W200304 April 2003 Monthly Baen Bundle

The Service of the Sword

by David Weber

Kaspar's Box

by Jack L. Chalker

Interstellar Patrol

by Christopher Anvil
edited by Eric Flint

The Cold Equations

by Tom Godwin and Eric Flint

Exiles at the Well of Souls

by Jack L. Chalker

When the Devil Dances

by John Ringo

WELCOME AGAIN TO THE MANY
WORLDS OF HONOR HARRINGTON

Lady Dame Honor Harrington isn't alone. Her life touches others—and their lives touch hers—directly, or indirectly, whether as a naval officer, steadholder, or duchess.

In this collection, Jane Lindskold gives us the story of a prince on the brink of maturity and an extraordinary young Grayson woman named Judith—a victim of Masadan brutality, who confronts insurmountable odds in a desperate effort to lead her sisters to freedom— or—death among the stars.

Timothy Zahn weighs in with a story of the heavy cruiser HMS Fearless; a brilliant young tactical officer on temporarily detached duty; Solarian con men; secret weapons that aren't quite what they seem to be; naval spies, spooks, and dirty tricks; courage and honor; and a surprising glimpse into one of Admiral Sonja Hemphill's most crucial technological innovations.

John Ringo offers his unique blend of nonstop action and deliciously skewed humor in two offerings. The Peep planet of Prague and its brutally repressive StateSec regime will never be the same again after the unscheduled, unofficial, and thoroughly catastrophic visit by a pair of Manticoran Marines with a most peculiar taste in their holiday destinations. And then there's the question of what an explosively expanding navy does with the personnel who can't quite cut the mustard.

Eric Flint tells us the story of an idealistic young StateSec officer who finds himself in the right place at the right time following the fall of Oscar Saint-Just. Young Victor Cachat could influence the loyalty of an entire sector ... if he's only lucky enough to manage to stay alive long enough to try.

And finally, David Weber gives us the tale of the first Grayson midshipwoman on her "snotty cruise" at a time when internal tensions threaten the entire future of the Manticoran Alliance and people are about to rediscover the Fact that the Peeps are far from the only predators hiding in the stars.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND HOST

David Weber is the brightest star in the new century's science fiction firmament. He is often compared to C.S. Forester (the celebrated creator of Captain Horatio Hornblower), is the recipient of critical praise worthy of Heinlein or Asimov, and has hordes of voracious fans clamoring for more and more Weber. Fortunately for them, Weber keeps steadily producing more and more books. His novels range from epic fantasy (Oath of Swords, The War God's Own) to breathtaking space opera (Path of the Fury, Empire from the Ashes) to military science Action with in-depth characterization (the celebrated New York Times bestselling Honor Harrington series, War of Honor being the latest). Reviewers call Weber "irresistible . . . masterful" (Publishers Weekly), "highly entertaining" (Booklist), "outstanding . . . superb . . . Excellent" (Wilson Library Bulletin), "remarkable" (Kliatt), "the best" (Dragon), "worth shouting about" (Philadelphia Weekly Press), "great" (Locus), and "the best writer around today" (FosFax). Readers call Weber similar things, but mostly they call the Baen offices several times a week demanding more from their main man. Weber lives in South Carolina with his wife Sharon.

W200303 March 2003 Monthly Baen Bundle

Empire From the Ashes

by David Weber

Conqueror

by David Drake and S. M. Stirling

Here There Be Dragonnes

by Mary Brown

Darkness and Dawn

by Andre Norton

The Genesis Machine

by James P. Hogan

The Isle Beyond Time

by L. Warren Douglas

WE HAVE A JOB FOR YOU ...

Just a routine day in lunar orbit. That's all Lieutenant Commander Colin Maclntyre, USN, expected. Only a simple training mission to test a new survey instrument intended for the first manned American-Russian interstellar flight.

What he got was just a bit different.

First, there was the fact that Earth didn't actually have a Moon.

Then there was the three thousand-kilometer diameter alien starship pretending it was the Moon. And the millennia-old cybernetic intelligence that shanghaied him to serve as its crew.

Colin might have been forgiven for thinking that those were enough surprises for any one man, but there were a few other small problems.

Like the deadly mutiny which had been raging longer than the human race had existed on Earth ... and still wasn't over.

Or like the millions of other starships, crewed by genocidal aliens dedicated to the extermination of all possible competing life forms, which just happened to be headed straight towards Earth.

