The Edge of the World

by Kevin J. Anderson

  NUNGHAL-ARI nomadic branch of the Nunghals.

  NUNGHAL-SU seafaring branch of the Nunghals.

  OCEANSEA vast sea to the west of Ishalem.

  OENAR former soldan-shah of Uraba, great-grandfather of Imir, the subject of a large bronze statue.

  OLABAR capital city of Uraba.

  OLAGU rebellious Corag destrar in ancient feud.

  OLBA turbanlike head covering, usually white, worn by Urecari men.

  ONDUN the creator of the world, father of three sons: Aiden, Urec, andjoron.

  ONDUN'S LIGHTNING ship on which Aldo served as chartsman.

  ORIGO cook aboard the Luminara.

  OSMUC captain of the Dolphin's Wake.

  OUROUSSA port city on Oceansea coast of Uraba.

  OUTER WAHILIR one of the soldanates of Uraba.

  PELITON capital city of Erietta Reach.

  PILGRIMS' PATH processional path up the hill to the Ark ship in Ishalem.

  PRESTER an Aidenist priest.

  PRESTER-MARSHALL leader of the Aidenist church.

  RAATHGIR name of the Iborian ice dragon.

  RAGNAL Iborian treecutter.

  RAVEN'S HEAD mountain peak in Corag.

  RAVEN small patrol ship on which Mateo served as first mate.

  RA'VIR Tierran children raised by Urecari to become spies and saboteurs, named after an opportunistic bird that lays its eggs in other birds' nests.

  REEFSPUR Tierran coastal fishing village.

  RENNERTJAN captain oWndun's Lightning.

  ROVIK the kel of the soldan-shah's palace guards.

  RUAD an outcast of the Nunghal-Su.

  RUDIO old, conservative prester-marshall, successor to Baine.

  SAAN son of Criston and Adrea.

  SAEDRANS "Ondun's Stepchildren," independent people not descended from either Aiden or Urec. Saedrans serve as chartsmen, engineers, doctors, apothecaries, and other scientific professions.

  SAND DERVISHES desert demons that lure travelers into the sand.

  SAPIER grandson of Aiden, founder of Aidenist church. In a legend, he caught a sea serpent with a fishhook and rode it to safe waters.

  SAZAR leader of a clan of rivermen; he calls himself the "river destrar."

  SEN term of respect and accomplishment for Saedrans.

  SENA first wife of King Korastine, mother of Anjine; died of pneumonia.

  SENTINEL mountain peak in Corag.

  SHAY, CAPTAIN ANDON captain of the Luminara.

  SHENRO destrar of Alamont Reach.

  SHERUFA NA-OA, SEN Saedran scholar in Olabar.

  SHIP'S PROW stone carving outside of Stoneholm.

  SIESCU destrar of Corag Reach.

  SIKARA priestess in the Urecari church.

  SIOARA a port on the Middlesea, capital of Inner Wahilir.

  SMOLLA one of Anjine's handmaidens.

  SOELAND one of the five reaches of Tierra, a group of islands

  led by Destrar Tavishel.

  SOLDAN leader of one of the regions of Uraba. SOLDAN-SHAH the soldan of soldans, leader of all Uraba. STONEHOLM capital city of Corag Reach. SUNSET TOWER westernmost tower in the Olabar palace. TAVISHEL destrar of Soeland Reach. TEACHER mysterious hooded figure in charge of Omra's ra'vir

  program.

  TENER port city on Oceansea coast of Uraba. TERRAVITAE the original land where Ondun created

  his people, from which Aiden and Urec departed on their

  voyage.

  THUNDER CRAG mountain peak in Corag. TIERRA the northern continent, composed of five reaches; its

  population follows the Aidenist religion. TRAVELER wandering old man who leaves tales of his travels,

  rumored to be either Aiden or Urec. H TRAWNA captain of the Tierran patrol ship Raven. I, TYCHO kitten given to Anjine by Mateo.

  UISHEL young woman from Soeland, Mateo's first love.

  f. UNSUL destrar of Erietta Reach.

  UNWAR kel in the Uraban military, captain of the horse soldiers. URABA the southern continent, composed of five reaches; its

  population follows the Urecari religion. UREC one of the two brothers who sailed from Terravitae to

  discover the world. The descendants of his crew populated

  Uraba. UREC'S LIGHTHOUSE a tall lighthouse on the eastern side

  oflshalem.

  UREC'S LOG Urecari holy book. URECARI follower of Urec's Log.

