Once, Mavra Chang had been a master criminal, notorious throughout the galaxy, but for eleven long years she has been trapped on the Well World—the Master Control World for the universe, where untold myriads of strange races exist, separated by barriers erected by the mysterious vanished race which built the Well World billions of years ago.
She and her companions had been transformed by the inexplicable mechanism of the Well World into no-longer human bodies. Orbiting the planet was a planetoid concealing Obie, a supercomputer that could restore Mavra Chang to her original bodily form—if she could reach it. But the only spaceship on the planet was hidden in the northern hemisphere, where no living creature could go and survive. Then she learned that her enemies were plotting to eliminate her, steal the ship and escape from the Well World.
But many others had planned her demise before, and Mavra Chang was still alive and well; which was more than could be said of those who had wished her ill....
Praise for a Master Storyteller:
"A stunning novel by a first-rate storyteller!" —Edmond Hamilton
"A big, bold book'that traditional science fiction and turns it down!" —Leigh Bracket
Once, Mavra Chang had been a master criminal, notorious throughout the galaxy, but for eleven long years she has been trapped on the Well World—the Master Control World for the universe, where untold myriads of strange races exist, separated by barriers erected by the mysterious vanished race which built the Well World billions of years ago.
She and her companions had been transformed by the inexplicable mechanism of the Well World into no-longer human bodies. Orbiting the planet was a planetoid concealing Obie, a supercomputer that could restore Mavra Chang to her original bodily form—if she could reach it. But the only spaceship on the planet was hidden in the northern hemisphere, where no living creature could go and survive. Then she learned that her enemies were plotting to eliminate her, steal the ship and escape from the Well World.
But many others had planned her demise before, and Mavra Chang was still alive and well; which was more than could be said of those who had wished her ill....
Praise for a Master Storyteller:
"A stunning novel by a first-rate storyteller!" —Edmond Hamilton
"A big, bold book'that traditional science fiction and turns it down!" —Leigh Bracket
Once, Mavra Chang had been a master criminal, notorious throughout the galaxy, but for eleven long years she has been trapped on the Well World—the Master Control World for the universe, where untold myriads of strange races exist, separated by barriers erected by the mysterious vanished race which built the Well World billions of years ago.
She and her companions had been transformed by the inexplicable mechanism of the Well World into no-longer human bodies. Orbiting the planet was a planetoid concealing Obie, a supercomputer that could restore Mavra Chang to her original bodily form—if she could reach it. But the only spaceship on the planet was hidden in the northern hemisphere, where no living creature could go and survive. Then she learned that her enemies were plotting to eliminate her, steal the ship and escape from the Well World.
But many others had planned her demise before, and Mavra Chang was still alive and well; which was more than could be said of those who had wished her ill....
Praise for a Master Storyteller:
"A stunning novel by a first-rate storyteller!" —Edmond Hamilton
"A big, bold book'that traditional science fiction and turns it down!" —Leigh Bracket