISBN 0-812-53649-5.

A WIZARD IN PEACE, Tor, 1996 ISBN 0-312-86031-5.
Tor paperback version, 1997 ISBN 0-812-56797-8.

A WIZARD IN CHAOS, Tor, 1997, ISBN 0312860323.

A WIZARD IN MIDGARD, Tor, 1998, ISBN 0-312-86033-1.

STARSHIP TROUPERS:
-----------------

These books are set in the 26th century when the Interstellar
Dominion Electorates, a predecessor government in the Terran
sphere, is clamping down on free thought.  A group of actors
launch an ambitious campaign to take the classics to the
stars and educate the masses about true democracy and the
rights of the individual.

A COMPANY OF STARS, Del Rey Books, 1991, ISBN 0-345-36889-4

WE OPEN ON VENUS, Del Rey Books, 1994, ISBN 0-345-36891-6.

A SLIGHT DETOUR, Del Rey Books, 1994, ISBN 0-345-37601-3.

----------------------------------------------------------------
3].  Visual Sources Bibliography

No known adaptations.
----------------------------------------------------------------
4].  Related Materials Bibliography

A WARLOCK'S BLADE (A CROSSROADS ADVENTURE IN THE WORLD OF
CHRISTOPHER STASHEFF'S GRAMARYE), Mark Perry & Megahn
Perry, Tor Books, 1987, ISBN 0812564138.
----------------------------------------------------------------
5].  Online References

     A)   News Groups

          None.  But Stasheff's works can be discussed in
          rec.arts.sf.written, alt.books, alt.fantasy,
          and rec.arts.books.  Gramarye can be discussed in
          alt.fan.created-worlds.

     B)   Mailing/Discussion Lists

          None.

     C)   Web sites

          The Home Page Of The Lord High Warlock Of Gramarye
          http://www.afn.org/~afn03656/

          M'Lady Witch, A Review
          http://www.soquelhs.santacruz.k12.ca.us/fishing4books/reviews/41.htm
          This is part of the FISHING FOR BOOKS site, which publishes
          reviews by and for students.

          Telepaths, Troubadours, and Timelines:  Gateway Page
          http://www.primenet.com/~cshuber/pbemcamp.htm
          A Play-By-Email RPG that is set in Stasheff's universe.

          A Christopher Stasheff Bibliography
          http://www.myunicorn.com/bibl8/bibl0853.html

     D)   Online services

          NOTE:  There is now a Message Board Directory
          which provides links to individual Web-based
          boards, message board providers, and large
          indexes of boards.  Some of these indexes
          include Science Fiction and Fantasy boards
          and may contain content of interest to people
          who read the WorldFAQs.  The Message Board
          Directory is located at:

          http://www.xenite.org/mb_direct.htm

     E)   IRC

          None.

     F)   Comprehensive lists of resources

          None.
----------------------------------------------------------------
6].  Description

     When Earth's government, the Proletarian Eclectic State of
     Terra, begins to become overly oppressive, a group of SCA
     members band together and name themselves the Romantic
     Emigres.  They purchase a starship and go out into the
     stars seeking a planet which has previously been
     uncolonized and is far beyond the Terran Sphere of
     influence.  They find Gramarye, a planet with five
     continents and one large island in the equivalent of
     Earth's Carboniferous period.  The island is seeded
     with Terran life-forms.

     The Emigres allow the ship's computer to wipe their minds
     and implant false memories so that they forget completely
     about Earth and their past.  Only Father Marco Ricci, a
     priest of the Order of St. Vidicon (a technological order
     of Roman Catholic priests and monks), retains his
     original memories, and he establishes a monastery on
     Gramarye where he trains and ordains the clergy who
     administer to the colonists.  The best minds are culled
     from the clerical orders for retention in the monastery,
     where they learn the secret of Gramarye's past and as
     much technology as Father Ricci could pass on.

     Through five hundred years the Terran Sphere undergoes
     radical political changes.  The Galactic Union succeeds
     PEST and in turn disintegrates.  In the Interregnum many
     coloby worlds are lost, but when the Decentralized
     Democratic Tribunal eventually establish a relatively
     free society over 60+ worlds, they create an organization
     called the Society for the Conversion of Extra-terrestial
     Nascent Totalitarianisms.  The agents of SCENT seek out
     and prepare worlds which have lost technology to govern
     themselves democratically so that when their inhabitants
     reach the stars again they are ready to join the DDT.

     Rodney D'Armand of Maxima is one of these agents and he is
     sent to Gramarye, where he discovers that many of the
     people now have powerful ESP capabilities, and that the
     pseudo-medieval culture considers them to be witches.  A
     local fungus, Witch-moss, is receptive to the ESPers'
     projections and occasionally forms into creatures of
     fantasy.  So Gramarye also has Wee Folk who live and are
     sentient.

     Three time-travelling organizations are also interested in
     Gramarye: the Society for the Prevention of Integration of
     Telepathic Entities (SPITE), the Vigilant Extenders of
     Totalitarian Organizations (VETO), and the Guardians of the
     Rights of Individuals, Patentholders Especially (GRIPE).
     SPITE and VETO send agents back to D'Armand's time who try
     to defeat his efforts to plant the seeds of democracy in
     Gramarye's feudal government.  GRIPE is the organization of
     Dr. Angus McAran, a 20th century inventor who discovered
     time travel and tried to protect the secret from
     unscrupulous people.  He formed GRIPE when he learned about
     SPITE and VETO using his discovery without his permission.

     D'Armand learns that he himself possesses latent ESP talent
     which awakens on Gramarye.  He marries Gwendolyn, a local
     "witch" whose father happens to be Brom O'Berin, guardiand
     to Queen Catherine of Gramarye and in secret the King of
     the Elves (O'Berin = Oberon).  Gwen helps Rod organize the
     younger witches of Gramarye so that they use their powers
     for the good of the people and earn some respect in return.
     They have four children along the way: Magnus, Cordelia,
     Geoffrey, and Gregory.

     There is, however, another colony on Gramarye: Anderland,
     which is situated on the coast of the continent to the west
     of the island of Gramarye.  Anderland is the home of
     several thousand telepathic Neanderthals from circa.
     50,000 BC, placed there by Dr. McAran.  One of McAran's
     agents is Yorick, a Neanderthal who though he cannot
     manipulate symbols nonetheless travels through time
     interacting with people in the technological
     civilizations.

     The island of Gramarye is divided into twelve duchies, each
     modelled on a romantic ideal of some period of European or
     Russian history, not extending past the 16th Century.  The
     cultural ideas are well-blended throughout the island, so
     architectural and clothing styles are mixed.  The Kings of
     Gramarye also have a small domain, but their power is often
     reduced to very little by the Great Dukes.  The Wee Folk
     watch over the Gramaryeans, protecting them from the evil
     monsters inadvertently created from Witch-Moss (like were-
     wolves, hobgoblins, et. al.).  The elves also befriend some
     of the witches and warlocks, or isolate others who become
     too evil to be trusted to leave people alone.
----------------------------------------------------------------
7].  Maintainer Information

FAQ owner: Michael Martinez 
Last Updated:  October 18, 1998

Other information was provided by:
Capt. Gym Z. Quirk (Known to some as Taki Kogoma)

Christopher Stasheff
Harvey White 
Robert A. Woodward 
-----------------------End of WorldFAQ--------------------------

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