The Amtrak Wars Cloud Warrior

Hundreds of years after civilisation has been destroyed by nuclear war, the Earth is divided between the Trackers of the Amtrak Federation – a community living in vast subterranean cities – and the Mutes, who have evolved to withstand the radiation that has driven their foes underground. A long war for possession of the overground has killed and enslaved many of the Mutes, leaving only the Plainfolk to resist the Federation. The Mutes' physical strength and tribal way of life is no match for the advanced weaponry that is used against them. Mr Snow, supernaturally gifted wordsmith of the Mute clan M'Call, is the Plainfolk's last hope in withstanding the onslaught of the 'sand-burrower's' attacks. Seventeen-year-old rookie wingman Steve Brickman is just about to graduate from Flight Academy. Safe in the knowledge of his own brilliance, his future seems assured. As a member of the Tracker society, Brickman has grown up deep underground, protected from the radiation of the blue-sky world above. The lure of this open space fills him with both fear and excitement, as he anticipates piloting his first mission against the sub-human Mutes. But all does not go as smoothly as planned, as the clan M'Call kidnaps Steve and puts him under the strange tutelage of the mysterious Mr Snow. Captivated by the beautiful Clearwater and befriended by the stoic Cadillac, Brickman soon discovers that there is more to the Mutes than his masters would have him believe. Eyes now open to the Mute's humanity, Brickman is torn by a painful divided loyalty. And now, it seems, he has become embroiled in an ancient Mute prophecy; that of the Talisman, the one who will save them all. Cloud Warrior, first published in 1983, is the first instalment of Patrick Tilley's internationally best selling science fiction epic, The Amtrak Wars Saga.

Hundreds of years after civilisation has been destroyed by nuclear war, the Earth is divided between the Trackers of the Amtrak Federation – a community living in vast subterranean cities – and the Mutes, who have evolved to withstand the radiation that has driven their foes underground. A long war for possession of the overground has killed and enslaved many of the Mutes, leaving only the Plainfolk to resist the Federation. And now the Iron Masters – a powerful people living in the traditions of the Samurai – have joined the battle for dominance. It is time for Steve Brickman, who has long struggled with split loyalties, to finally pick a side. His duty to his own people, the Amtrak Federation, wars against his spiritual bond to the Mute clan M'Call. Honoured with promotion into to the First Family, it looks as though Brickman may choose his home over that of his love's, the pregnant Clearwater. But when Clearwater gives birth to his child at the exact moment that Mount Saint Helens explodes, it looks as if the Mute Prophesy has come to fruition. Meanwhile Roz – Brickman's powerfully psychic kin-sister – and Cadillac, last free living member of the clan M'Call, must travel into the treacherous lands of the Iron Masters to stave off a deadly retribution, whilst becoming embroiled in another land's civil war. Now that the First Family believe Clearwater's child to be the Talisman – heralded messiah of the Plainfolk – their grip tightens as they plan to use this child of prophesy for their own ends. Earth-Thunder, book six of The Amtrak Wars Saga, first published in 1990, concludes Patrick Tilley's internationally best selling science fiction epic.

Detailed artwork, maps, strips and narrative bringing to life visually the world of the trackers, the mutes and the iron masters - the three sets of inhabitants of the amtrak wars series. 11/1/88-resubmit on far eastern & european costs. 18/1/88-produce from crc: 15000 at $6.99: 64p: uc=182p(far eastern costs). 25/1/88-resubmitted via pricing system: 20000 at $5.99: uc=148p(far eastern costs). UK LEAD TITLE

Hundreds of years after civilisation has been destroyed by nuclear war, the Earth is divided between the Trackers of the Amtrak Federation – a community living in vast subterranean cities – and the Mutes, who have evolved to withstand the radiation that has driven their foes underground. A long war for possession of the overground has killed and enslaved many of the Mutes, leaving only the Plainfolk to resist the Federation. After escaping from the clan M'Call in his handmade glider, wingman Steve Brickman expects a hero's welcome from his fellow Trackers. Kidnapped on his first mission above ground by the Mutes, he has spent the last five months under the enforced tutelage of Mr Snow, clan M'Call's wise and magically gifted wordsmith. The months have also garnered a friendship with Cadillac, Mr Snow's protégé, a dawning love of the beautiful Clearwater, and a realisation that the Mutes are not the sub-humans that his masters would have him believe. But instead of a happy homecoming, he receives suspicion and interrogation. Still officially 'dead' until he receives the proper clearance, Brickman must face long hours of speculation and questioning at the hands of the First Family. Only the chance of seeing his kin-sister Roz – with whom he shares a psychic connection – offers any comfort. He is soon drawn into the complicated world of AMEXICO, a top-secret intelligence force where nothing is as it seems, and Brickman must face the reality that everything he has believed in could be false. If the First Family have lied to them about the Mutes, then what else have they been covering up? Is there really any harmful radiation left in the blue-sky world at all? Split by a terrible division of loyalties, what will Brickman choose? The world he knows of order and duty? Or the new life glimpsed through his love for Clearwater? Either way, his role in the Mute prophesy of the Talisman is far from over. First Family, first published in 1985, is the second instalment of Patrick Tilley's internationally best selling science fiction epic, The Amtrak Wars Saga.

Cloud Warrior follows the conflict between two desperate societies attempting to dominate the same planet.