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ONE MAN PITTED HIMSELF AGAINST THE GREATEST POWER IN THE GALAXY, SEARCHING FOR SOMETHING HE WAS FORBIDDEN TO FIND....

Ton Davaryush had destroyed twelve utopias in the line of his duty as a Kingling of the galaxy's all-powerful Inquest: he was delivering ignorant humanity from the throes of delusion. For it was written in the Inquestral Texts that man was a fallen being and all utopias inherently false.

But now, simmering with rebellion, Davaryush plotted the Inquest's destruction and cursed the awesome extent of its power. Now he stood ready to wreak havok within the galactic tyranny.

Now he was willing to risk the Inquest's ultimate wrath. Because he had seen a thirteenth utopia, he had known the sin of joy... and he knew he would, he must, preserve it -- at any price!

AN INNOCENT CHILD IS TRANSFORMED FROM A MAN OF WAR TO A GOD OF PEACE!

The Inquest has ruled throughout the millennia with awsome power. Man has lost his hopes, his soul, his dreams of utopia. Only a unique Inquestor can free mankind from this false god.

Kelver, hand-picked as a child for this awesome mission, has survived an intergalactic struggle with other Inquestral prodigies to conquer the almighty Inquest. Now he must find and grasp the Throne of Madness, to wage mystic warfare -- and change the Universe forever!

S.P. Somtow's UTOPIA HUNTERS is an introduction to one of the most far-flung galactic civilizations ever created, In the words of Theodore Sturgeon, Somtow's CHRONICLES OF THE HIGH INQUEST deal with "the greatest magnitude of spectacle and color since Stapledon." UTOPIA HUNTERS can be read out of sequence.

Table of Contents:

• The Book of Children's Dreams - shortstory
• The Story of the Rainbow King - novelette
• The Book of Shapers and Visionaries - shortstory
• The Story of the Dust-Sculptress - novelette
• The Story of the Web Dancer - novelette
• The Book of Rememberers and Warriors - shortstory
• The Rememberer's Story - novelette
• The Comet's Story - novelette
• The Book of Three Young Inquestors - novelette
• The Myth of Mother Vara - shortstory
• The Myth of the Windbringers - shortstory
• The Story of Young Arryk - novelette
• The Book of the Darkweaver - shortstory

THE DARKLING WIND

In the long dark age that followed, the High Inquest would be remembered as a golden age. For the Inquestors had harnessed the unfathomable power of the heart of stars, sailing the overcosm in their delphinoid ships and tachyon bubbles to dance on the faces of suns.

But the Inquest had its darker side as well. For these beings played a ruthless game with billions of lives, snuffing out worlds as chessplayers take pawns. Waging an unending war on the false utopias that tempt mankind, they sought to free humanity by enslaving it.

At last, after countless centuries, the Inquest was torn apart. This is the story of the fall of that great empire, and of the rebel Inquestor who hastened its end.