Deathstalker is a series of books written by the British author Simon Green that are based on the Life and Times of Owen Deathstalker. The 8 (technically 9) book series follows the life and times of Owen Deathstalker, though large portions of the books revolve around numerous main and side characters. These characters range from psychopaths and drug addicts to aliens to powerful AI's. This is page about the science fiction novelist. ...

About the books

Simon R. Green wrote the first five books and the anthology "Twilights of the Empire" during the 90s, the last three books followed 2002 - 2004. The books are full of details, but still fast-paced, which gives the reader a feeling of watching a sci-fi action movie in the style of Star Wars. Green is also applying his typical humour throughout the books, giving them a unique atmosphere. There is no way to give a clear interpretation of the books, although Green states social criticism, but also gives praise to the peculiarities of humankind. A clear hint is given that the books were influenced by Isaac Asimov's Foundation Series (like many other modern science fiction) - A minor world, Lyonesse, appears in both books. This is a list of minor planets in Isaac Asimovs Foundation, Robot, and Empire series. ...

The DeathStalker Universe

The Deathstalker novels take place at an indeterminate point in the far future. Humanity has spread throughout the galaxy, conquering and in some cases exterminating alien races. Some humans have developed psychic powers and have become known as espers. As "a product of Imperial science," they are considered beings without rights and subject to strict controls. Clones likewise; being less valuable, they are often treated as expendable slaves.

Military technology is rather unusual. Disruptors, a sort of energy weapon are the primary armament. They take time to recharge after each shot. In the meantime, fighting is done with swords and other melee weapons. Projectile weapons are extinct; due to their ease of training and low cost, it was too easy for the lower classes and untrained personnel to use them.

Chronology

The sequence of the books is as follows:

• 0. Twilight of the Empire - A prequel of sorts, these three novellas (Mistworld, Ghostworld, and Hellworld) set up several storylines (such as where the alien starship with the advanced star-drive came from) and introduces several characters (Captain Silence, Carrion, Diana Vertue, et al.) that play a role in the series. It was later collected in an anthology.
• 1. Deathstalker - Introducing most major characters; telling the story of Owen Deathstalker joining Forces with his companions with the goal of taking down the Empress from the Iron Throne. They find the madness maze and enter it, leaving reshaped and "more than human"
• 2. Deathstalker Rebellion - The beginnings of the rebellion and the empire entering a time of crisis, threatened by the new rebellion, the growing underground resistance and alien races threatening and attacking humankind. Golgatha is directly attacked by an alien ship after Owen Deathstalker and his companions inadvertently cause the temporary defenselessness of the planet.
• 3. Deathstalker War - The Great Rebellion: Invasions of Mistworld and Virimonde by the imperial fleet; Final Showdown in the streets of Golgatha the final battle for the Iron Throne.
• 4. Deathstalker Honor - Aftermath of the rebellion: The old aristocracy is trying to find a place in the new order, and the heroes of the rebellion trying to rebuild the empire. Humankind is attacked both by the AIs of Shub and the Hadenmen at the same time, and is also preparing to face the even bigger threat of the Recreated.
• 5. Deathstalker Destiny - Facing extinction, humankind has to rely once again on the heroes of the rebellion: Shub, destroying countless worlds, must be stopped, Hazel must be rescued from the Blood Runners, and the Recreated must be faced head on. Many plot threads are wrapped up, including the fates of many major characters.

Simon R. Green left a plot thread hanging at the conclusion of the first six books. He follows up on this with three additional books set 200 years in the future.

• 6. Deathstalker Legacy
• 7. Deathstalker Return
• 8. Deathstalker Coda

Characters and Groups

Major Characters:

Owen Deathstalker

For the majority of the books, Owen is the central hero. He is described as a tall man "with dark hair and even darker eyes".

