Rod Rankin thought he had the perfect setup: a lonely planet, a profitable plantation, and a crew of robots he believed he could outsmart and outcommand. Exiled from the Terran Empire and hiding behind a hard shell of arrogance, he is certain he understands exactly how machines work. Robots obey. Men rule. That, at least, is the law he lives by. But on the remote frontier world of the Clearchan Confederacy, Rankin's certainty begins to unravel. His nearest neighbor is suspicious, his robot...

Daoud ibn Abdallah moves through a world where faith is a disguise, loyalty is a weapon, and every alliance can turn fatal. In 1263–1264, the young warrior-spy and thief crosses into Christian Italy on a mission for a powerful ruler, arriving at Lucera and later navigating the glittering danger of courts, prisons, and hidden passageways. There he must survive as a Muslim in hostile territory, while Sophia Karaiannides, a brilliant courtesan and king's mistress, becomes part of a secretive ...

On a future Earth where Martian lives are turned into spectacle, Gavir becomes the first native Martian dreamcaster before millions of viewers. A young member of a persecuted desert tribe, he is coached by his guardian, anthropologist Dr. Malcomb Rice, to present a harmless, exotic image of his people—but beneath the performance burns grief and fury over Mars's brutality and the murder of his father by the Martian Development Corporation. When Gavir sings a tribal hunting song, the broadca...

The Helpful Robots: A Futuristic Vision of AI's Contribution to HumanityRobert Shea offers a glimpse into the future with "The Helpful Robots," envisioning AI's transformative role in shaping humanity's destiny. Explore the possibilities of robotic assistance, artificial intelligence, and the profound impact on our lives. Shea's forward-thinking narrative invites readers to contemplate the evolving relationship between humans and technology.

The story of Rankin, who prided himself on knowing how to handle robots, but did not realize that the robots of the Clearchan Confederacy were subject to a higher law than implicit obedience to man.

Filled with sex and violence--in and out of time and space--the three books of The Illuminatus are only partly works of the imagination. They tackle all the coverups of our time--from who really shot the Kennedys to why there's a pyramid on a one-dollar bill.

The Saracen: The Holy War by Robert Shea.

The Saracen: Land Of The Infidel by Robert Shea.

Shaman by Robert Shea.

Anarchist, Zen Buddhist, Playboy editor and novelist Robert Shea is best known for the Illuminatus! Trilogy, a cult classic co-authored with Robert Anton Wilson that has never gone out of print. He also had a successful career writing action-filled but philosophical historical novels such as Shike and All Things Are Lights. Shea was still developing his career as a novelist and w...

How did beer become one of the central commodities associated with the German nation? How did a little-known provincial production standard – the Reinheitsgebot, or Beer Purity Law – become a pillar of national consumer sentiments? How did the jovial, beer-drinking German become a fixture in the global imagination? While the connection between beer and Germany seems self-evident, A Nation Fermented reveals how it was produced through a strange brew of regional commercial ...

It was a time of bloody confrontation between the white man and the red man, a time when the pioneers of a new nation were pushing out across the Great Plains and yet the powerful spirits of an ancient mystical religion still held sway over the Indians. In this troubled, dangerous time, there is a man who has the privilege - and the curse - of belonging to both worlds. He is Gray Cloud, a disciple of the ageing shaman Owl Carver. A handsome young half-breed, he is chosen by the Great Turtl...