Quest for the Well of Souls
by Jack L. Chalker
And for the dead as well…
John W. Campbell, Jr.
who taught me to write the stuff
August W. Derleth
who was always interested
Clark Ashton Smith
who dreamed strange, infectious dreams
Seabury Quinn
who cared as much for his friends as they did for him
Edmond Hamilton
a wonderful man who liked the Well
Ron Ellik
who should have lived to see this
H. Beam Piper
who was never too busy
and to those two incongruous, ghostly specters, H. P. Lovecraft and Stanley G. Weinbaum, who have haunted this field since before I was born.
THE WARS OF THE WELL, PART II
Part I of this very large novel may be found as Exiles at the Well of Souls (Ballantine/A Del Rey Book, 1978). A prequel, Midnight at the Well of Souls (1977) may be read before or after this book. The Wars of the Well was conceived as a single novel but published in two books because of its tremendous length. In order to accommodate the split, each novel has been written to stand alone. But in an ideal world Exiles should be read before this book.
JLC
Kyrbizmith, a Hex to the South of the Overdark
A dark road is dangerous anywhere; but here, on the Well World, in a nontech hex whose diurnal creatures literally became comatose after sundown, it was more so. The atmosphere was as close to average for the Southern Hemisphere as it could get, and, unlike many other places, almost any race could exist here—all easy prey. Internal defenses protected the Kyrbizmithians; one could not even touch them and hope to remain sane and whole. But nothing protected the traveler so foolish as to tread the well-marked but unlighted lanes after sundown.