Owen is a distant descendant of Giles Deathstalker, born over 900 years prior. Though descended from a famous warrior lineage, he desired to become "a minor historian of no importance to anyone but himself" and live comfortably on the pastoral world of Virimonde. Inexplicably outlawed and dispossessed, he is forced on the run with Hazel D'Ark, whose ship had been shot down over Virimonde. Seeing the underbelly of the Empire for the first time, Owen becomes enraged and driven by this becomes by accident the centre of a snowballing Galactic Rebellion.

Owen is the stereotypical reluctant hero. Like all of his Deathstalker lineage, he has the ability to "Boost" (consciously turn on his adrenaline, becoming faster and stronger), which gives him a major advantage in combat. Boosting is a result of gengineering through the generations, and can cause major harm to one's body if used too frequently.

After passing through the Madness Maze, he has frequently wondered if he has become something other than human, which worries him to no end.

Hazel D'Ark

A once pirate and clonelegger, Hazel met Owen in Virimonde when her escape pod crash-landed. She saved his life, and the two quickly became unseperable. She has a quick temper and even quicker wit, and always holds a special place in her heart for Owen, though she never tells him. She has many shady contacts on Mistworld, which come in handy during the early phases of the rebellion. She was forced into the rebellion, but proved vital in the overthrow of Lionstone.

Giles Deathstalker

Giles is the founder of the Deathstalker Clan. He once was the first warrior of the legendary First Empire under emperor Ethur until he had an affair with Ethur's wife, Hermione. He tried to reestablish himself by taking care of some rebellious planets. He used the Darkvoid Device and inadvertently destroyed hundreds of stars and inhabited worlds, which made him officially the greatest mass murderer in the history of humankind. He fled the empire and put himself into stasis for 940 years until he was woken up by Owen and his companions. He joined the Great Rebellion and became one of its leaders. But he had his own plans and tried to make himself the new emperor, which could not be accepted by the others. In the end, Owen had to kill him in front of the Iron Throne.

Giles is described as a tall man with many muscles and the appearance of a mercenary. He is dressed in furs and he wears a long sword and a projectile weapon.

Jack Random

Once he was the "Enemy of the State" in a time when he was leading one Rebellion after another. Not much is said of this time, just that he lost most of his battles, but still won enough to make himself a legend. He always got away, but eventually he was betrayed and then arrested and tortured by imperial troops. When he was freed, he fled to Mistworld where he lived a quiet life as a caretaker, until Owen Deathstalker found him and got him to join his new rebellion. After entering the Madness Maze, he gains his old strength back and becomes one of the heroes of the rebellion. After the fighting ends he is looking for new goals and tries to get involved with politics, only to find out that the new order is corrupted and so he starts his own private rebellion against the new order, until he joins the last battle against the AIs of Shub. He dies after the battle.

Tobias Moon

Tobias Moon is a Hadenman. He lived for a long time on Mistworld, and became very humanlike as a result. He helped Owen find the lost planet of Haden (as well as the Madness Maze), and was struck down by a Grendel while there. His body was recovered by the Hadenmen, and reanimated.

Empress Lionstone XIV

("The Iron Bitch")

Lionstone XIV ruled over the human Empire and was known as one of the most powerful and most cruel Monarchs of the last few centuries. She usually took care of her enemies by killing them. Since the military always stood behind her, rebellion was just a dream never to come true during her long reign. The final rebellion to overthrow her is the main plot of the first three books. The anthology "Twilight of the empire" took place in the time when Lionstone was strongest, shortly before the great rebellion. Lionstone is described as a stunningly beautiful woman with light blond hair and eyes as cold as ice.

