Welcome to My Imagination!!
I'm an author of epic and heroic fantasy, paranormal adventures, historical fiction, and mysteries. I'm best known for my Legionnaire series (military heroic fantasy published online and in print) and my Miss Pandora Parson mysteries originally published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. Take a look around and feel free to visit again. If you have any questions you can contact me through the Guestbook or at gilbertmstack@gmail.com. You can also find me at Goodreads.
Recent Releases
The Unity 4 Empyreal
Jewel’s new husband wants her to be a properly low-key and obedient
Armenite wife. Her brother-in-law wants to humiliate her and steal her fortune
to further his own ambitions. Her old crewmates want her to rescue them from
their sentence of servitude. And worst of all, the microscopic menites swarming
inside of Jewel want to transform her into something her husband’s enemies
believe is an abomination against The Unity while his allies hope they are
fashioning her into its salvation. With no one to truly depend upon but
herself, the Cartelite princess must withstand these competing demands, and—In
order to avoid galactic war—learn what it truly means to be an Armenite
empyreal.
You can find this book on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited.
The Unity Book 3 Bride
Jewel's
arranged marriage, designed to bring peace and prosperity to the Hegemony of
Armen and the Cartelite Worlds, is instead stoking the furnaces of
inter-galactic warfare. From the moment of her marriage, the enemies of her
Armenite husband—a stern and rigid man she barely knows—seek to use her to
prove that the Cartel Worlds are unworthy of an alliance which monopolizes the
fuel that makes faster-than-light travel possible. Complicating Jewel’s efforts
to protect herself and her people are disturbing changes in her very cell
structure—changes she doesn’t want or understand but that place her squarely in
the targeting reticle of the Armenite opposition. Jewel finds herself having to
use her wits and her lifelong training in negotiation and intrigue to preserve
a marriage she never wanted to be part of in order to prevent a civilization
ending war.
You can find this book on Amazon and free on Kindle Unlimited.
The Unity Book 2 Prisoner
Jewel’s days as a fugitive are over. She wakes from cold sleep, captive on an Armenite warship with her past rapidly catching up to her. Her parents are arriving soon to force her to marry Kole Delling, the Armenite man she fled into the Fringe to escape. And if that fate isn’t bad enough, some of the Armenites want to execute her and her surviving crew members for their legitimate salvage operations in the Valkyrie system. The walls are closing in, but Jewel isn’t ready to give up. It’s time for the galaxy to learn just how difficult it is to keep a Cartelite Princess prisoner.
You can find this book on Amazon and free on Kindle Unlimited.
The Unity Book I Fugitive
Deep in the Fringe on a tramp freighter, Jewel Aurora is about to discover that there are much worse things than being forced into a marriage to secure her parents’ fortune. On the edges of human space, where no one can be trusted with your back, the young woman is about to stumble upon a fortune that star nations will go to war to possess. It’s a treasure that has already killed two sets of colonists who tried to claim it. And if anyone learns she and her crewmates have found it, it is absolutely certain to attract the attention of the two influential families she turned fugitive to escape—assuming, of course, that she and her shipmates are not the third set of victims to die on a cold little world far from the core of galactic civilization.
You can find this book on Amazon and free on Kindle Unlimited.
The Miss Pandora Parson Series
I'm happy to announce that I have been able to make three more stories in my Miss Pandora Series available for my fans. This series of crime stories set in the Old West was originally published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. They focus on a lady gambler named Pandora Parson, a bare knuckle boxer, Corey "Rock Quarry" Callaghan, and his trainer, Patrick Sullivan. As you might imagine, they get into a lot of trouble while basically trying to mind their own business and make a living in a rough and tumble world.
The series is available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. Links are below:
Legionnaire 12 Fire Storm
Marcus and his legion have knocked Morgantia and Granate out of the war, but that didn’t stop Diamonte from laying siege to his adopted home of Amatista. The invading army is simply too large to confront directly, so Marcus has determined to invade Diamonte itself to force his enemies to break their siege and come defend their own homes. There’s only one problem with the plan. Diamonte has an army of reinforcements heading through Angosto Pass toward Amatista and a second army trailing after the legion trying to catch it from behind. Can Marcus blaze his way through the opposition or will he and his brave men be trapped in a fire storm of their own making?
Among Us 2 Searching Among Us
Horrors out of legend
have come to Philadelphia and set their sights on Mina Raintree as the mortal
woman most likely to lead them to what they want. There’s just one problem,
even if she wanted to, Mina couldn’t help them. Her memory has been damaged by
a powerful immortal—quite possibly the same mysterious woman the legends have
come seeking. With her own protector temporarily out of town, Mina’s only hope
to maintain her freedom is found in her new friend, Kameko Kasaka. But Kameko
has dangerous enemies of her own. How long can she and Mina evade those
Searching Among Us?
You can find Searching Among Us on Amazon and free on Kindle Unlimited.
Preternatural 3 Oktoberfeast
Hadrian’s Well hasn’t had an easy time of it
lately. Half of the town’s deputies are either dead or incapacitated from a
nosferatu attack and the rock troll rampaging through the jurisdiction didn’t improve
the situation. Now, Undersheriff Joanna Donovan learns she has to police the
annual Oktoberfest celebration with town volunteers rather than hiring trained
law enforcement professionals. Yet happy beer-guzzling tourists aren’t the only
visitors coming to Hadrian’s Well this season. Will Joanna and her small force
be able to protect the town, or will Hadrian’s Well be overrun when the happy
October festival turns into an unholy Oktoberfeast?