Or like the interstellar empire whose aid offered humanity's only hope for survival... except for the minor fact that its last emperor and all of his subjects had died forty-five thousand years ago.

Add in the occasional homicidal terrorist, religious fanatics convinced that the only good Maclntyre was a dead Maclntyre, a bic-weapon capable of killing every living thing on any planet, a super-bomb which could take out whole worlds, a starship drive which could destroy complete solar systems, and the need to organize the entire planet Earth— and all of its warring, mutually murderous factions—for a probably hopeless last-ditch defense, and Colin was convinced that things were just about as bad as they could possibly get.

Until he found out whose job it had just become to fix all those problems, of course....

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Undeniably the science fiction phenomenon of the decade, New York Times bestselling author David Weber is often compared to C.S. Forester (the celebrated creator of Captain Horatio Hornblower) and is the recipient of critical praise worthy of Heinlein or Asimov. His hordes of voracious fans clamor for more and more Weber. Fortunately for them, Weber keeps steadily producing book after book with first printings that sell out almost immediately, then go back into printing after printing after printing. His novels range from epic fantasy (Oath of Swords, The War God's Own) to breathtaking space opera (Path of the Fury, Empire from the Ashes] to military science fiction with in-depth characterization (the celebrated and awesomely popular Honor Harrington series, War of Honor being the latest installment). Reviewers call Weber "highly entertaining," (Booklist), "outstanding . .. superb ... excellent" (Wilson Library Bulletin), "remarkable" (Kliatt), "the best" (Dragon), "worth shouting about" (Philadelphia Weekly Press), "great" (Locus), and "the best writer around today" (FosFax). Readers call Weber similar things, but mostly they call the Baen offices several times a week demanding more from their main man. Weber and his wife Sharon live in South Carolina.

W200301 January 2003 Monthly Baen Bundle

March to the Stars

by David Weber and John Ringo

Give Me Liberty

by Martin Harry Greenberg and Mark Tier

The Excalibur Alternative

by David Weber

Melchior's Fire

by Jack L. Chalker

Transvergence

by Charles Sheffield

Convergent Series

by Charles Sheffield

Another Sunny Day on Marduk

Roger Ramius Sergei Alexander Chiang MacClintock has had a really bad year.

Bad enough to be the spoiled rotten fop of a prince no one wanted or trusted.

Worse to be sent off on a meaningless diplomatic mission, simply to get you out from underfoot, with a bodyguard of Marines who loathe and despise you.

Worse yet to be assumed dead and marooned for almost a year on a hell-hole planet while you and those same Marines fight your way through carnivorous beasts, murderous natives, and perpetual rain to the only starport. . . which is controlled by the Empire's worst enemies.

Worst of all to have discovered that you were born to be a warrior prince. One whose bodyguards have learned the same lesson. And one haunted by the deaths of almost a hundred of your Marines... for what you know now was an unnecessary exercise in political expediency.

A warrior prince who wants to have a few choice words with your Lady Mother, the Empress of Man.

But to have them, you, your surviving Marines, and your Mardukan allies must cross a demon-haunted ocean, face a civilization that is "civilized" in name alone and "barbarians" who may not be exactly what they seem, and once again battle against impossible odds. All so that you can attempt to somehow seize a heavily defended spaceport and hijack a starship to take you home.

Yet what neither Roger, nor the Marines, nor his allies know is that the battle to leave Marduk is only the beginning. And that words with Roger's mother will be hard to come by.

But that's all right. Because what the Galaxy doesn't know is that it's about to receive a fresh proof of an old truism:

You don't mess with a MacClintock.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

David Weber is the science fiction phenomenon of the decade, a New York Times bestselling author who receives critical praise worthy of a Heinlein or an Asimov. He is often compared to C.S. Forester (celebrated creator of Captain Horatio Hornblower) for his novels of the exploits of starship commander Honor Harrington, the most recent of which was the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Amazon.com bestseller, Ashes of Victory. Weber's work ranges from epic fantasy (Oath of Swords, The War God's Own) to breathtaking space opera (Path of the Fury, The Armageddon Inheritance) to military science fiction with in-depth characterization (the awesomely popular Honor Harrington novels, the latest being last year's War of Honor). Weber lives in South Carolina with his wife Sharon.

