The Bridge of Lost Desire

The Bridge of Lost Desire (Return to Neveryon, Vol 4) (aka Return to Neveryon) Of myth and literacy about a long-ago land on the brink of civilization. In Neveryon, slavery is nonexistent, and three long tales explore the life of the legendary man, Gorgik the Liberator, responsible for freeing the empire's slaves. Seen through his own eyes--"The Game of Time and Pain", Gorgik is a man still caught in his past. To others, however, he is a shadow on the horizon of their lives--"The Tale of Rumor and Desire", or else a collection of facts--"The Tale of Gorgik" (novella 1979, a reprint from Vol 1)

Return to Neveryon is a series of eleven “sword and sorcery” stories--a science fiction/fantasy series depicting an empire beyond the borders of history where human destinies entwine in a strange design. It is an intricate web of adventure, intrigue and desire and a literary puzzle where meaning, parable and paradox collide. The eleven tales that make up Return to Neveryon are set before the dawn of history, in a location that might be Africa or Asia. Many of the stories have different protagonists and, indeed, different sets of foreground characters. But all take a greater or lesser part in recounting an overall story running through the whole series, the history of a man called Gorgik the Liberator. Taken slave in childhood, Gorgik gains his freedom, leads a slave revolt, and becomes a minister of state, finally abolishing slavery. Ironically, however, he is sexually aroused by the iron slave collars of servitude. Does this contaminate his mission -- or intensify it? Originally published in four volumes during the years 1979-1987, those volumes are: Vol 1) Tales of Neveryon; 2) Neveryona, or: The Tale of Signs and Cities; Vol 3) Flight from Neveryon; Vol 4) Return to Neveryon (aka The Bridge of Lost Desire).