One obsessed cop. Two master thieves. A very small island in space. And The Greatest Treasure in the Empire.

Silverside Station is a small asteroid resort catering to the rich, the famous, and the celebrated— but is it big enough for both Drake Maijstral (the devious hero of The Crown Jewels) and Geoff Fu George (rated the galaxy’s top burglar by the Imperial Sporting Commission), both of whom have set their sights on the Eltdown Shard, a fabulous jewel that captures the light of a dying sun, a jewel that dangles around the comely throat of the Duchess Roberta, a beautiful and dashing heiress who clearly has plans of her own.

Mayhem and hilarity at the only possible result. House of Shards continues the droll adventures of Drake Maijstral— thief, devout coward, and reluctant hero— as he schemes his way to the top of the ratings.

Peleng is a planet ripe for the plucking, and Drake Maijstral is an Allowed Burglar rated in the Top Ten by the Imperial Sporting Commission. But what should be a simple case of breaking-and-plundering turns into an intergalactic crisis when Maijstral steals something so rare, so valuable, so utterly desirable, that everyone wants it— everyone including well-armed Imperial spies, gun-toting human militias, a homicidal maniac with a very large sword, and a fanatical countess with a really, really nasty croquet habit.

The Crown Jewels, by award-winning author Walter Jon Williams, is sophisticated science fiction comedy at its best.

Walter Williams Hardwired Bundle

Hardwired

by Walter Jon Williams

Solip:System

by Walter Jon Williams

Voice of the Whirlwind

by Walter Jon Williams

Steward is a Beta—a clone. In his memories, he's an elite commando for an orbital policorp—but because his Alpha never did a brain-scan update, Steward's memories are fifteen years out of date . . . and in those fifteen years, everything has changed.

An interstellar war destroyed the company that held his allegiance. His wife has divorced him, along with the second wife that he can't even remember. Most of his comrades died in a useless battle on a world called Sheol, and those who survived are irrevocably scarred. An alien race has arrived and become the center of a complex and deadly intrigue.

And someone has murdered him.

"Fast-moving, hard-driving, with a robust well-handled plot . . . a stirring and heartening performance." –Kirkus Reviews

"Walter Jon Williams proves that he is a master of action, character and galaxy-spanning plots." –Fantasy Review

"A combination of fast action, gritty realism, and high-tech polytechnics that is certain to be popular with Williams' growing audience." –Booklist.

"(Williams) is a master of the intricate yet fast-paced plot—the essence of thrillers and novels of political intrigue." –Locus

They call it Black Mind. Using this covert technology, Reno has written his own consciousness over that of Albrecht Roon, one of Earth's greatest enemies. A saboteur surrounded by enemies, he must act quickly, and without giving himself away, in order to turn the Orbital oppressors against each other and bring down their entire system.

He's living in a labyrinth of paranoia, surrounded by bodyguards and treacherous rivals. And then he discovers that Black Mind is not a complete success--- Roon still lives inside him, and Roon is mad.

This novella is the long-awaited sequel to Walter Jon Williams' classic novel Hardwired.

For its thirtieth anniversary, Hardwired is now available in a deluxe new edition, with new content by the author.

Earth lies prostrate beneath the lash of the Orbital powers, and Earth’s Balkanized nations have no choice but to let the Orbitals plunder their remaining wealth. Below the zone of Orbital control, buttonheads, panzerjocks, dirtgirls, and hustlers scramble for their ticket out of the gravity well.

But now, if the criminal underworld and the guerrilla underground can join forces, there is a chance to shift the balance of power— in a war fought on the ground by hardwired commandos, in the air by high-flying deltajocks, and by genius hackers in the neural interface.

As Roger Zelazny said, "Hardwired is a tough, sleek juggernaut of a story, punctuated by strobe light movements, coursing to the wail of jets and the twang of steel guitars— glittering, nasty, and noble— and told in a style perfectly suiting its content. It has all of my favorite things— blood, love, fire, hate and a high ideal or two. I wish I’d written this one.”

The Thirtieth Anniversary Edition of this cyberpunk classic includes essays by the author devoted to the origin of the novel, the unexpected source of the term “panzerboy,” and an amused guide through some of the oddities of the first German edition.

Book One in an exciting new series, the Shadow Warrior saga.

In the fog‑enshrouded peaks of the island nation of Nehan, Ran, a newly‑minted shadow warrior is set loose on a musha shugyo, a wandering quest, whereby he must travel alone and hone his skills. Journeying aboard a merchant vessel, Ran hears tales of a mysterious lord believed to have the dead for his servants.

