In Chaos, a new power arises, an evil more ancient and more awesome than Fialchar himself, the one who broke the Seal of Reality and let the Wildness spill over the world.

Locke became a Chaos Rider to find his lost father, and now Locke must become the very hero that he himself has been seeking. The only hope of defeating this new Darkness is with an unlikely alliance of Empire and Chaos forces, led by an untried swordsman from beyond time.

Praise for An Enemy Reborn

“Stackpole spins tales which grab you by the heart, throat, and imagination.”
—Dennis L. McKiernan, author of The Dragonstone

An apprentice swordsman, Locke has ridden the narrow trail to the City of the Sorcerers to see with his own eyes the Ward Walls that hold back the Realms of Chaos. It is Locke’s dream to become a Chaos Rider, and he seeks his destiny beyond the Wall. And it is Locke’s hope that somewhere in the Wildness, where time and change rage out of control, his lost father still survives.

But more than mere survival is at stake. For on the other side of the Wall awaits a Darkness beyond all ken—a burgeoning evil that will test the steel of one young hero … and the entire bold and foolish race called Humanity.

Five short novels by five masters of military science fiction.

It's a war out there.

In these pulse-pounding tales, the best (or worst) soldiers in the galaxy are pitted against powerful aliens on distant battlefields. Never before published stories about monsters, deadly combat tech, treachery, and honor:

Big Plush by Aaron Allston—The Dollgangers, artificial people made in mankind's image, take up arms in a desperate bid to win their freedom.

Comrades in Arms by Kevin J. Anderson—A damaged cyborg soldier and an enemy alien fighter turn their backs on the war and try to escape. But the human and alien governments can't tolerate the two deserters working together, so they join forces to hunt them down.

Shores of the Infinite by Loren L. Coleman—Separated from command & control, Combat Assault Suit troopers force a beachhead to liberate a new planet from the cyborg threat.

The Black Ship by B.V. Larson—A human settlement on the deadliest planet ever colonized clings to life... but today new invaders are coming down from the stars.

Out There by Michael A. Stackpole—The Qian have discovered humanity and welcomed them into their star-spanning empire. The benefits they offer humanity are many, and they don't want much in return: just the best human pilots available to take apart a most diabolical enemy.

NS201112 December 2011 Night Shade Books

The Miscellaneous Writings of Clark Ashton Smith

by Clark Ashton Smith

Of Limited Loyalty

by Michael Stackpole

1767: In the three years since defeating the Tharyngians at Anvil Lake, the Crown Colonies of Mystria have prospered. Colonists, whether hunting for new land or the Promised Land of prophecy, have pushed beyond the bounds of charters granted by the Queen of Norisle. Some of these new communities have even had the temerity to tell the Crown they are no longer subject to its authorities. To survey the full extent of the western expansion, the Crown has sent Colonel Ian Rathfield on an expedition, accompanied by Nathaniel Woods, Owen Strake, and Kamiskwa, into the Mystrian interior.

They discover a land full of isolated and unique communities, each shaped in accord with the ideals of the founders. Conflicts abound among them, and old enemies show up at the least useful moments. Worse yet, lurking out there is a menace which the Twilight People only know from folklore as the Noragah; and westward penetration stumbles into their lands and awakens them.

Alerted to this threat by his men, Prince Vlad petitions the Crown to send troops and supplies to destroy this new and terrifying enemy. The Crown refuses, citing massive debts from the last war. They dismiss Vlad's claims as fantasy, and impose a series of taxes on Mystrian trade to finance their own recovery.

Faced with fighting an inhuman foe in a land seething with resentment against the Crown, Vlad must unite the Colonies in a common cause, or preside over their complete destruction.

1763: The Crown Colonies of Mystria are in turmoil, trapped between warring empires and facing insurrection from natives and colonists alike...

Captain Owen Strake, a wounded and battle-weary Redcoat of the Queen's Own Wurms, has come to this untamed land. At the Queen's command, Owen's mission is to survey this vast, uncharted territory, performing reconnaissance of rival Tharyngians and the savage Twilight People of the wilderness.

Prince Vladimir is a Norillian noble, nephew to the Queen. Though he has little real political power, he struggles to ensure the colonists' interests are represented back in Norisle. The one thing he does have is a wurm... one of the few existing dragons from a clutch of eggs discovered in the old world, hundreds of years ago.

As Mystria swirls into chaos, Owen becomes prisoner of a Tharyngian necromancer. Meanwhile, Vlad is to be married off to an old world princess, an alliance supposed to help supply money and mercenaries to put down the various insurrections. But, nobody suspects that Vlad's wurm is about to undergo a change that will impact the world's delicate political balance...

From New York Times-bestselling author Michael A. Stackpole (Rogue Squadron, I, Jedi) comes At the Queen's Command, the first book of The Crown Colonies, a new fantasy series re-imagining the events of the American Revolutionary War.