  UR-SIKARA lead sikara of the Urecari church. VILLIKI third wife of Soldan-Shah Imir, mother of Tukar. VORA, CINDON father of Criston, a fisherman lost at sea. VORA, CRISTON sailor, fisherman, who volunteered to join

  the Luminara expedition. Criston is married to Adrea. VORA,TELHA mother of Criston. WENNA-CURIC younger brother of Aldo. WILKA wife of Destrar Broeck, lost in a snowstorm. WILLIN first mate on the Luminara. WINDCATCH small Tierran fishing village on the Oceansea

  coast, home of Criston and Adrea. XARIES a Uraban board game similar to chess. XIVIR soldan of Missinia. YARADIN ancient Tierran king who faced a rebellion during

  his reign.

  YUAREJ one of the soldanates of Uraba. YURA NA-CURIC Aldo's mother. ZADAR work master in the Gremurr mines. ZARIF Uraban title of prince. ZAROUK kel in the Uraban military, veteran who served

  under Soldan-Shah Imir.

  I I

  Are You Listening?

  From the time I first began to write my fantastical novels and stories, I have been heavily influenced by the music I listen to. In high school and college, my imagination was inspired by the progressive rock of Rush, Kansas, Pink Floyd, Styx, the Alan Parsons Project--their songs provided (and continue to provide) the seeds for many works of fiction. Today, with the modern resurgence of progressive rock, I have followed the work of Dream Theater, Lana Lane, Rocket Scientists, Tool, Coheed and Cambria, Lacuna Coil, Powerman 5000, A Perfect Circle, and many others.

  In my mind, there has always been a great cross-fertilization between fantastic fiction and music. Many progressive rock songs are directly inspired by science fiction or fantasy, and vice versa. It has long been a dream of mine to marry the two, to create a tandem project of a fantasy novel and rock CD, words and music developed together. As I began work on Terra Incognita, the opportunity arose. I got to know Shawn Gordon, who owns the label ProgRock Records and is a fan of my Saga of Seven Suns. When I suggested the idea of a joint novel/CD to him, he was as excited as I was. We could take one story line of The Edge of the World, adapt it, and write a CD around it at the same time as I wrote the draft of the book. Shawn put me in touch with the prolific and talented composer and keyboardist Erik Norlander--I

  had already enjoyed his solo albums, his collaborations with his wife, Lana Lane, and his band, Rocket Scientists. Erik was also a fan of my writing and he eagerly agreed to write the music for the Terra Incognita CD, while my wife, Rebecca Moesta, and I would write the lyrics.

  Los Angeles bassist/producer Kurt Barabas, founding member of Under the Sun, also joined our team in the early stages. Rebecca and I took a short vacation to Carlsbad Caverns and Roswell, New Mexico, during which we mapped out the twelve tracks for the CD. As a result, the six of us--Rebecca and I, Shawn Gordon, Erik Norlander, Lana Lane, and Kurt Barabas--decided to call ourselves "Roswell Six."

  As Erik wrote music for the lyrics Rebecca and I submitted, Lana sang the demo tracks and we all listened and tweaked. As the "Queen of Symphonic Rock," Lana was perfect to sing the female vocals as the character Adrea, and Michael Sadler from the band Saga would sing the male lead as Criston Vora. James LaBrie, lead singer for Dream Theater, signed aboard as Omra (with such enthusiasm that he even read the full 700-page manuscript to get into character). The vocals for Captain Andon Shay, the last character, were provided by John Payne from the band Asia Featuring John Payne. David Ragsdale, the violinist from Kansas, also joined the project, as well as Gary Wehrkamp from Shadow Gallery on electric guitars (Gary had already corresponded with me, a fan of my novels), Chris Quirarte from Prymary on drums, Chris Brown from Ghost Circus on guitars,
and Mike Alvarez on cello.

  The resulting CD -- Terra Incognita: Beyond the Horizon by Roswell Six--is truly a dream come true for me. It expands and enhances the novel, so I hope you will all give it a listen, just as I hope that fans of the music will check out the book, www .wordfire.com.

  Fred Ogden generously read the manuscript with an eye to weeding out any egregious nautical mistakes. Patrick Simmons created the wonderful maps, helping to shape the world of Terra Incognita and bring it to life. Lee Gibbons produced an exceptional cover, which captures precisely the feel I wanted to convey in the book. I would also like to thank Stephen Dedman for taking us to the fabulous Shipwreck Museum in Freemantle, West Australia, which provided great story detail for this novel.