Soon these tales prove all too real as Ran comes to the aid of Jysal, a beautiful sorceress, whose undeveloped power gives her the ability to heal a land ‑‑ or destroy it.  But the Lord Kan‑Gul also covets Jysal's power. And when Kan‑Gul sends a army of the undead to take Jysal by force, Ran is faced with the ultimate warrior's choice: save himself, or face down a horde of enemies that cannot be killed for the simple reason that they are already dead!

W201309 September 2013 Monthly Baen Bundle (Last date to buy August 15 2013)

Under a Graveyard Sky

by John Ringo

The Undead Hordes of Kan-Gul

by Jon F. Merz

The Man Who Sold the Moon & Orphans of the Sky

by Robert A. Heinlein

Captain Vorpatril's Alliance

by Lois McMaster Bujold

1635: The Papal Stakes

by Eric Flint and Charles E. Gannon

Dragon Ship

by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

The Exotic Enchanter

edited by L. Sprague deCamp and Christopher Stasheff

Harold Shea, the incomplete Enchanter and his partner Reed Chalmers leap into the Russia of Prince Igor, where warriors pursue them through an Arabian Nightmare. To escape, they leap into the universe of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and are chased to their next port of call--Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Book One in an exciting new series, the Shadow Warrior saga.

In the fog‑enshrouded peaks of the island nation of Nehan, Ran, a newly‑minted shadow warrior is set loose on a musha shugyo, a wandering quest, whereby he must travel alone and hone his skills. Journeying aboard a merchant vessel, Ran hears tales of a mysterious lord believed to have the dead for his servants.

Soon these tales prove all too real as Ran comes to the aid of Jysal, a beautiful sorceress, whose undeveloped power gives her the ability to heal a land ‑‑ or destroy it.  But the Lord Kan‑Gul also covets Jysal's power. And when Kan‑Gul sends a army of the undead to take Jysal by force, Ran is faced with the ultimate warrior's choice: save himself, or face down a horde of enemies that cannot be killed for the simple reason that they are already dead!

Two classic Robert A. Heinlein novels in one volume, with an all‑new introduction by Mark L. Van Name, author of the Jon and Lobo military SF series.

The Man Who Sold the Moon: D. D. Harriman is a billionaire with a dream: the dream of space for all mankind. The method? Anything that works.  Maybe, in fact, Harriman goes too far.  But he will give us the stars…

Orphans of the Sky: Hugh had been taught that, according to the ancient sacred writings, the Ship was on a voyage to faraway Centaurus.  But he also understood that this must be allegory for a voyage to spiritual perfection.  After all, the real world was only metal corridors and nothing else, right?  And then Hugh begins to suspect the truth. . .

Two all‑time classics from seven‑time Hugo winner and Dean of Science Fiction, Robert A. Heinlein.

Download the comprehensive Teacher’s Guide here.

Listen to the Robert A. Heinlein Roundtable Discussion 2 here on the Baen Free Radio Hour.

Zombies are real. And we made them. Are you prepared for the zombie apocalypse? The Smith family is, with the help of a few marines.

When an airborne “zombie” plague is released, bringing civilization to a grinding halt, the Smith family, Steven, Stacey, Sophia and Faith, take to the Atlantic to avoid the chaos. The plan is to find a safe haven from the anarchy of infected humanity. What they discover, instead, is a sea composed of the tears of survivors and a passion for bringing hope.

For is up to the Smiths and a small band of Marines to somehow create the refuge that survivors seek in a world of darkness and terror. Now with every continent a holocaust and every ship an abattoir, life is lived beneath a graveyard sky.

Download the Reader’s Group Discussion Guide here.

Now with new content by John Ringo
WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE . . .

With the Earth in the path of the rapacious Posleen, the peaceful and friendly races of the Galactic Federation offer their resources to help the backward Terrans—for a price.

Humanity now has three worlds to defend.

As Earth's armies rush into battle and special operations units scout alien worlds, the humans begin to learn a valuable lesson: You can protect yourself from your enemies, but may the Lord save you from your allies.

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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. He chose to study marine biology and really liked it. Unfortunately the pay was for beans. So now he manages a quality control database and the pay is much better. He hopes to someday upgrade to SQL Server. At that point life will be complete.

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, raise Arabian horses, dandle his kids and watch the grass grow. Someday he may even cut it. But not today. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe he'll just let the horses.

Now with new content by John Ringo
The Battle Against
Those Determined
to Rule the World—or
Destroy It—Continues

In the future the world was a paradise—and then, in a moment, it ended. The council that controlled the Net fell out and went to war, while people who had never known a moment of want or pain were left wondering how to survive.