John Ringo had visited 23 countries and attended 14 schools by the time he graduated high school. This left him with a wonderful appreciation of the oneness of humanity and a permanent aversion to foreign food. A veteran of the 82nd Airborne, he later studied marine biology, but the pay was for beans, so he turned to quality control database management (much higher-paying). Then Fate took a hand, and he now is in the early stages of becoming fabulously wealthy, which his publisher has ASSURED him is the common lot of science fiction writers who write for Baen Books. With his bachelor years spent in the Airborne, cave diving, rock climbing, rappelling, hunting, spear-fishing, and sailing, the author is now happy to let other people risk their necks. He prefers to read (and of course write) science fiction (such as the top-selling military SF series so far comprising A Hymn Before Battle, Gust Front, and When the Devil Dances), raise Arabian horses, dandle his kids and watch the grass grow.

W200211 November 2002 Monthly Baen Bundle

Resurgence

by Charles Sheffield

Between the Strokes of Night

by Charles Sheffield

Skylock

by Paul Kozerski

March to the Sea

by David Weber and John Ringo

W200210 October 2002 Monthly Baen Bundle

War of Honor

by David Weber

More Than Honor

by David Weber, David Drake and S. M. Stirling

Echoes of Honor

by David Weber

Seas of Venus

by David Drake

The Tide of Victory

by Eric Flint and David Drake

Fallen Angels

by Jerry Pournelle, Larry Niven and Michael Flynn

Bolo Strike

by William H. Keith Jr.
created by Keith Laumer

NO ONE WANTED ANOTHER WAR

Thomas Theisman didn't. After risking his life and a fresh round of civil war to overthrow the Committee of Public Safety's reign of terror and restore the Republic of Haven's ancient Constitution, an interstellar war was the last thing he wanted.

Baron High Ridge didn't. The Prime Minister of Manticore was perfectly happy with the war he had. No one was shooting anyone else at the moment, and as long as he could spin out negotiations on the formal treaty of peace, his government could continue to milk all those "hostilities only" tax measures for their own partisan projects.

His Imperial Majesty Gustav didn't. Now that the fighting between the Star Kingdom and the Havenites had ended, the Andermani Emperor had his own plans for Silesia, and he was confident he could achieve them without a war of his own.

Protector Benjamin didn't. His people had made too deep a commitment to the Manticoran Alliance, in blood as well as treasure, for him to want to risk seeing it all thrown away.

And Honor Harrington certainly didn't. The "Salamander" had seen the inside of too many furnaces already, knew too much about how much war cost.

Unfortunately, what they wanted didn't matter....

W200209 September 2002 Monthly Baen Bundle

Conrad's Time Machine

by Leo Frankowski

The Prince

by Jerry Pournelle and S. M. Stirling

Eternal Frontier

by James H. Schmitz
edited by Eric Flint

Foreign Legions

by David Drake

Honor Among Enemies

by David Weber

W200208 August 2002 Monthly Baen Bundle

1633

by Eric Flint and David Weber

For King and Country

by Robert Asprin and Linda Evans

Heris Serrano

by Elizabeth Moon

Med Ship

by Murray Leinster
edited by Eric Flint

Janus

by Andre Norton

Field of Dishonor

by David Weber

Star Soldiers

by Andre Norton

AMERICAN FREEDOM AND JUSTICE
VS. THE TYRANNIES OF
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

The new government in central Europe, called the Confederated Principalities of Europe, was formed by an alliance between Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, and the West Virginians led by Mike Stearns who were transplanted into 17th-century Germany by a mysterious cosmic accident. The new regime is shaky. Outside its borders, the Thirty Years War continues to rage. Within, it is beset by financial crisis as well as the political and social tensions between the democratic ideals of the 20th-century Americans and the aristocracy which continues to rule the roost in the CPE as everywhere in Europe.

Worst of all, the CPE has aroused the implacable hostility of Cardinal Richelieu, the effective ruler of France. Richelieu has created the League of Ostend in order to strike at the weakest link in the CPE's armor—its dependence on the Baltic as the lifeline between Gustav Adolf's Sweden and the rest of his realm.

The greatest naval war in European history is about to erupt. Like it or not, Gustavus Adolphus will have to rely on Mike Stearns and the technical wizardry of his obstreperous Americans to save the King of Sweden from ruin.

Caught in the conflagration are two American diplomatic missions abroad: Rebecca Stearns' mission to France and Holland, and the embassy which Mike Stearns sent to King Charles of England headed by his sister Rita and Melissa Mailey. Rebecca finds herself trapped in war-torn Amsterdam; Rita and Melissa, imprisoned in the Tower of London.