  Darren Nash tackled the editorial duties; he was closely involved in this project from proposal, to the 100-page chapter outline, through several drafts of the manuscript. Tim Holman, Alex Lencicki, and Jennifer Flax at Orbit Books gave Terra Incognita their full support and have pulled many strings to help get attention for the novel. Mary Thomson typed the stream of chapters as fast as I could dictate them, and also added her own expertise on the most esoteric details. My ever-helpful cadre of test readers--Deb Ray, Diane Jones, Louis Moesta, and of course my wife, Rebecca Moesta--went through several iterations of the manuscript, giving me plenty of insight and suggestions.

  For musical inspiration and their general enthusiasm, I'd like to thank my fellow members of Roswell Six--Shawn Gordon, Erik Norlander, Kurt Barabas, and Lana Lane--who took

  the lyrics written by Rebecca Moesta and me and produced an incredible rock CD, Terra Incognita: Beyond the Horizon. Erik wrote the wonderful music. Special applause also to the performers on the CD, James LaBrie, Michael Sadler, John Payne, Gary Wehrkamp, Chris Quirarte, Chris Brown, Mike Alvarez, and David Ragsdale.

  ' Kevin J. Anderson has written forty-six national and international bestsellers and has over twenty million books in print worldwide in thirty languages. He has been nominated for the Nebula Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and the SFX Readers' Choice Award. He is best known for his highly popular Dune novels, written with Brian Herbert, his numerous Star Wars and

  ¦.X-Files novels, and his original science fiction epic, The Saga of the Seven Seas. Find out more about Kevin Anderson at www .wordfire.com.

  I

  You're a very prolific author, primarily known for writing big science fiction epics, such as the Saga of Seven Suns, the Dune novels with Brian Herbert, and even Star Wars. How does it feel to be writing fantasy instead ofSF?

  My mind works in terms of stories rather than genres. I have indeed done historical fantasy before -- Captain Nemo, and The Martian War--and even wrote a traditional quest fantasy, the Gamearth Trilogy, early in my career, but readers do tend to think of me as an SF guy.

  However, I don't see Terra Incognita as being fundamentally different from the Saga of Seven Suns -- it's got a sprawling scope with many story lines, exotic lands (instead of planets), sailing ships instead of starships, sea serpents instead of aliens, a hint of magic instead of exotic technology, continents and religions clashing rather than planets and galactic empires. But although the "stage dressing" is different, in a world that looks like our Age of Discovery rather than a far-future interstellar society, the characters and politics and dramas that make a grand story are the same.

  How is Terra Incognita different from other fantasies on the market?

  For one thing, you won't find bearded wizards with pyrotechnic spells or dragons or elves or dwarves. You won't find any enchanted swords or a monolithic evil force that threatens to destroy all Good

  in the world. Though my novels take place in a world of my own imagining, Terra Incognita is more mainstream than outright fantasy, with only a hint of magic. Yes, I have mysterious unexplored lands and amazing legends that may or may not be true, but at its core, these books are about sailing ships and brave explorers, along with a terrible religious war like our Crusades. And while I may have a sea monster or two, they are natural creatures, not magical monsters.

  So, more of a millennial, religious-based grand conflict than a traditional fantasy quest?

  Some parts of The Edge of the World are very dark and tragic, as well as very passionate. I'm dealing with clashes of civilizations, intolerance, and fanaticism--as well as genuine faith. The story is certainly something that occurs all too often in real history: a series of stupid actions on both sides that have grave consequences, ratcheting up the violence and hatred beyond any possibility of a peaceful resolution.

  But the story also parallels our Age of Discovery, a time of hope and wonder, when people had a sense that there were marvelous things Out There just waiting to be found if only a sea captain sailed far enough and survived enough perils.

  As I did thoroughly in the Seven Suns novels, I turn the spotlight on all sides of the conflict and really get into the heads of people representing diametrically opposed points of view. There are three major religions in the Terra Incognita universe, and I have explored the attitudes of characters ranging from the everyday man on the street to the most powerful leaders.

  // sounds unique. What was your inspiration for the series?

  These books have lived in my imagination for more than fifteen years, when I first stumbled upon the European legend of Pres ter John, who ruled a mythical Christian kingdom on a distant,

  unexplored area of the map. The quest to find Prester John (and to seek an alliance with him against the invading Moorish armies) provided the real impetus for Portugal's Prince Henry the Navigator to launch some of history's greatest voyages of discovery in the fifteenth century.