You can find Oktoberfeast on Amazon and for free on Kindle Unlimited.
A Legionnaire Prequel...
Green Vigil Book 1 The Jungles of Ekángá
Long before
Prefect Marcus Venandus directed the defense of the Jeweled Hills, Green Vigil
Marcus led his first command into the treacherous jungles of Ekángá. As if the
jungle itself wasn’t deadly enough, native warriors and shamans strike from its
shadows with magic, spear and dart, while the forcibly transplanted Graeci
population seethes with unrest in the supposedly civilized regions of the
province. Deep in the jungle, young Marcus is about to discover how little
lycee combat exercises have to do with surviving the Jungles of Ekángá.
The Jungles of Ekángá is available at Amazon, Amazon UK, and for free on Kindle Unlimited.
Winterhaven 3 The Blood of Torons
Duke Maldon may have suffered the shame of seeing his family's heresy
exposed, but that doesn’t mean that the duke and his kin are out of the fight.
Launching their most insidious scheme yet, they succeed in transforming a
victory celebration uniting the duchy’s leading families into a bloody
battlefield that ignites a civil war. And with the great families of
Winterhaven doing their best to kill each other, no one seems to notice the far
greater dangers arising on the border, threatening to overrun them all. No one,
that is, but the weakest members of the tragically divided Toron family.
Dhrugal and his brothers saved the duchy once, but can they do so again with
the streets of the city running with The Blood of Torons?
You can find Winterhaven at Amazon, AmazonUK, and for free on Kindle Unlimited.
The Map of Winterhaven
Here is the amazing map of Winterhaven painted by Chris L. Adams. Chris split the final version into two maps so that the detail will be easier to make out on e-readers and phones. It is, I am sure you will agree, extraordinary! You can see more of Chris' art work and poetry and links to his fiction here.
Written Gems
I’m
excited to announce the creation of a new discussion group on Goodreads
dedicated to the wonderful but
often underappreciated works that form the roots of Fantasy and Science Fiction
today. This will include such greats as: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lord Dunsany,
Robert E. Howard, H.G. Wells, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, H.P. Lovecraft, and
more—plus the occasional author you may have never read (but will be very glad
you did).
These authors not only influenced the development of their genres but are still frankly fun to read today. We want to explore these works together and seek out more—and we’re inviting you to join us in our endeavor.
Joining me in this noble cause are authors William L. Hahn and Chris L. Adams. Will is an expert in epic fantasy and Chris is an authority on the pulp classics of the first half of the twentieth century. Together we’ll explore a new work each month, seeking to understand not only what made the novel fun in the past, but why it has endured, and what it has to offer for audiences today.
If you’re interested, why don’t you take a look at Written Gems on Goodreads where you’ll find more information about our group?
We have the following discussion threads:
A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Khaled: A Tale of Arabia by Francis Marion Crawford
Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny
Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein
The Stars, My Brothers by Edmond Hamilton
The Island of Dr. Moreau by H. G. Wells
We also keep a thread running on Great First Lines
Some Noteworthy Reviews
Legionnaire 1 The Fire Islands
My only complaint is that the novel is too short!
The historical detail is incredibly well-done. The details of Roman combat techniques, weaponry, and social organisation all match what I have internalised over the years. (I am not a historian, so it's possible that I've missed some things, but it all rang true to my ears).
I also really like the vaguely Polynesian language. Another of my obsessions is, particularly, Maori culture. The language the indigenous Fire Islanders used is clearly from the same branch as Hawaiian, Te Reo Maori, etc. This level of detail was something I really appreciated and gravitated towards.
The writing is excellent. It's clean and descriptive. The plot moves along quickly, and enough background details are filled in that I had a clear sense of the political situation in Aquila as it applies to those stationed on the Fire Islands. The main character is human - his flaws are pointed out with a bit of a sledgehammer, but it was only one hit!
I would have liked to have more details about the history of the Fire Islands and their peoples. I would also have liked to learn more about how our hero established himself - why his choices were so drastically different than those of the other Tribunes. I am wildly curious about how his relationship with Nani came to be, and my sense is that his relationship with the cook is far more complex and interesting than this book revealed.
I will definitely continue to follow this series - it's a wonderful balance of historical fiction, fantasy, with dual cultures that are equally complex, and I loved that supernatural elements were present, but not overly dominant in the story. I have no idea what to call this genre, but I love it and I want to read more of it!
Reviewed by Buttercup77, Amazon
Two More Reviews
My story, Hearts of Ice, and my Pandora Series, each picked up favorable mentions recently.
Aside from wishing that the novella was longer, Barb at Night Owl Reviews said: "... the ending was a surprise and I was not expecting that... All in all, the story was good."
My Pandora Series at Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine was mentioned in the comments to a Bill Crider blog on western crime fiction at Criminal Element. Richard Prosch said: "Another terrific bunch of Old West mystery stories is Gilbert M. Stack's Pandora series. The new one (Number 10, I think) is in the latest Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine this month."