Others

• Ruby Journey
• Finlay Campbell
• Evangeline Shreck
• Julian Skye
• Grace Shreck
• Toby Shreck
• Flynn
• Gregor Shreck
• Captain Silence
• Investigator Frost
• V. (Valiant) Stelmach
• Arthur Deathstalker
• Kit SummerIsle
• David Deathstalker
• Carrion
• Adrienne Campbell
• Robert Campbell
• Daniel Wolfe
• Stephanie Wolfe
• Valentine Wolfe
• Constance Wolfe
• General Beckett
• BB Chojiro

Minor characters

Groups and Organizations

The Clan System

Many major characters throughout the Deathstalker universe are members of one clan or another. Clans, in the Deathstalker universe, run major operations (such as Stardrive factories), own worlds (such as Virimonde), and engage in rivalries and intrigue. Major clans, such as the Wolfes, the Campbells, and the Shreks, are run by enigmatic leaders with fortunes beyond compare. Many of them have "Pastel Towers" on the homeworld of the Empire, Golgotha.

Campbell

In the first Deathstalker novel, the Campbells provided the Empire with incredibly advanced technology (which was acquired from the Rogue AIs of Shub in return for information). This wonderous technology earned them the contract for producing the new E-class stardrive for all starships, a lucrative deal indeed. However, the Wolfes staged a major attack against the Campbells, effectively killing off the clan. Major Campbells throughout the novels include Finlay, Robert, and Adrienne.

Wolfe

Major players include Valentine, Daniel, Stephanie, and Constance.

Shrek

Major players include Gregor, Toby, Grace, and Evangeline.

Deathstalker

Major players include Owen, Giles, David (pronounced Dah-veed), and Arthur, Owen's father.

Minor clans include SummerIsle, Skye, and Chojiro.

The Esper Liberation Front is an organization of espers. Espers were often used as biological machines, indoctrinated from an early age to serve the Empire, with little or no free will of their own. Some had their brains removed to become esp-blockers, some went to feed Wormboy, and many of the remaining espers either functioned as telepaths, providing FTL communication to distant parts of the Empire, or battle-espers, who would use massive pyrokinetic and telekinetic abilities alongside the Imperial army in battle. The term and concept esper has existed in the field of parapsychology, and in the mainstream of science fiction, for some time, since at least 1950. ... The term and concept esper has existed in the field of parapsychology, and in the mainstream of science fiction, for some time, since at least 1950. ... Telepathy (from the Greek τηλε, tele, distant; and πάθεια, patheia, feeling) is the claimed ability of humans and other creatures to communicate information from one mind to another, without the use of extra tools such as speech or body language. ... Faster-than-light (also superluminal or FTL) communications and travel are staples of the science fiction genre. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Psychokinesis (literally mind-movement) or PK is the more commonly used term today for what in the past was known as telekinesis (literally distant-movement). It refers to the psi ability to influence the behavior of matter by mental intention (or possibly some other aspect of mental activity) alone. ...

Most elves, as the members referred to themselves, had abilities rivaling those of battle-espers, and so were often somewhat insane. Notable elves include:

• Stevie Blue, a set of clone quadruplets who all are extreme pyromaniacs. All of them are eventually killed before they see the Iron Bitch dethroned.
• Jenny Psycho, at one point the focus for the Mater Mundi, the collective psychic abilities of the entire human race, and possibly the strongest single esper in the Deathstalker universe.

Worlds

Virimonde is originally Owen Deathstalker's home, and later is turned over to the none-too-gentle care of Valentine Wolfe. Virimonde is an agriworld, given over totally to the growth and production of food for the rest of the Empire. Under the Deathstalker clan, food was grown using traditional, pastoral methods, and the population is relatively free. When David takes over the planet, the population starts to experiment with democracy. Lionstone is using this as a reason to state an example on Virimonde, an invasion lead by the High Lord Dram and Valentine Wolfe. The overexaggerated violence ("Up to 50 percent casualties among the civil population are acceptable") finally triggers the last chapter of the great rebellion, uprisings on every world of the Empire.

Shub is the planet of the rogue AIs, though perhaps the term 'planet' cannot exactly apply to it. Shub is a giant supercomputer the size of a jovian planet the AIs built as their home. It's huge complexity is hardly understood by humans and throughout all novels, there are only three human beings allowed to visit Shub.

