GOD (AND ELFLAND) SAVE THE QUEEN

Peace reigns in Elfland. Incredibly, King Oberon and his exquisite but willful queen, Titania, are at peace with one another. But still the FarSeers of the Selieghe Court are uneasy. They fear trouble is coming to the mortal world of England, which is close to Elfhame Avalon. King Henry VIII is ageing but the futures shown when the FarSeers lift the great crystal lens are unchanged. The rule of the son Great Harry finally succeeded in begetting will bring gray lives and a misery of dull oppression to England. Worse will come if his eldest daughter comes to the throne--a queen warped by fanaticism who might easily summon the Inquisition to rule by torture and fire, burning out heresy ... and every bright aspect of life. The prize at the end of the rainbow is the possibility of a red-haired queen with lion-gold eyes, brilliant with interest and curiosity, welcoming the blossoming of art, music, and literature. But now the last image is flickering, edged in a dark menace.

Years before, Prince Vidal had tried to seize the child Elizabeth and replace her with a simulacrum who would soon die. Vidal had been wounded almost to death in the attempt—-but so also had Denoriel, Elizabeth's principal protector. Denoriel is now healing--but so, unbeknownst to those of the Bright Court, is Vidal. And when Vidal wakes to himself, his determination to hurl England into a new dark age is fiercer than ever, fueled by his fury over his defeat and injury. Also, his Dark Court feeds on human suffering and dark emotions. To ensure his own power, he must at all costs prevent Elizabeth from coming to the throne. To gain this goal, Vidal has set in motion a plan of which Denoriel and his comrades are dangerously unaware. . . .

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Mercedes Lackey is the author of the Bardic Voices series and the SERRAted Edge series (both Baen), the Heralds of Valdemar series (DAW), and many more. Of her writing, Stephen King has stated, "She'll keep you up long past your bedtime," and Locus raved, "Lackey is one of the best storytellers in the field." She has her own fan club with over 1,000 members, and was one of the first writers to have an online newsgroup devoted to her writing. Among her popular Baen titles are The Fire Rose, The Lark and the Wren, and The Shadow of the Lion (with Eric Flint and Dave Freer). She lives in Oklahoma.

Roberta Gellis is author of over 25 novels in different fields. New York Times best-selling author John Jakes has called her "a superb storyteller of extraordinary talent," Publishers Weekly has termed her "a master of the medieval historical," and Romantic Times has praised her as "a master spinner of tales." Her many awards include: The Silver and Gold Medal Porgy for historical novels from West Coast Review of Books and the Golden Certificate and Golden Pen from Affaire de Coeur. From Romantic Times she has received both the Award for Best Novel in the Medieval Period and also the Lifetime Achievement Award for Historical Fantasy. And the Romance Writers of America have presented her with their Lifetime Achievement Award. Her previous fantasy titles for Baen are Bull God and Thrice Bound.

W200503 March 2005 Monthly Baen Bundle

Ill Met by Moonlight

by Mercedes Lackey and Roberta Gellis

The Prometheus Project

by Steve White

Interstellar Patrol II: The Federation of Humanity

by Christopher Anvil
edited by Eric Flint

Lord of the Isles

by David Drake

The Course of Empire

by Eric Flint and K. D. Wentworth

Man-Kzin Wars X: The Wunder War

by Larry Niven and Hal Colebatch

E. Godz

by Robert Asprin and Esther Friesner

Elvish Conspiracies Afoot! Heroine, Arise!

Trouble, trouble, the plots do bubble! King Henry VIII has finally joined his unmerry wives in the afterlife, and the Unseleighe Sidhe, the Dark Elves, are bent on subverting the English throne and bringing back the sorrow, horror and despair of the Middle Ages. After all, that's what made the bad old days so much fun — for them!

Enlightenment's hope A mere fourteen-year-old girl. A bright and adaptable fourteen-year-old to be sure, but still—what chance has such a young thing against the Unseleighe Sidhe's tangled web of treachery and depravity

A pretty good one. You see, the girl's name is Elizabeth, and that fiery red hair is no lie. Whether immortal lord or malicious mortal, young Elizabeth Tudor's enemies cross her at their peril!

Two hugely-popular master storytellers of historical fantasy brew up an elvish conspiracy for the ages in this exciting sequel to This Sceptr'd Isle and Ill Met By Moonlight.

"[Mercedes] Lackey. . . produces elegant, compelling fantasy."
—Publishers Weekly on best-selling High Priestess of Fantasy, Mercedes Lackey.

