Gift of Green Fire and Other Strange Encounters — Linda Talbot

Gift of Green Fire and Other Strange Encounters are futuristic fantasies after some cataclysm on Earth has caused chaos.In Gift of Green Fire, inspired by a notion of the late astronomer Carl Sagan, scientists settle on Khaeros, a comet with a city built in the ice and the seeds of extraordinary trees, engineered on earth planted in the snow!Simultaneously, on Khaeros, there is a megalomaniac scientist breeding a subservient yet telepathic race of beings who will help him dominate the comet and beyond. And there is another perverted scientist on Earth with similar aims and the idea of combining the qualities of man with those of trees!Meanwhile, how will Hal, the son of one of the scientists on Khaeros, who was accidentally left behind on Earth, survive?The trees on Khaeros, unable to control their roots through lack of gravity, run riot, while others, whose seeds escaped on Earth, prove more promising. With the rogue scientists overcome, can man's relationship with nature be restored?In The Water Watchers, Earth is magically transformed after some disaster affects the elements of water, fire, air and earth. The narrator is a bewildered survivor who wanders through the new world meeting the beings who have emerged from the upheaval and uncannily absorbed aspects of each element.The theme of the story is fear, from within and without. Why, for instance, are the people afraid to look at water? And there are refugees from earth attempting to live on another planet, who directly affect what happens on Earth. How can equilibrium be established?In The Sun Steps of Shunai, another world emerges from catastrophe - possibly a nuclear explosion. The people have uncanny intimations of what happened but wear masks for fear of what they will see in each other's eyes. They suffer the outlandishness of Shunai, an ardent worshipper of the sun as it reappears from within a pall of cloud. Balancing his delusions of grandeur is the newly sprung tree of regeneration, which some venerate and sense holds the key to survival. And there are centaurs!Man and beast are destined to merge. Will the tyranny of Shunai be averted?