An all-time great science fiction novel by a legendary master Fred Saberhagen bundled together with seven tales set in Saberhagen’s Masks universe—all written by a gathering of top-level authors including New York Times bestsellers David Weber and Harry Turtledove. These star contributors take on Saberhagen’s central idea: an ordinary human puts on an ancient mask and is transformed into a god—but is also taken over by the god’s personality for better and worse. Mike Gabrieli's ne’er-do-well brother Tom has disappeared after mysteriously gaining possession of a priceless Aztec artifact. Now Mike sets out on a quest for Tom that takes him back in time to the dawn of the Spanish Conquest of South America. The descendants of the Incas have a plan to keep Pizarro and his conquistadors from overthrowing their ancestors’ empire. Mike is sympathetic, he now faces the very real possibility that, while creating an alternate world with the Incas ascendant, he may be wiping out his own future in the process. In addition to Fred Saberhagen’s novel The Mask of the Sun, seven top writers have contributed stories set in the same universe. The contributors include New York Times best-selling authors David Weber and Harry Turtledove, as well as Walter Jon Williams, John Maddox Roberts, Jane Lindskold, and more, expanding on Fred Saberhagen’s concept and bringing their own perspectives to this volume of exciting alternate universe adventure.
Author
Fred Saberhagen was an American science fiction and fantasy author most famous for his ''Beserker'' and Dracula stories. Saberhagen also wrote a series of a series of post-apocalyptic mytho-magical novels beginning with his popular ''Empire of the East'' and continuing through a long series of ''Swords'' and ''Lost Swords'' novels. Saberhagen died of cancer, in Albuquerque, New Mexico Saberhagen was born in and grew up in the area of Chicago, Illinois. Saberhagen served in the [[U.S. Air Force]] during the Korean War while he was in his early twenties. Back in civilian life, Saberhagen worked as an It was while he was working for Motorola (after his military service) that Saberhagen started writing fiction seriously at the age of about 30. "Fortress Ship", his first "Berserker" short shory, was published in 1963. Then, in 1964, Saberhagen saw the publication of his first novel, ''The Golden People''. From 1967 to 1973, he worked as an editor for the Chemistry articles in the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' as well as writing its article on science fiction. He then quit and took up writing full-time. In 1975, he moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico. He married fellow writer Joan Spicci in 1968. They had two sons and a daughter.