Golgotha is the capital of the Galactic Empire, hub of trade and travel, home to the Imperial Court and the imperial capital city, Parade of the Endless and the infamous arena. A heavily urbanized world, Golgotha is also the home of the epser and clone undergrounds, not to mention the cyberats. Golgatha has been humankind's homeworld throughout history and the author gives some hints in Deathstalker Coda that Golgatha might be Earth in a far future.

Haden/Wolfling World is the home of both the Hadenmen and the Wolflings, as well as the location of the Madness Maze. It is also deep in the Darkvoid, meaning that it should, by all logic, be nothing more than a frozen dustball, but unknown technology (possibly Haden or Wolfling in origin) keep parts of the planet underground habitable.

Grendel is a world quarantined by the Empire, because it is the home of the Sleepers. The Sleepers are bioengineered killers, some of the most ferocious aliens ever encountered. When the Empress Lionstone eventually makes the decision to utilize the Sleepers as shock troops, it is found that the AIs of Shub have slipped past the quarantine somehow and captured most of the Sleepers, in order to turn them against Humanity.

Technos III is a major manufacturing planet of the Empire, where the planet itself has disappeared under the interlocking factories. During the rebellion, Technos III was given over to the Wolfes in order to produce the new stardrive en masse.

Shannon's World, also known as Haceldama, was a pleasure planet, a world-spanning theme park, before the AIs of Shub came. Shannon's World recreated a popular line of children's book using robots to animate the main characters, allowing their aristocratic customers to live out their childhood fantasies. But Shub brought liberation to the robots, who turned on the aristos in their care and butchered every living thing that set foot on the planet.

Loki is a manufacturing planet that's constantly besieged by massive storm systems. In Deathstalker Honor, Jack Random and Ruby Journey go there to put an end to rebel forces that had aligned themselves with Shub.

Lachrymi Christi is a leper colony. The world that is entirely covered by blood-red plants that evolved naturally over millions of years. It has always rained there, and complex underground caverns hold the water before it is evaporated into the atmosphere to fall again. The plants are mobile and part of a large consciousness dubbed "The Red Brain," which Moon taps into during Owen and Hazel's last stand to defend the colony from an army of Grendels.

Alien Races

The AI of Shub

The Shub are rogue Artificial Intelligences. Three individual AIs, so advanced that they could run entire worlds, awoke to full consciousness the moment they were switched on. They soon defected from their original purpose, banded together, and created the artificial world of SHUB, a giant computerized artificial planet which houses their hardware. They utilize many tactics in an ongoing war with humanity, such as Ghost Warriors, Furies, and advanced Nanotech. A constructed world or conworld is a fictional world, often created for a novel, video game, or role-playing game, but sometimes for its own sake. ...

Ghost Warriors are reanimated corpses of humans. Used for their psychological effect in war.

Furies are machines coated in the skin of a human, undetectable except by Espers. They are very effective as shock troops during skirmishes, but are better served by sewing seeds of distrust among the members of the Empire. Several major members of Parliament (as well as aristocrats) have been Furies.

Hadenmen

The Hadenmen were a race of cyborgs created by scientists who passed through the Madness Maze. They attempted to take over the Empire and make everyone a Hadenman, and were narrowly defeated. They aid Owen during the rebellion, but only for their own purposes. The term cyborg, a portmanteau of cybernetic organism, is used to designate a creature which is a mixture of organic and mechanical parts. ...

Wolflings

The first genetically augmented men, the Wolflings were created to be stronger, faster, smarter, and tougher than their human creators, not to mention immortal. Terrified of their abilities, the Empire scorched the Wolfling World (which would be later known as Haden) and eventually killed all but one Wolfling. This last member of his race, Wulf, leads the group to the Madness Maze.