And much as Mike wants to transport 20th-century values into war-torn 17th-century Europe by Sweet Reason, still he finds comfort in the fact that Julie, who once trained to be an Olympic marksman, still has her rifle . . .

David Weber is best known for his New York Times bestselling Honor Harrington series, arguably the most popular series in science fiction, which has led to reviewers comparing him to C.S. Forester , celebrated creator of Captain Horatio Hornblower. Weber's work ranges from epic fantasy (Oath of Swords, The War God's Own] to breathtaking space opera (Path of the Fury, The Armageddon Inheritance] to military science fiction with in-depth characterization (the Honor Harrington novels). With John Ringo, he inaugurated the Prince Roger series of space adventures with March Upcountrij and has continued it with March to the Sea. Weber and his wife Sharon live in South Carolina.

Eric Flint is a new master of alternate-history science fiction. His 1632, prequel to 1633, received lavish critical praise from all directions and enjoyed high sales. His first novel, Mother of Demons, was picked by Science Fiction Chronicle as a best novel of the year. He has also shown a powerful gift for humorous fantasy adventure with Forward the Mage and The Philosophical Strangler, which Booklist described as "Monty Python let loose in Tolkien's Middle Earth." With David Drake he has collaborated on five novels in the popular Belisarius series, the next of which will be The Dance of Time. A longtime labor union activist with a Master's Degree in history, he currently resides in Indiana with his wife Lucille.

W200206 June 2002 Monthly Baen Bundle

The Amazing Dr. Darwin

by Charles Sheffield

The Short Victorious War

by David Weber

Bug Park

by James P. Hogan

The Sacred Pool

by L. Warren Douglas

W200205 May 2002 Monthly Baen Bundle

Diplomatic Immunity

by Lois McMaster Bujold

The Warmasters

by David Weber, Eric Flint and David Drake

March Upcountry

by David Weber and John Ringo

The Warslayer

by Rosemary Edghill

The Lighter Side

by Keith Laumer
edited by Eric Flint

The Warmasters

Three Masters of Military Science Fiction
Three Great Science Fiction Series:

Three Short Novels in One Volume

Before she saved the galaxy, she was "Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington"— New York Times bestselling author David Weber reveals how Honor Harrington's long and brilliant career began with an encounter with "pirates" who turned out to be much more than they seemed....

Another day, another planet at war. But in David Drake's "Choosing Sides," Lieutenant Huber stepped off the starship right into an ambush. The attackers didn't survive, but neither did far too many of Huber's troops—and Slammers aren't supposed to get caught in ambushes. Now, to redeem himself, Huber is being sent on a special mission that may be his last. But even so, the enemy will learn the cost of killing even a single one of Colonel Hammer's Slammers. . . .

If the enemy thought General Belisarius was tough, wait until they meet the wife of one of his soldiers in Eric Flint's "Island." She was wed just before her husband left with Belisarius to fight an evil from beyond time. Now her husband is wounded, and she is going to travel a thousand miles to reach his side—and few who get in her way will live to regret it. ...

 ABOUT THE AUTHORS

David Weber is the science fiction phenomenon of the decade. His Honor Harrington novels (The New York Times bestseller Ashes of Victory being the ninth and latest) can't come out fast enough for his devoted readers. With Steve White, he has co-authored a top-selling series of space adventures set in the Starfire game universe, The Shiva Option being the latest. Weber's science fiction novels, all for Baen, include Mutineers' Moon, The Armageddon Inheritance, Heirs of Empire, and Path of the Fury—and of course the entire Honor Harrington series. He has also begun an epic fantasy series with Oath of Swords and its sequel, The War God's Own. He is married and lives in South Carolina.

Vietnam veteran, former lawyer, and now famous author of the bestselling Hammer's Slammers novels and many more blockbuster novels, David Drake tells a military story like no other. His thousands of readers know that he can take them where no one else can, with gut-wrenching description that puts them in the midst of battlefield action and face-to-face with the enemy. Drake graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Iowa, majoring in history (with honors) and Latin. His stint at Duke University Law School was interrupted for two years by the U.S. Army, where he served as an enlisted interrogator with the llth Armored Cavalry in Vietnam and Cambodia. Drake has a wife, a son, and various pets.

