Silence, Maine was once a town left behind by progress, full of dread and misery because the Blackthorns—the first family of Silence who also happen to be dark elves who fed off the town’s misery—liked it that way. But all that’s changed thanks to teenage Staci and her friends. The Blackthorns have been all but defeated, industry is returning to the town, and Staci's mom, once a hopeless alcoholic, is improving with each passing day.

But evil dies hard. And Staci, now a mage-in-training, senses that the Blackthorns have not yet given up the fight. The soul of Silence is on the line, and it is up to Staci and her friends to push back against the encroaching darkness.

Get Breaking Silence eARC here.

The Apkallu are masters of magic. They rule the world from the shadows, using mind control and deadly monsters to eliminate any threat to their power. Sam Arquero lost his family to a demon sent by an Apkallu. He knew that nobody would believe the truth, but now an old man offers Sam the chance to find out who is responsible, and bring down the Apkallu forever.

Under a new identity Sam must learn the secrets of magic, infiltrate the Apkallu, and walk a razor's edge of daring as he attempts to destroy the Apkallu leaders, and avoid the supernatural detectives on his trail. But Sam’s greatest challenge perhaps lies within—to avoid becoming like the hated Apkallu himself!

Get The Initiate eARC here.

It’s the final showdown between heroes and darkness in the Old West. Humans versus monsters. Supernatural beings versus greater evils—with a dinosaur or two thrown in for fun. Come explore the untold myths of the west—but no dying on the trail! A passel of great tales of western weirdness by Joe R. Lansdale, Mercedes Lackey, Jonathan Maberry, James A. Moore, Harry Turtledove, Tex Thompson, and more!

Get Straight Outta Dodge city eARC here.

Scout Lina yo’Bingim just spent the last nine days babysitting Council-appointed Administrative Arbiter of Scouts Chola as'Barta to Surebleak. As if that wasn’t bad enough, doing so meant missing Festival, on Liad. Now she finds herself with twenty-four Standard hours of free time to spend any way she chooses—so long as she doesn’t stray from the places where “proper Scouts” congregated. Well, the Galaxy Ballroom fit the bill, and had the best bowli ball lanes to boot. But as Lina will soon discover there is more going on beneath the surface of the Galaxy . . .

Read “A Visit to the Galaxy Ballroom,” a new story in the Liaden Universe® by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller here.

Colonizing different planets has long been a dream. But finding new habitable worlds, ready for the settling, has proved far more difficult than once was thought. And terraforming, as it is commonly discussed, comes with its own set of roadblocks. But there’s another solution, if humankind wants to move off our terrestrial home: shellworlds. In this month’s nonfiction essay, engineer Ken Roy explains how this unique approach might help us move out into the stars sooner than we imagined.

Read “Man Caves: Humanity’s Next Home” by Ken Roy here.

Coming soon to the Baen Free Radio Hour: Alex Pournelle and John F. Carr in a wide-ranging discussion of the late Dr. Jerry Pournelle and new collection The Best of Jerry Pournelle. Plus, Eric Flint and Walter H. Hunt on alternative history fantasy Council of Fire. Missed past episodes? No problem. We’ve got every episode archived for your listening pleasure.

Listen to the Baen Free Radio Hour now.

Don’t forget to check out the Baen new book releases here. Enter the November Contest here. And for upcoming appearances by Baen authors and editors, check here.