| The Morgaine Stories | |
| Books: | Gate of Ivrel Well of Shiuan Fires of Azeroth Exile's Gate |
| Author: | C. J. Cherryh |
| Cover Artist: | Michael Whelan |
| Genre: | fantasy |
| Publisher: | DAW Books |
| Pub Date: | 1978–1988 |
The Morgaine Stories, also known as The Morgaine Cycle, are a series of fantasy novels[1] [2] by American writer C. J. Cherryh, published by DAW Books. They concern a time-traveling heroine, Morgaine, and her loyal companion Nhi Vanye i Chya.
The first book in the series, Gate of Ivrel (1976), was Cherryh's first published novel, and was followed soon thereafter by Well of Shiuan (1978) and Fires of Azeroth (1979).
The construct at the center of these novels is a set of "Gates" that connect various worlds. In addition to traveling from place to place, the Gates can also be used for time travel. Cherryh has cited the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Andre Norton as influences in the development of her gate system.[3] This blending of technology and elements more common to fantasy often results in the books being labeled as works of "science fantasy".
Cherryh was made a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America, an informal group of American fantasy authors active from the 1960s through the 1980s, for the Morgaine Stories.
In April 2013 it was announced that the screen rights to The Morgaine Stories have been optioned by producer Aaron Magnani, with adaptations by Peter Arneson. The screenplay for the first novel in the series, Gate of Ivrel has already been written by Arneson.[4]
In the 1980s, Jane Fancher began a graphic novel adaptation of Gate of Ivrel in close collaboration with Cherryh. Although it was never completed, Fancher self-published one segment of the work with a color cover and black and white interior art entitled C. J. Cherryh's Gate of Ivrel No. 1 (1985). Two parts of the adaptation were subsequently published as full color versions by The Donning Company under its Starblaze Graphics imprint: Gate of Ivrel: Claiming Rites (1986) and Gate of Ivrel: Fever Dreams (1987). In 1987, Tor Books published an interactive novel set in Morgaine's universe, The Witchfires of Leth.