"[K]nowledgeable readers. . .will enjoy the interplay between elven intervention and historical fact."
—Publishers Weekly on Mercedes Lackey and Roberta Gellis's This Sceptr'd Isle.

W200502 February 2005 Monthly Baen Bundle

Against the Tide

by John Ringo

Berserker Death

by Fred Saberhagen

Cosmic Tales: Adventures in Far Futures

by T. K. F. Weisskopf

This Scepter'd Isle

by Mercedes Lackey and Roberta Gellis

Forge of the Titans

by Steve White

Barbarian Hordes vs. Sheer, Cold Reason
Technology vs. Sorcery

The Empire of Sabis is falling, besieged and overwhelmed by the army and hostile wizards of a more powerful empire. Still, it is not too late for a small group of philosopher-scientists to reverse the tide if they can convince the rulers of Sabis to build the deadly new weapon that they have invented: the cannon. But when the rulers prove too short-sighted and Sabis falls, the scientists flee, disguising their knowledge under the cover of a religion and its arcane rituals.

Though centuries will pass and the Sabirn race will be oppressed and persecuted, the powerful knowledge will be passed on and preserved by the Secret Order. And the time will come when only one thing stands against destruction by a ruthless and invincible barbarian horde:

A Sweeping Fantasy Epic
Complete in One Hardcover
Volume for the First Time

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

C. J. Cherryh is a four-time Hugo Award-winner, and is author of many best-selling science fiction and fantasy series. Among the latest of her more than fifty novels are Hammerfall, Forge of Heaven (both from Eos) and Destroyer (DAW). She makes her home in Spokane, WA. Visit www.cherryh.com.

Mercedes Lackey, author of the bestselling Heralds of Valdemar and Bardic Voices series, began life as a child and has been attempting to rectify that error ever since. Other than writing she can be found at various times prying the talons of the birds of prey she is attempting to nurse back to health out of her hands, endangering her vision by creating various forms of Art Beadwork, and cross-stitching dragons, gryphons, and other semi-mythological fauna. She lives in Oklahoma. Visit www.mercedeslackey.com.

Nancy Asire has written several fantasy novels, including Twilight's Kingdoms, Tears of Time and To Fall Like Stars for Baen, and many short stories.

Leslie Fish has published many short stories, and also has written and recorded many fantasy and science fiction songs. The volume Carmen Miranda's Ghost is Haunting Space Station Three (Baen) is an anthology of stories based on one of her most popular songs.

THE WITCHES OF KARRES ARE BACK—
AND NOW THERE'S ALSO A WIZARD!

It just wasn't fair! Captain Pausert had foiled the deadliest of space pirates and eliminated the threat of the Worm World, yet his troubles kept piling up.

Sent on a secret mission to stop the nanite plague, a self-aware disease that could devastate whole worlds, he quickly found that someone had convinced the Imperial Fleet that he was actually a wanted criminal, which led to a battle leaving his ship in urgent need of repairs. And while Goth and the Leewit, two of the notorious witches of Karres, could do amazing things, ship repair was not in their line. So he stopped at the next planet for repairs, but found that somehow his bank account had been cut off, and the authorities were looking for someone matching his description.

There was only one thing to do—join the circus! An interstellar traveling circus, that is. All the galaxy loves a clown—as long as Pausert, Goth and the Leewit can keep their disguises from slipping. The show must go on—or the galaxy is doomed!

At last, here's the book which SF readers have been awaiting for nearly four decades—the sequel to The Witches of Karres, the masterwork of science fiction adventure by James H. Schmitz. Three top writers join forces to continue the bewitching adventures begun in one of science fiction's most beloved novels.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Mercedes Lackey, author of the bestselling Heralds of Valdemar and Bardic Voices series, began life as a child and has been attempting to rectify that error ever since. Named for actress Mercedes McCambridge, she has been trying with no success to get the Benz automobile authorities to recognize the natural link between her name and theirs, and offer her the use of an M100 or some variety of high-end sports car for gratis. This, too, has had a distinct lack of success. Other than writing she can be found at various times prying the talons of the birds of prey she is attempting to nurse back to health out of her hands, endangering her vision by creating various forms of Art Beadwork, and cross-stitching dragons, gryphons, and other semi-mythological fauna. At the moment, her hair is red, her favorite color is green, and she is covered by various members of her flock of pet parrots, cockatoos and macaws, all of which are trying to help her type8shgala1-akejbejks9ife.