Eric Flint is a gifted new star of military and alternate history SE His first novel for Baen, Mother of Demons, was picked by Science Fiction Chronicle as a best novel of the year. His alternate history novel, 1632, sold out its first printing almost immediately and received lavish critical praise. With David Drake he has collaborated on five novels in the acclaimed "Belisarius" series. His latest novel for Baen is the fantasy adventure The Philosophical Strangles A longtime labor union activist with a degree (Phi Beta Kappa) in African history, he currently resides in northwest Indiana with his wife Lucille.

W200202 February 2002 Monthly Baen Bundle

The Shiva Option

by David Weber and Steve White

Warlock

by Andre Norton

Pandora's Legions

by Christopher Anvil
edited by Eric Flint

School of Light

by Jody Lynn Nye

Changer of Worlds

by David Weber

Time Traders II: The Defiant Agents and Key Out of Time

by Andre Norton

DEFEAT WAS NOT AN OPTION

The war wasn't going well.

The mind-numbingly alien Arachnids were an enemy whose like no civilized race had ever confronted. Like some carnivorous cancer, the "Bugs" had overrun planet after planet . . . and they regarded any competing sentient species as only one more protein source. They couldn't be reasoned with, or even talked to, because no one had the least idea of how to communicate with a telepathic species with no recognizable language . . . and whose response to any communication attempt was a missile salvo. No one knew how large their civilization—if it could be called a "civilization"—actually was, or how it was organized, but the huge fleets they threw against their opponents suggested that it was enormous.

The Grand Alliance of Humans, Orions, Ophiuchi, and Gorm, united in desperate self-defense, have been driven to the wall. Billions of their civilians have been slaughtered. Their most powerful offensive operation has ended in shattering defeat and the deaths of their most experienced and revered military commanders. The edge in technology with which they began the war is eroding out from under them and whatever they do, the Bugs just keep coming.

But the warriors of the Grand Alliance know what stands behind them and they will surrender no more civilians to the oncoming juggernaut. They will die first . . . and they will also reactivate General Directive 18, however horrible it may be. Because when the only possible outcomes are victory or racial extermination, only one option is acceptable.

The Shiva Option

THESE PROLES ARE REVOLTING!

The families who rule the People's Republic of Haven are in trouble. The treasury's empty, the Proles are restless, and civil war is imminent.

But the ruling class knows what they need to keep in power: a "short victorious war" to unite the people and fill the treasury once more. It's a card they've played often in the last half-century, always successfully, and all that stands in their way is the Star Kingdom of Manticore and its threadbare allies: enemies in the past who have always backed down.

Only this time the Peeps face something different. This time they're up against Captain Honor Harrington and a Royal Manticoran Navy that's prepared to give them a war that's far from short—or victorious.

". . . irresistible. . . . Weber's enormous canvas allows for masterful combat sequences, technological expertise and appealing character painting. . . . readers will applaud. . . ." —Publishers Weekly

 ". . . strong and spectacular. . . ." —Locus

 "The spirit of Star Wars melds with the heart of Horatio Hornblower. . . ."  —Science Fiction Age

W200201 January 2002 Monthly Baen Bundle

The Excalibur Alternative

by David Weber

Man-Kzin Wars IX

by Larry Niven

The Spheres of Heaven

by Charles Sheffield

Retief!

by Keith Laumer

Emperor of Dawn

by Steve White

HE WHO LIVES BY THE SWORD . . .

The races which ruled the Galactic Federation knew they were vastly superior to the inferior species restricted to the narrow confines of their own star systems by the crudity of their technology . . . and they had every intention of keeping things that way.
It was a neat little scam, a rigged game in which only the House could win, which the Federation had played for over a hundred thousand years, and no one had ever managed to challenge it.

Yet all good things come to an end, and the Galactics made one mistake. It didn't seem all that terrible at first, only a single merchant guild which bought itself a Roman legion to use as enslaved sepoys on the primitive worlds where they weren't permitted to use their own weapons to force trading concessions. But the Romans were too good at what they did, and a desperate competing guild decided that the only way it could continue to compete was if it had Romans of its own.

Unfortunately, Roman legions were no longer available, so the competing guild had to settle for something else: English longbowmen on their way to the Battle of Crecy.

Roman legions make dangerous pets . . . but English longbowmen are even worse.

It may take a century or so, but the Galactics are about to discover what happens when the sword finally comes out of the stone.