Showing results by author "Jack L. Knapp" in All Categories

The New Mexico Territory of the 1870s - 1880s was as wild and dangerous as any part of the American west. Murders were commonplace. Corruption was the norm, and the Santa Fe Ring controlled the courts. Every man went armed and bad whiskey was commonplace, as was over-indulgence. Rustling was, for many, a way of life. But it was a way of life that threatened the honest ranchers and herdsmen of the time. Liam Clancy, Irish immigrant and recently-discharged veteran of the Union Army, had lost his young wife and unborn child to cholera. Grieving, he sold his homestead and headed west.

Jake was born during a time that was as turbulent as any in American history. Mexico claimed Texas, but the American settlers who'd recently flooded in were more independent, and when the dictator Santa Anna set aside the Constitution of 1824, he launched a series of changes he had not foreseen. With his partner Jean-Louis Lafitte, Jake worked when he could, fought when necessary, and in the process, began a career that would make him one of the most well-known men on the Texas frontier.

Wilderness survival? With nothing but a knife and hatchet? When you're alone, and the wilderness is Earth at the end of the ice age? Not all the dangers come from predatory animals.

Darwin's World is still a sparsely-settled Eden, but things are beginning to change. Nature is no longer the overwhelming challenge it was before. People are joining with others, towns are being established. But growth leads to conflict. Can Home's residents protect themselves from the slave raiders? Saber-toothed cats, lions, cave bears, dire wolves? Dangerous, to be sure. But humans are still their own worst enemy.

Darwin's World is still untamed, glorious, and dangerous. It's a world of cold and hunger, of huge beasts and humans who are just as predatory. The colonists begin an epic journey, hoping to find safety.

People interact largely through personal communicators, a 25th century version that combines the personal computer and the cell phone. Much of the interaction is done through the worldwide semi-sentient computer net known as Central. Prime's population is declining. The primary cause of death is self-termination. Few children are being born. The futurists, aided by Central, conceive a desperate gamble: retrieve people from the past, from a time when populations were growing. Reconstitute their failing bodies, then winnow out those who might have the qualities Prime needs.

Young Holisz was fascinated at first by the study of wizardry! But then he found something even more fascinating: Girls! One in particular took his fantasy, but there was a problem. Holisz, orphaned as a young boy, worked as groom to the baron's horses and also as a stableboy, while the damsel who captured his fancy was the baron's only daughter! 'Twas a forbidden relationship, and when the Holisz' enemies discovered them together, quick were they to inform the baron!

Edward Jennings travels from the Eastern battlefields of the Civil War to turbulent New Mexico Territory's Tularosa Basin in his quest for a fresh start! This land of sun-blasted desert is empty for a reason. Harsh nature, wild Indians, and desperate refugees are only a few of the obstacles in his way!