The True Game
fantasy novel series by Sheri S. Tepper
The True Game is the collective name for a series of three related trilogies of short novels by Sheri S. Tepper. The novels explore the Lands of the True Game, a portion of a planet explored by humanity somewhere in the future. These novels straddle the genres of both fantasy and science-fiction, although this does not become apparent until quite late in the overall story.
Each of the trilogies focuses on the point of view of one particular character. The Peter trilogy tells the story from the point of view of Peter, a shape-shifting youth. The Mavin series tells an earlier portion of the story from the point of view of Mavin Manyshaped, Peter's shape-shifting mother. The Jinian series overlaps with and extends the Peter series and tells the story from the point of view of Jinian, a young wizardly woman.
Books in series
Peter series
King's Blood Four (Ace Books, 1983) (first novel)
Necromancer Nine (Ace Books, 1983)
Wizard's Eleven (Ace Books, 1984)
The stories were subsequently collected into a one-volume edition titled The True Game (1985).
Mavin Manyshaped series
The Song of Mavin Manyshaped (Ace Books, 1985)
The Flight of Mavin Manyshaped (Ace Books, 1985)
The Search of Mavin Manyshaped (Ace Books, 1985)
The stories were subsequently collected into a one-volume edition titled The Chronicles of Mavin Manyshaped (1985).
Jinian series
Jinian Footseer (Tor Books, 1985)
Dervish Daughter (Tor Books, 1986)
Jinian Star-Eye (Tor Books, 1986)
The stories were subsequently collected into a one-volume edition titled The End of the Game (Nelson Doubleday, 1986).
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “The True Game” is fantasy novel series by Sheri S. Tepper. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through True, Game and fantasy, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “fantasy novel series by Sheri S. Tepper” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 16, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q7770520. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1986.
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This entry incorporates text from “The True Game” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.