  Now, after completing a series of successful epic projects -- ranging from the colorful universes of Star Wars, Dune, and my own Saga of Seven Suns -- I finally have the opportunity to write the story that has been whispering in my ear for so long. The Edge of the World sets the idea of Prester John in a fantasy universe where sea serpents are real, where a little bit of magic works, where the unexplored areas on the map are larger than the known areas.

  And though this is a fantasy series, it's got a direct connection to rock music. Tell us about that.

  I've always been inspired by the music I listen to, the lyrics of Rush, Kansas, Styx, Pink Floyd, Dream Theater, Lana Lane, Rocket Scientists, Shadow Gallery, and many other progressive rock artists. There's a clear link between the readers of SF/F and the fans of that kind of music.

  For The Edge of the World, we put together a unique synthesis -- a new rock CD, where my wife and I wrote the lyrics based on a story line in the novel, while accomplished keyboardist-composer Erik Norlander (Rocket Scientists) wrote the music, and Shawn Gordon produced the CD for his label ProgRock Records. Some of my favorite vocalists and musicians performed on the album: Lana Lane provided the female vocals for the character of Adrea; Michael Sadler (formerly of Saga) sang the part of Criston Vora; James La Brie (Dream Theater) sang Omra; John Payne (Asia Featuring John Payne) sang Captain Shay. Kurt Barabas (Under the Sun), one of the founding members of our group, played bass, Gary Wehrkamp (Shadow Gallery) played guitar, David Ragsdale (Kansas) played

  violins, Chris Quirarte (Prymary) laid down the drum tracks, Chris Brown (Ghost Circus) provided both acoustic and electric guitar, and Mike Alvarez played cello. Under the band name Roswell Six the CD is Terra Incognita: Beyond the Horizon and it works in perfect synergy with the novel.

  Now that you have finished the seven volumes in the Saga of Seven Suns, will you ever return to that universe?

  I planned Seven Suns from start to finish as seven volumes, with a very clear story arc that genuinely ended. I wanted to do something practically unheard of in the genre: write a big epic series where I reliably turned in every volume on time, year after year, and finished the story where it ended, rather than dragging it on and on. I did that, and I'm very pleased with the result.

  After spending seven years of my life in that universe, I am thrilled to dive into so
mething completely different but just as fascinating, the fantasy world of Terra Incognita, which I plan as a trilogy. That's what I need to focus on right now. Once I finish those books, however, my "science fiction batteries" will have recharged and I'm thinking of returning to the Seven Suns universe. It's a big landscape with plenty of opportunities for other stories; however, I would do an independent story with some new characters and a few familiar ones, set a decade or two later.

  Right now, though, I'm sailing off in the Terra Incognita books, already writing book two. Bring on the sea monsters!

  If you enjoyed THE EDGE OF THE WORLD,

  look out for

  THE MAP OF ALL THINGS

  Book Two of the Terra Incognita Trilogy by Kevin J. Anderson

  The great wall across Ishalem would be completed soon, blocking off the isthmus from the Aidenist enemy. With such a mammoth barrier in place, Soldan-Shah Omra knew the Holy City would at last be safe -- safe in Urecari hands.

  From the high hill in the center of Ishalem, where once had rested the ancient wreck of a huge wooden Arkship, Urec's ship, Omra watched the flurry of construction workers. The sweating, muscular men--some of them slaves taken from Tierran villages -- used log rollers and slick lubricating mud to pull blocks into place and extend the wall across the strip of land, seven miles long, stone after stone after stone.

  Omra thought of it as "God's Barricade." Once the wall cut

  off Tierra, the other half of the world would wither and die like a branch broken from a tree... as they deserved.

  Soldiers patrolled north of the boundary line to guard against Aidenist forays, as the evil men had done several times previously. As the wall neared completion after five years, their enemies grew increasingly desperate--and the soldan-shah felt increasingly secure.

  Kel Unwar, one of the commanders who had swept through the squalid pilgrim settlements on the site of Ishalem, guided the immense construction project. Though a military leader, Unwar was more gifted as an engineer, commanding work teams through impossible tasks rather than guiding armies through impossible odds. When Omra had first challenged him to build the wall, Unwar had stared off into the distance, thoughts turning in his mind, his brow furrowed. "It is a task such as no man has ever attempted, Soldan-Shah. Such an undertaking... it will be magnificent!"