Eric Flint is a popular new star of military and alternate history SF. His first novel for Baen, Mother of Demons, was chosen by Science Fiction Chronicle as a best novel of the year. His second novel, 1632, a major novel of alternate history adventure, was both a commercial and critical success. His collaborations include 1633, a sequel to 1632, with David Weber, and five novels in the Belisarius series with David Drake, the latest being The Tide of Victory. A longtime labor union activist with a degree in history, he currently resides in northwest Indiana with his wife Lucille.

Dave Freer, author of The Forlorn (Baen), coauthor with Eric Flint of Rats, Bats & Vats and Pyramid Scheme (both Baen), and writer of many articles in scientific journals, is an expert on sharks, an accomplished rock-climber, a wine-taster, and was an unwilling conscript in the "undeclared" South African-Angolan war. He lives in Southern Zululand, South Africa with his wife Barbara , two sons and a large number of Old English Sheepdogs.

W200408 August 2004 Monthly Baen Bundle

The Wizard of Karres

by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint and Dave Freer

Sunrise Alley

by Catherine Asaro

The Stars at War

by David Weber and Steve White

Hell's Faire

by John Ringo

Kaspar's Box

by Jack L. Chalker

DENORIEL:
WARRIOR OF KORONOS;
RIDER IN THE WILD HUNT
. . . NURSEMAID

Denoriel Siencyn Macreth Silverhair was a warrior in Koronos' band, a fierce rider in the Wild Hunt, but when he was summoned he came obediently to the valley of the FarSeers.

A glow of power lifted about the crystal lens. "Here is the nexus of our future," said the FarSeer in the dress of ancient Greece, and a mist seemed to pass over the surface of the lens. A moment later, the surface cleared, and within it, Denoriel saw the image of a human infant, red-haired and scowling, swaddled in fine, embroidered linen and lace . . . and glowing with power. The babe was being held by a figure that Denoriel recognized—the mortal king of England, Henry, eighth of that name.

The lens misted again, and scene after scene played out briefly before him—briefly, but enough to show him a future very bright for the mortals of England, a flowering of art, music, and letters, of great deeds, of exploration and bravery. Oh, there were problems——twice, if Denoriel read the signs aright Spain sent a great fleet against England, only to be repulsed at minimal cost. But the troubles were weathered, the difficulties overcome, and the result was nearly an age of gold.

"And this," said the lady of the ancient ways, "Is what will come to pass if that child does not reign."

Fires . . .

Black-robed priests, grim-faced and implacable, condemned scores, hundreds, to the Question, torturing their bodies until they would confess to anything, then burning what was left in front of silent onlookers. Others, whose intellects burned as brightly as the flames, did not need to be tortured; they confessed their sins of difference defiantly . . . and were also burned. In place of a flowering of art and science, came a blight. Darkness fell over the land, pressed there by the heavy, iron hand of Spain and the Inquisition.

"You are the key to all of this." The FarSeer's emerald eyes held his. "The red-haired child of Great Harry of England must live, and thrive, and grow up to rule. You must go to it in the mortal world, and become its protector."

"But I am a warrior, not a nursemaid—" he said, feebly.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Mercedes Lackey is the author of the Bardic Voices series and the SERRAted Edge series (both Baen), the Heralds of Valdemar series (DAW), and many more. Of her writing, Stephen King has stated, "She'll keep you up long past your bedtime," and Locus raved, "Lackey is one of the best storytellers in the field." She has her own fan club with over 1,000 members, and was one of the first writers to have an online newsgroup devoted to her writing. Among her popular Baen titles are The Fire Rose, The Lark and the Wren, and The Shadow of the Lion (with Eric Flint and Dave Freer). She lives in Oklahoma.

Roberta Gellis is author of over 25 novels in different fields. New York Times best-selling author John Jakes has called her "a superb storyteller of extraordinary talent," Publishers Weekly has termed her "a master of the medieval historical," and Romantic Times has praised her as "a master spinner of tales." Her many awards include: The Silver and Gold Medal Porgy for historical novels from West Coast Review of Books and the Golden Certificate and Golden Pen from Affaire de Coeur. From Romantic Times she has received both the Award for Best Novel in the Medieval Period and also the Lifetime Achievement Award for Historical Fantasy. And the Romance Writers of America have presented her with their Lifetime Achievement Award. Her previous fantasy titles for Baen are Bull God and Thrice Bound.

W200402 February 2004 Monthly Baen Bundle

This Scepter'd Isle

by Mercedes Lackey and Roberta Gellis

The Rackham Files

by Dean Ing

Four and Twenty Blackbirds - Lackey

by Mercedes Lackey

The Warmasters

by David Weber, Eric Flint and David Drake

Conrad's Time Machine

by Leo Frankowski

A MAGICAL MANIAC IS LOOSE IN ALANDA!

