Journey into a world in the height of magic, before the great empires fell and before the elven nations split into light and dark.

One journey. Six stories. Mind-blowing fantasy from the Hugo Award winner, “one of the most important science fiction authors” (SF Site). In The Compleat Traveller in Black, six linked tales, comprising one of Brunner’s rare ventures into fantasy, relate the legend of a man with many names, who travels the world with a staff made of light and performs his eternal duty by bringing order to a world filled with chaos. What he dispenses is always asked for but not always welcomed by the recipients. And the world becomes, step by slow step, a better place for those who remain. For each generation, there is a writer meant to bend the rules of what we know. Hugo Award winner (Best Novel, Stand on Zanzibar) and British science fiction master John Brunner remains one of the most influential and respected authors of all time, and now many of his classic works are being reintroduced. For readers familiar with his vision, this is a chance to reexamine his thoughtful worlds and words, while for new readers, Brunner’s work proves itself the very definition of timeless.

Born into a family in difficult circumstances, Bruce Wilberforce finds himself in the streets at a very young age, struggling to eke out a living. Having been taken out of the streets and encouraged by teachers at school, he turned out to be a brilliant student. His first-cycle education earned him a Middle School Leaving Certificate. Against his fathers inclination to get him into carpentry, he secretly joins the Teenagers Group after passing an examination. He finally passed out in a batch of last round of recruits, but below his expectation of being assigned to nonadministrative work, he was assigned to administrative duties in the army. His initial enthusiasm for the Avuh coup, which involved past trainees of the Teenagers Group, turned into opposition to it when those colleagues became targets of attacks from the regime. He then joined the military opposition to Avuh. On one occasion of daring, his conspiratorial group, led by Major Omar Mukhtar, got bombs rained on it. His only way of escape was to rub himself with his own excreta. Having escaped into exile in Kroto, he ended up in Caucasian Republic, where he resumed his education and acquired a masters degree to become a manager.

"e;By Schoeman word individuasie nie 'n selfsugtige wegkeer van die realiteit nie - daarvoor is sy werk te betrokke by die situasies van die dag. Maar dit help om afstand te skep. Die onthegting van die omringende is nie 'n selfsugtige inkeer na binne nie, nie 'n verlammende onttrekking nie, maar 'n inwaartse reis wat stimuleer tot kreatiewe ondersoek van die onbewuste. Die romans neem die leser op daardie stille reis. Hulle bied ervarings van 'n ontmoeting met die stilte, met die self. Hierdie werk van Wepener slaag daarin om iets van hierdie proses en inwaartse reis te verduidelik, sonder om voorskriftelik of moraliserend te raak. Juis daarom gee Wepener uiteindelik op 'n praktiese manier leiding aan diegene wat met die dood gekonfronteer word."e; Vanuit die Voorwoord deur Willie Burger, Mei 2017