Caine Riordan and twelve of his crew are adrift in uncharted space, so far beyond Earth that the starfield is unrecognizable. Trapped on a derelict alien ship, they have only forty-eight hours before its decaying orbit causes it to burn up in the atmosphere of the strange planet beneath them, a silent and forbidding world of bleak deserts and turbulent seas, without any sign of life and dominated by violent storms. Those who somehow make it down to the surface will discover that the dangers they couldn’t see from space are by far the deadliest. A variety of bizarre, carnivorous species roam the barren wastes, desperate for food. Even more ominous, the world’s blasted cities have tell-tale signs which indicate its original masters were none other than humanity's most dangerous foe: the Ktor.

And worst of all, they may still be here.

The Dervan Empire has at last triumphed over Volanus, putting the great city to the torch, its treasures looted, temples defiled, and fields sown with salt. What little remains of Volanus is scattered across the empire, its treasures plundered and its survivors sold into slavery. It is an absolute victory for the Dervans in every way but one: Hanuvar, last and greatest general of Volanus, still lives. He now travels the length of the Dervan Empire, driven by a singular purpose—to find what remains of his people that were carried into slavery across the empire, and free them from subjugation by any means necessary.

“Howard Andrew Jones is the leading Sword & Sorcery author of the 21st Century . . . His Lord of A Shattered Land is his best work yet . . . It's a magnificent achievement, destined to become a modern classic.” —John O’Neill

“Where is everybody?” Nobel Prize-winning physicist Enrico Fermi once asked after a discussion about the possibility of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. To sum up the Fermi Paradox, if the billions of stars in our galaxy have planets with intelligent life on them, why hasn’t anyone visited us? But maybe they have, and we just haven’t noticed—and that’s the way they want it . . .

The secret visitors are revealed by such luminaries as Larry Niven, Poul Anderson, Spider Robinson, Neil Gaiman, and more.

About Time Troopers, edited by Hank Davis:

“The editors’ mastery of the military SF and time travel subgenres is evident in their thoughtful selections. Fans of literate speculative fiction will hope for more from these experts.” —Publishers Weekly

Janet’s parents always thought their daughter would grow up to become someone extraordinary, perhaps one of the “night-battlers,” a secret cabal that protects humankind from the dark forces of witches and sorcery. But when Janet takes up with a witch, her father tells her it is time to put away these foolish fancies—but it may already be too late.

The term “Artificial Intelligence” may have been coined by mathematician and computer scientist John McCarthy, and science fiction writers may have been exploring the concept since the earliest beginnings of the genre. But the concept of AI goes back nearly three millennia. In this month’s nonfiction essay, Jim Beall traces the history of Artificial Intelligence from it’s roots in the ancient world—on into the future.

Coming soon to the Baen Free Radio Hour:
We discuss Baen’s first ever graphic novel publication, John Ringo’s Black Tide Rising: The Graphic Novel; editors and contributors talk The Ross 248 Project; and Simon R. Green on Very Important Corpses.

Missed past episodes? No problem. We’ve got every episode archived for your listening pleasure. All previous episodes are also archived at Baen’s YouTube and Rumble channels. And check out the new optional video podcast format!

Listen to the Baen Free Radio Hour.