A magical murderer is loose in Alanda. The victims are always women, always lower-class, and the weapon is always a three-sided stiletto, most often found among Church regalia. But the killers are never churchmen, and they always commit suicide immediately after the bloody deed.

Tal Rufen is just a simple constable. But he really cares about his job, and when one of these murder/suicides happens on his beat he becomes obsessed. His superiors don't care—the victims will never be missed, and their murderers are already justly dead. But every instinct Tal Rufen has cries out that he has seen only one small piece of a bigger and much nastier puzzle....

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mercedes Lackey has a degree in biology from Purdue University. Like many writers, she has worked at a variety of jobs including short stints as a waitress, security guard, telephone surveyor and artist's model. A longer period of time was spent as a computer programmer for American Airlines. What she is most known for, however, and what has inspired a national fan club of over one thousand members, are her inventive fantasy novels. She lives outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma, with her husband and collaborator, artist Larry Dixon, and their ever growing menagerie. Larry and Misty are both members of SOAR (Support Our American Raptors), sponsors of the Sutton Avian Research Center in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and continue to work rehabilitating birds to live in the wild.

Also in this series:

Bardic Voices: The Lark & the Wren
Bardic Voices: The Robin & the Kestrel
Bardic Voices: The Eagle & the Nightingale
Bardic Choices: A Cast of Corbies
  (with Josepha Sherman)

The Demon Chernobog—
Foiled but Not Conquered
in The Shadow of the Lion—
is Back to Conquer Sixteenth-Century Venice!

Chernobog had come within a hair of seizing absolute power in Venice, but was thwarted by the guardian Lion-spirit, who awoke to protect his city from the power-mad demon. But the power of the Lion is limited to Venice, and Chernobog has a new ally in the King of Hungary, who has beseiged the island of Corfu to seize control of the Adriatic from Venice. Trapped on the island is the small band of heroes who awoke the Lion and thwarted Chernobog before. Far from the Lion's help, Manfred and Erik lead guerrillas against the foe, and Maria discovers ancient magical powers on the island. If she can make alliance with them, she may be able to repel the invaders—but not without paying a bitter personal price. . . .

Praise for the Prequel, The Shadow of the Lion:

"The prolific Lackey and cohorts Flint and Freer whip up a luscious bouillabaisse of politics, intrigue, love and black magic set in an "Other-worldly, New-Age Venice. . . ." The authors' use of contemporary American vernacular . . . instead of pompous period speech keeps the pages turning fast. . . ."
—Publishers Weekly

"[A] massive concoction of alternate history, high fantasy, and historical romance set in the sixteenth-century Venice of an alternate world . . . rich plotting, vivid characterization, and splendid evocation of Renaissance ethics and culture should make readers turn all the pages."
—Booklist

". . . a sweeping alternate history. .. .The authors deftly wield the juxtaposition of fantasy and history into a finely crafted story."
—Romantic Times

"[A] top pick . . . fast-paced action and complex, believable settings." —The Bookwatch

W200312 December 2003 Monthly Baen Bundle

This Rough Magic

by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint and Dave Freer

A State of Disobedience

by Tom Kratman

The Ship Who Saved the Worlds

by Anne McCaffrey and Jody Lynn Nye

Paying the Piper

by David Drake

Blood and Judgement

by Lars Walker

Two Top-Selling Sequels
to Anne McCaffrey's
The Ship Who Sang
in One Volume

Two novels in one large volume, both set in the same universe as The Ship Who Sang: The Ship Who Searched: Tia, a bright and spunky seven-year old contracted an unknown neural disorder which made her lose control of her body. So she became a shell person—controlling a spaceship as if it were her body and searching for the origin of the disease that laid her low, so that no other little girl will ever suffer the fate of The Ship Who Searched. PartnerShip: Nancia is a brand new member of the elite Courier Service of the Central Worlds. She's the "brains" of an advanced interstellar ship. The last thing she needed was a cynical "brawn" partner like Forister. But idealistic Nancia and worldly-wise Forister together just might save the galaxy. Neither of them would be satisfied to go through life in a glorified wheelchair; like Helva, The Ship Who Sang, they decided to strap on a spaceship!

