Wennoc is a forgotten world at the back of the Beyond, colonized long ago from Old Earth. Technology has faded, and life proceeds in bucolic peacefulness — but change is afoot.

Micca is grandson of Stennig, twenty-sixth master of Mora — a sprawling collective in the forested hills of the Harnish peninsula. When Stennig passes, Micca’s brother Samma inherits the estate.

Samma has been abroad, studying, while a thread of religious zeal has infected Mora. In Samma’s absence, Invigorationists are anxious to convert Micca, by force, if necessary, and he goes on the run.

While searching for Samma, Micca is swept up in a threatening series of events. Technologically superior ‘visitors’ have come down from the skies, and no one knows why.

A climactic journey ensues, across the vast sloughs and marshes of Hoina Bay, leading to the ancient city of Mellatuno, where old secrets lurk in deep places. Here they will find the answers they seek.

. .

Down from the Skies is packed with vivid events, idiosyncratic characters and relatable circumstances. This is substantive, mature fan fiction, written with intellect.

In Memoriam, Joel N. Anderson.

On the Paladins of Vance label, Spatterlight publishes original works by authors who have given their own imagination free rein in, or have been inspired by the many wonderful worlds of Jack Vance, Grandmaster of sci-fi and fantasy. .