Sandra Fitzpatrick provided the idea for Opus 5 when she wondered what impact Reetion cats would have on the Gelack court after Horth scores a bunch of them, in trade, at the end of Part 5: Far Arena, in the Okal Rel Saga. Cats have long been extinct in the Sevolite Empire, so the new arrivals would be high status possessions. But as prospective authors discussed possibilities, variations from other times began to arise. There have always been cats on the empire side of the universe after ...

Companion anthology for The Courtesan Prince, in the Okal Rel Saga, this volume is the first to introduce the talents of other writers to the ten-novel series by Lynda Williams. Between its covers, readers see glimpses of ORU history up close and personal, from fresh perspectives.“The Okal Rel Universe is a lifelong labor of love, giving us the layers upon layers of societies, fantastic genetically enhanced lines of humanity, and the sparks of passion that make any planet ...

Stories in the anthology reveal Horth’s introduction to the sword in childhood (“The Number Three Blade” by Craig Bowlsby); a good reason why the Sevolites destroyed Reetions ships on sight for two hundred years after the Killing War (“For Amanda” by Randy McCharles); the plight of a girl with a little too much Vrellish about her to be a Demish lady (“Ladylike” by Krysia Anderson); a spiritual tale from the Okal Lumens tradition (“Return” by Sandra Fitzpatrick) and a chilling glimpse of ho...

Contributors to Opus 6 were tasked with portraying failure, but not necessarily in a bad way. After all, the inspiration for the topic was Amel's multiple failures in Avim's Oath, Part 6 of the Okal Rel Saga, and Amel comes out ahead in the end. One suggestion to sum up the theme was fail better.Paula Johanson took on the job of editor. Author Randy McCharles looked at planned failure in a story set during Erien's childhood on Rire. In Passion Past, Elizabeth Woods tackles a miscar...