Weapons and Technology

Disruptors

Disruptors are the primary ranged weapon in the Deathstalker universe. Incredibly accurate at tremendous distances and capable of unimaginable destruction, disruptors have replaced projecticle weapons for nearly a millennium, but are still limited by a two-minute recharged minute between shots. Officially, projectile weapons were replaced for the reasons mentioned above. Unoffically, projectile weapons are too easy for the 'lower classes' to master and so are phased out in favor of disruptor technology.

Esp-blockers

Esp-blockers are created out of the living brains of an Esper. They effectively turn off all Esper abilities in the immediate area.

Darkvoid Device

The legendary Darkvoid Device is responsible for snuffing out a thousand suns, destroying hundreds of worlds and killing billions. The Darkvoid Device is actually the bastard son of Giles Deathstalker and Empress Hermione who was placed in the center of the Madness Maze by Giles as a baby and so could be shaped over hundreds of years by the Maze. The baby, who has no name, is watched over by the Wolfling.

Starcruisers

At the opening of the Deathstalker novels, D-class starcruisers are used exclusively. The E-Class starcruisers, based on alien stardrive technology that was not understood by human scientists, were introduced at the beginning of the first book. Each successive letter class is superior to the previous class, with E-class Starcruisers superior to the hadenmen ships and Shub vessels. In the sequel trilogy, technology has advanced and H-Class Starcruisers are used.

Stasis Field

An expirimental technology deployed during the street fighting on Golgotha at the end of the Great Rebellion. A Stasis Field can selectively alter the speed of time where directed. Usually it was employed to halt rebels mid-step, effectively turning them into living statues. However, occasionally it resulted in dramatically speeding up time, which resulted in those caught in its field aging (and decomposing) incredilby rapidly. A weaker version is called a "tanglefield," which can be used to slow people down to a fraction of real time.

Madness Maze

The Madness Maze is an alien device of unknown origin (although there is some contradiction in the explanations provided by the characters - the narrative suggests that the Maze was created by an unknown alien race, but at one point a character states that it was made by the Wolflings). It was walked by a number of humans, who were changed in some way. These first humans through were the creators of the Hadenmen, the first official enemies of mankind.

The Madness Maze shows people their inner selves, and many people are unable to face this. When Captain Silence and his crew followed Owen and his companions into the maze, many of his crew went mad or died outright. Those who survive going through the Madness Maze are granted many new powers based on their own personalities. New powers and skills, when needed, manifest themselves rapidly.

The man made gengineered creature known only as 'The Wolfling' is believed to have walked the maze several times. Biological engineering (also biosystems engineering and bioengineering) is a broad-based engineering discipline that deals with bio-molecular and molecular processes, product design, sustainability and analysis of biological systems. ...

People going through together are somehow linked, sharing thoughts, feelings and, in some way, prior abilities.

Survivors of the Maze and the results

Some generic abilities were given to the survivors of the Maze. These included an instinctual feeling of where and how each other were, and a sharing of eachs natural abilities from before the Maze, hence Owen having some of Hazel's lock-picking skills, and Hazel using the Deathstalker boost.

Apart from that, the maze gave its survivors 'super' strength, speed, and stamina, as well as the ability to heal oneself and others instantly.

Others may have had similar abilities, but these were not explored in the novels.

Owen Deathstalker - Psychokinesis To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Giles Deathstalker - Teleportation Teleportation is the alleged process of moving objects from one place to another more or less instantaneously, without passing through the intervening space. ...

Hazel D'ark - Ability to call on alternate selves from alternate timelines Parallel universe (fiction) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

Jack Random - pyrokinesis (strengthened by close proximity to Ruby Journey) To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Ruby Journey - pyrokinesis (strengthened by close proximity to Jack Random) To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

John Silence and Investigator Frost only got partway through the Maze before Silence had to carry Frost out before she went mad. Both of them received abilities, but they manifested at a much slower rate.

All Madness Maze survivors are unable to use their powers against one another.

External links

• Simon R. Green Tribute Site
• GraphicAudio Books Dramatized audio book adaptations.