Mary Vigliante Szydlowski

Writing THE LAND

The Land

Published by Manor Books in 1979 under the pseudonym Mary Vigliante



  After a terrible holocaust 300 years before, only the Land survives. Tayla, crown princess of the realm, senses a secret bond between the sisters and the beasts of burden who serve them. Unlike cows, horses, and swine, these two-legged beasts are treated with extreme cruelty and contempt. They are either worked to death or ritually slaughtered. It is not until Tayla finds the ancient texts that she realizes who and what the beasts are. The ancient ones called them men!



Transcript of comments from "Spaceship PRK" radio show, WPRK-FM, Orlando, FL January 9, 1980.
Hosts: Gary Roen and Pat Flannigan

Pat: "What else have you been reading this week?"

Gary: "I read one called The Land from Manor Corporation which every once in a while comes up with something really good. This is one of them.....I thoroughly enjoyed it. It takes the premise that our world has been destroyed and women are in control....There are no men....It's really very good, very fast reading!"


SELECTED WORKS

CHILDREN'S BOOKS
THE DUCK IN THE HOLE
When six year-old Keesha discovers a duck trapped in a hole, she uses her grit, resourcefulness, and determination to find just the right way to free it.
I CAN'T TALK, I'VE GOT FARBLES IN MY MOUTH!
A family of Farbles takes up residence in James Beechum's mouth after workmen repairing paths in a nearby park destroy their home. They intend to stay with James until their problem is resolved.
HORROR
WORSHIP THE NIGHT
Enslaved by Demonic Passion! The remote forests of the Adirondack Mts. are the setting for this tale of murder, madness, and horror.
FICTION
SILENT SONG
Philomena Rienzi cannot speak. Raised by immigrant parents who believe her to be retarded, she grows up in a world that extends no further than her backyard. After her father's desertion and her mother's suicide, Philomena becomes a ward of the state and is placed in an institution. Kept sedated and in restraints, Philomena is stripped of her dignity and humanity. She is rescued by two unlikely heroes, an elderly lady named Signora Mancuso and a lonely middle-aged bachelor named Tony, her former neighbors. Can they help her win her freedom and a chance at happiness?
SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY
SOURCE OF EVIL
Adrianne Del-2, captain of the spacecraft Logo, has been ordered on a mission, an aggressive invasion of other worlds. But something goes wrong. An inexplicable series of malfunctions cripples her ship. They have no idea why until a mysterious voice explains why they must be punished and the means of their atonement.
THE LAND
Her sisters were shocked when their princess loved a beast!
THE COLONY
The nuclear war was over in an afternoon. Both sides lost. Sunny managed to stay alive, but now she must face the brutal society created by the survivors.
THE ARK
They discovered the location of the cocoons. The bodies were frozen intact. Sebrum eyed them and an idea passed his brain. Meat was meat, anything was better than starvation. They allowed the corpse to thaw and then began to devour it.