Barbara Hambly possiede un modo magistrale di tessere storie che spaziano dalla fantasy alla narrativa storica. Le sue intricate trame coinvolgono personaggi memorabili, descrizioni lussureggianti ed elementi inventivi. La sua opera abbraccia l'universo di Star Wars, il New Orleans antebellico e vari mondi fantasy, a volte collegati al nostro. Hambly ha dimostrato che è possibile avere successo come scrittrice, nonostante molti affermassero che fosse impossibile.
Callista is a brave Jedi warrior who gave her life to save a sanctuary for wives and children of Jedi knights from obliteration by the Empire. Suddenly, a dreadnought is rearming itself for shelter destruction. Only Luke Skywalker can feel the evil presence and the influence of believed decades-dead Callista.
When the body of a mysterious Englishman is found floating in New Orleans' New Basin Canal, Benjamin January uncovers a link to another unsolved murder in Paris nine years before. Now he must unravel the earlier murder in order to solve this second killing. At stake are the lives of his wife, son and unborn child.
The thundering conclusion to Barbara Hambly's landmark quartet, The Winterlands, Dragonstar is a riot of magic, demons and dragons that will stay with you long after you turn the final page.
1840. When Eve Russell vanishes into thin air, her frantic parents call on free man of color Benjamin January for help. Did the teenager run away - or was she kidnapped? The answer lies in distant New York, a hotbed of new religions, of human circuses . and of dangerous slave traders. If January uncovers the truth, will he ever get home to tell it?
After a year of magical combat, the world is in ruins, and the few surviving wizards, including two stranded Californians, must take to the offensive Since the Dark Ones returned, the world has been laid to waste. The land’s wizards have been slaughtered, its cities destroyed, and its people scattered in terror, and few have witnessed more of the destruction than Rudy and Gil—two ordinary Californians who found their way across the Void, and took up arms in defense of a strange and magical world. She learned the ways of war, while he found within himself the powers of a great wizard. Both of them will need all their strength to survive this final challenge. Ingold, the master wizard, has devised a spell to hide the user from the deathly stare of the Dark, and he intends to use it to strike at their very heart. Finally, Rudy, Gil, and the rest of mankind’s survivors will take the offensive, bringing an end to this terrible war, for better or for worse.
The summer of 1833 has been one of brazen heat and brutal pestilence, as the city is stalked by Bronze John - the popular name for the deadly cholera epidemic that tests the healing skills of doctor and voodoo alike. Benjamin January's Paris medical training keeps him all night long with the dying at Charity Hospital. Then his work as a music teacher takes him out again into the fetid, empty midday streets. Empty except for Cora Chouteau, a dark-skinned plantation waif come to town in search of her lover, sold in slavery to one of its prominent families. Though January's certain she's a runaway, he agrees to try to pass a message to the man she seeks. Soon, however, he learns that Cora is accused of murdering her lecherous master, Otis Redfern, and poisoning his wife almost to death. Yet it seems that Emily Redfern herself, iron-willed and socially ambitious, had cause to wish her profligate husband dead. And Cora, too - or so the girl insists.... Before Ben can unpick one story from the other, Cora disappears into the torrid night. Risking both his life and his freedom, Ben pursues the truth through a lush and fevered world of opulent town houses, grim cemeteries, and raucous taverns.
Entering Texas, the "Slaveholders' Republic", in 1840 as a black man is a risky business. They are putting their life at risk, which is exactly what Benjamin January needs to do when he is tasked with locating a kidnapped girl. During his search he is saved from the noose by the wife of a wealthy ranch owner, who soon needs January's help herself.
New Orleans, 1840. Benjamin January has little use for politicians, but when a giant rally is planned to stir up support for the Whig presidential candidate, he finds himself intrigued. Trouble is brewing though, both political and romantic, and soon January finds himself investigating a murder ... with an innocent woman's life on the line.
Set against the vibrant backdrop of 1835 New Orleans during Mardi Gras, the story follows Benjamin January, a free man of color who becomes embroiled in a dangerous plot after rescuing impresario Lorenzo Belaggio from an attack. The controversial operatic adaptation of Othello raises tensions among local citizens, leading January into a web of intrigue fueled by love, jealousy, and ambition. As he navigates the perilous landscape, he must uncover the truth behind the violence threatening both the production and his life.