"Quite entertaining . . . captures the spirit of The Ship Who Sang . . . a single, solid plot. . . ." —Locus

"Splendidly paced and filled with lively characters . . . [PartnerShip is] excellent entertainment." —Rave Reviews

"A perfect combination of SF, adventure, and romance, this is sure to please a wide variety of readers." —Kliatt

"[The Ship Who Searched is] superb . . . Lackey and McCaffrey have created a marvelous love story in an exciting science fictional setting and then topped it all off with an ingeniously spiffy resolution." —Rave Reviews

W200309 September 2003 Monthly Baen Bundle

Crown of Slaves

by David Weber and Eric Flint

The Course of Empire

by Eric Flint and K. D. Wentworth

The Fall of Atlantis

by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Quest for the Well of Souls

by Jack L. Chalker

The Shadow of the Lion

by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint and Dave Freer

The Tyrant

by Eric Flint and David Drake

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary
—and Quite Deadly . . .

Eric Banyon, better known as Bedlam's Bard, is finally about to graduate from Julliard and enter the Real World and so, with the help of a psychiatrist who specializes in the problems of magicians, he's finally coming to terms with his past. But a spur-of-the-moment trip home to Boston to visit his parents brings him more trouble than even Eric thought possible.

Meanwhile, his Bardic apprentice Hosea has discovered that the young homeless children in New York's shelters have created a bizarre mythology about a demon called Bloody Mary who preys on young children—and somehow Bloody Mary has taken on an independent life and now stalks the streets of the city.

And for some reason, she's after Eric as well. . . .

Praise for the Bedlam's Bard Series:

"[Spirits White as Lightning is] fast, furious, and completely absorbing . . . make no mistake, this is a good series." —Booklist

"Lively and original, rich in clever ideas . . . Lackey is one of the best storytellers in the field, and this is among her best." —Locus

"This is a fast-paced, suspenseful, action-packed page turner." —VOYA

"[Lackey] shows a sure touch with the wonder and adventure that characterize the best fantasy writers." —Romantic Times

W200308 August 2003 Monthly Baen Bundle

Mad Maudlin

by Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill

Man-Kzin Wars X: The Wunder War

by Larry Niven and Hal Colebatch

Miles, Mystery and Mayhem

by Lois McMaster Bujold

Miles Errant

by Lois McMaster Bujold

The Shiva Option

by David Weber and Steve White

Warlock

by Andre Norton

W200305 May 2003 Monthly Baen Bundle

Hell's Faire

by John Ringo

E. Godz

by Robert Asprin and Esther Friesner

Future Imperfect

by Keith Laumer
edited by Eric Flint

The Creatures of Man

by Howard L. Myers
edited by Eric Flint

Spirits White as Lightning

by Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill

Marching Through Peachtree

by Harry Turtledove

ADVENTURES IN AN OTHER-WORLDLY
NEW-AGE VENICE

it is the year 1537. The great winged Lion stares over a Venice where magic thrives. The rich Venetian Republic is a bastion of independence and tolerance. Perhaps for that reason, it is also corrupt, and rotten with intrigue.

But for the young brothers Marco and Benito Valdosta, vagabond and thief, Venice is simply-home. They have no idea that they stand at the center of the city's coming struggle for its very life. They know nothing of the powerful forces moving in the background. They have barely heard of Chernobog, demonlord of the North, who is shifting his pawns to attack Venice in order to cut into the underbelly of the Holy Roman Empire. All Marco and Benito know is that they're hungry and in dangerous company: Katerina the smuggler, Caesare the sell-sword, Montagnard assassins, church inquisitors, militant Knights of the Holy Trinity, Dottore Marina the Strega mage . . . and Maria. Maria might be an honest canaler, but she had the hottest temper a boy could find.

Yet among the dark waters of the canals lurk far worse dangers than a hot-tempered girl. Chernobog has set a monster loose to wreak havoc on the city. Magic, murder and evil are all at work to pull Venice down. Fanatical monks seek to root out true witchcraft with fire and sword. Steel-clad Teutonic knights, wealth traders, church dignitaries and great Princes fight and plot for control of the jewel of the Mediterranean.
And somehow all of these, from thieves to mages to princes, must gather around Marco and his brother Benito, under the shadow of the great winged lion of Venice.

W200203 March 2002 Monthly Baen Bundle

The Shadow of the Lion

by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint and Dave Freer

Forward the Mage

by Eric Flint and Richard Roach

Odyssey

by Keith Laumer
edited by Eric Flint

Code of the Lifemaker

by James P. Hogan

The Philosophical Strangler

by Eric Flint

W200112 December 2001 Monthly Baen Bundle

Spirits White as Lightning

by Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill

Beyond World's End

by Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill

Mirror Dance

by Lois McMaster Bujold

Komarr

by Lois McMaster Bujold

The Independent Command

by James Doohan and S. M. Stirling

The Rising

by James Doohan and S. M. Stirling