Diadem from the Stars

Far out among the stars the masterminds of the spider people had placed their mightiest mysteries in the scientific device called the diadem. And when that coronet was stolen, they were prepared to pursue it throughout eternity.

The thief crashed among the nomads of Jaydugar, a semi-barba......more

Far out among the stars the masterminds of the spider people had placed their mightiest mysteries in the scientific device called the diadem. And when that coronet was stolen, they were prepared to pursue it throughout eternity.

The thief crashed among the nomads of Jaydugar, a semi-barbarian world... and the diadem found its way into the hands - and onto the skull - of the girl Aleytys.

She was herself a strange one - daughter of a sky wanderer, outcast among the people who had raised her out of fear and awe. And the diadem was to prove both her bane and her treasure. For she could not remove it once it had sunk its electronic web into her brain and her nervous system - and she did not know how to control the powers that were contained within it.

Yet every moment she wore it, she would be a target for the vengeance of the spider race and the avarice of a thousand worlds.(less)

Jo Clayton, whose parents named her after Jo in

, was born and raised in Modesto, California. She and her three sisters shared a room and took turns telling each other bedtime stories. One of her sisters noted that Jo's stories were the best, and often contained science fiction and fanta......more

Jo Clayton, whose parents named her after Jo in

, was born and raised in Modesto, California. She and her three sisters shared a room and took turns telling each other bedtime stories. One of her sisters noted that Jo's stories were the best, and often contained science fiction and fantasy elements.

Clayton graduated from the University of California in 1963, Summa Cum Laude, and started teaching near Los Angeles.

In 1969, after a religious experience, she moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, joining the teaching order Sisters of Mount Carmel as a novice. She left three years later, before taking final orders.

During her time in New Orleans, Clayton sold sketches and paintings in Pioneer Square to supplement her income.

After being rob

Jo Clayton, whose parents named her after Jo in

, was born and raised in Modesto, California. She and her three sisters shared a room and took turns telling each other bedtime stories. One of her sisters noted that Jo's stories were the best, and often contained science fiction and fantasy elements.

Clayton graduated from the University of California in 1963, Summa Cum Laude, and started teaching near Los Angeles.

In 1969, after a religious experience, she moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, joining the teaching order Sisters of Mount Carmel as a novice. She left three years later, before taking final orders.

During her time in New Orleans, Clayton sold sketches and paintings in Pioneer Square to supplement her income.

After being robbed several times, Clayton moved to Portland, Oregon in 1983. She remained there for the rest of her life.

Clayton was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 1996. Jo continued to write during her year and a half in the hospital. She finished

, the second book of the Drums of Chaos series, and was halfway through the third and final book when she lost her struggle with multiple myeloma in February, 1998.

Literary executor Katherine Kerr made arrangements with established author Kevin Andrew Murphy to finish the third book of the

series. It is now completed. (less)