New PDF: Travel Guide to Neverness

As promised in a post back in May, I've finished my so-called "Neverness FAQ." This is a 10-page guide to David Zindell's fictional universe from the Neverness stories published between 1985 and 1998. I hope it's useful as a spoiler-free way to introduce new readers to the awesome, but possibly bewildering, array of ideas that come pouring out of the pages when one picks up one of these books. The PDF is on Google Docs, which you can link to directly HERE or by clicking the cover image below:

The four main parts of the document are:

1. The Geography of Neverness (island and city)
2. The Calendar of Neverness
3. The Professions of the Order (not all 118 of them, alas, but all 30 or so that were described in the books)
4. Glossary of Miscellaneous Neologisms

This document may even contain enough inspirational detail to serve as a bare-bones setting guide for a GM running a science fiction RPG like Traveller or Stars Without Number. If anyone decides to give that a whirl, I'd be curious how it turns out.

I should also clarify, as it does in the document, that my FAQ is a not-for-profit, non-commercial fan work that mentions characters, names, and concepts from the original stories in ways that are believed to reside within the bounds of fair use. "Shanidar," Neverness, The Broken God, The Wild, and War in Heaven remain fully copyrighted by their author, David Zindell. No challenge or claim to the ownership of this or any other copyright or trademark is intended or implied.

2025 EDIT: the above links now go to version 2.0 of the FAQ!