Charon: A Dragon at the Gate

Book Details

Charon: A Dragon at the Gate

71.4% complete

Author(s):

Jack L Chalker

First Pub:

1982

Genre(s):

Science Fiction

First Read:

2023

Times Read:

1 time

Rating:

Chapters:

See 18

Prologue - A Time for Reflection

1 - Rebirth

2 - Transportation and Exposure

3 - Orientation

4 - Interviews and Placement

5 - A Plot, a Deal, and a Potion

6 - The High Road to Bourget

7 - Settling In

8 - All Hell Breaks Loose

9 - Changeling

10 - Decision at the Pinnacles

11 - Koril's Redoubt

12 - "The Wa Considers You One"

13 - Kira

14 - Forced Decisions

15 - A Walk in the Dark

16 - Twists and Turns

Epilogue

Internal ID:

172

Series:

<- Cerberus: A Wolf in the Fold - Medusa: A Tiger by the Tail ->

Four Lords of the Diamond*

#3 of 4

Four Lords of the Diamond*

A science fiction series by Jack L Chalker featuring a system of worlds where once visited, you can never return and where technology doesn't work.

View this series in the book list

1) Lilith: A Snake in the Grass
2) Cerberus: A Wolf in the Fold
3) Charon: A Dragon at the Gate
4) Medusa: A Tiger by the Tail

Copyright:

Dedication:

For Art Saha, longtime member
of First Fandom, anthologis of
exceptional taste and discernment,
and a Good Man

First Sentence:

The naril circled and positioned themselves for the kill against the backdrop of the onrushing al-wind.

Last Sentence:

May contain spoilers

There was a second pause, and then the door opened.

Comments:

No comments on file

Synopsis not on file
Extract not on file

Added: 29-Dec-2002

Last Updated: 29-Aug-2023

Publications

01-Nov-1982

Del Rey

Mass Market Paperback

Date Issued:

Cir 01-Nov-1982

Format:

Mass Market Paperback

Cover Price:

$2.95

Pages*:

289

Read:

Once

Reading(s):

1) 13 Jul 2023 - 2 Aug 2023

Cover Link(s):

Internet Speculative Fiction Database

World Cat

amazon.com

Internal ID:

2116

Publisher:

Del Rey

ISBN:

0-345-29370-3

ISBN-13:

978-0-345-29370-1

Printing:

Country:

United States

Language:

English

Credits:

David B Mattingly - Cover Artist

ASSIGNMENT:
HELL WORLD!

They took the body of Park Lacoch and stripped away his mind, transplanting the mind of a top Confederacy operator to his brain. Then they stuck him aboard a spaceship and exiled him to Charon, on of the Worlds of the Warden Diamond, from which no man could ever return. A mysterious organism on those world infected everything, making life away from them impossible afterward.

Charon was a well-world in literal fact. It was too near the sun, making life all but unbearable in its hot, steamy atmosphere. Strange beasts roamed the jungles - and stranger still, the group known as the Witchcraft plotted with the Lord in exile to take over the planet.

There Witchcraft was real - for on Charon, magic worked! The Warden organism could be made to perform almost any feat under the control of a skilled witch or sorcerer - as Park Lacoch discovered when he was transformed into a changeling - a half-beast half -man, with the beast rapidly gaining ascendancy.

After that, his assignment really became difficult...

FIRST TIME IN PRINT

Cover:

Notes and Comments:

First Edition: November 1982

Author(s)

Jack L Chalker
Birth: 17 Dec 1944 Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Death: 11 Feb 2005

Awards

No awards found

I try to maintain page numbers for audiobooks even though obviously there aren't any. I do this to keep track of pages read and I try to use the Kindle version page numbers for this.
Synopses marked with an asterisk (*) were generated by an AI. There aren't a lot since this is an iffy way to do it - AI seems to make stuff up.
When specific publication dates are unknown (ie prefixed with a "Cir"), I try to get the publication date that is closest to the specific printing that I can.
When listing chapters, I only list chapters relevant to the story. I will usually leave off Author Notes, Indices, Acknowledgements, etc unless they are relevant to the story or the book is non-fiction.
Page numbers on this site are for the end of the main story. I normally do not include appendices, extra material, and other miscellaneous stuff at the end of the book in the page count.