Duke Edmund Talbot has been assigned a simple mission: Go to the Southern Isles and make contact with the scattered mer-folk—those who, before the worldwide collapse of technology, had altered their bodies in the shape of mythical sea-dwelling creatures. He must convince them to side with the Freedom Coalition in the battles against the fascist dictators of New Destiny. Just a simple diplomatic mission. That requires the service of a dragon-carrier and Lieutenant Herzer Herrick, the most blooded of the Blood Lords—because New Destiny has plans of its own.

The fast-paced sequel to There Will be Dragons is a rollicking adventure above and below the high seas with dragons, orcas, beautiful mermaids— and the irrepressible Bast the Wood Elf, a cross between Legolas and Mae West.

Now with new content by John Ringo
The aliens had arrived

With gifts, warnings, and an offer we
couldn't refuse....

Our choice was simple: we could be cannon fodder, or we could be ... fodder. We could send our forces to fight and die (as only humans can) against a ravening horde that was literally feeding on its interstellar conquests—or remain as we were—virtually weaponless and third in line for brunch.

We chose to fight.

Thanks to alien technology and sheer guts, the Terrans on two worlds fought the Posleen to a standstill. Thank God there was a moment to catch our breath,  a moment, however brief, of peace—.

Now, for the survivors of the Barwhon and Diess Expeditionary Forces, it was a chance to get some distance from the blood and misery of battle against the Posleen centaurs. A blessed chance to forget the screams of the dying in purple swamps and massacres under searing alien suns.

For Earth it was an opportunity to flesh out their force of raw recruits with combat-seasoned veterans. Political, military and scientific blundering had left the Terran forces in shambles-and with the Posleen Invasion only months away, these shell-shocked survivors might be the only people capable of saving the Earth from devastation.

If the veterans had time to lick their wounds.

Because the Posleen don't read schedules.

Now with new content by John Ringo
Paradise Lost

In the future there is no want, no war, no disease nor ill-timed death. The world is a paradise—and then, in a moment, it ends. The council that controls the Net falls out and goes to war. Everywhere people who have never known a moment of want or pain are left wondering how to survive.

But scattered across the face of the earth are communities which have returned to the natural life of soil and small farm. In the village of Raven's Mill, Edmund Talbot, master smith and unassuming historian, finds that all the problems of the world are falling in his lap. Refugees are flooding in, bandits are roaming the woods, and his former lover and his only daughter struggle through the Fallen landscape. Enemies, new and old, gather like jackals around a wounded lion.

But what the jackals do not know is that while old he may be, this lion is far from death. And hidden in the past is a mystery that has waited until this time to be revealed. You cross Edmund Talbot at your peril, for a smith is not all he once was. . . .

Praise for the Science Fiction of John Ringo

"MARVELOUS!" —David Weber

"Explosive. . . . Fans of strong military SF will appreciate Ringo's lively narrative and flavorful characters. . . . One of the best new practitioners of military SF." —Publishers Weekly

". . . since his imagination, clearly influenced by Kipling and rock and roll, is fertile, and his storytelling skill sound, [When the Devil Dances] is irresistible." —Booklist

". . . fast-paced military sf peopled with three-dimensional characters and spiced with personal drama as well as tactical finesse." —Library Journal

"If Tom Clancy were writing SF, it would read much like John Ringo . . . good reading with solid characterizations—a rare combination." —Philadelphia Weekly Press

"Ringo provides a textbook example of how a novel in the military SF subgenre should be written. . . . Crackerjack storytelling." —Starlog

Includes a biographical afterwordNow with an Historical Afterword by Ron MillerFeatures the original illustrations
Featured in Ron Miller’s “The Conquest of Space Book Series.” A short science fiction story written by one of the most colorful personalities of the early years of rocketry, Max Valier.

The first true space travel stories weren't written until after 1610. Before then, no one knew for sure that there even were other worlds than this one. But Galileo's great discoveries changed all that. People began to wonder what these other worlds might be like and authors lost no time in getting their interplanetary stories into print. The earliest authors were at a loss regarding exactly how to get their heroes to the Moon and other worlds and had to resort to magic and other unlikely devices. The invention of the balloon was a godsend. For the first time a man-made device enabled humans to leave the surface of the Earth---and there was a renewed surge of space travel stories. Most of these authors merely used the Moon and planets as a convenient backdrop for social satire, but others took some pains to get the science correct---or at least as correct as knowledge of the time permitted. The books in this series run the gamut from from balloons to antigravity, from what may be the first interplanetary story ever written to the first suggestion ever for a passenger-carrying rocket. 

Many of these books and stories have not been available in any form for decades. They all contain historical essays and other material written specially for this series by Ron Miller.

By Rocket to the Moon

by Otto Willi Gail
edited by Ron Miller

The Shot Into Infinity

by Otto Willi Gail
edited by Ron Miller

The Stone From the Moon

by Otto Willi Gail
edited by Ron Miller

Between Earth and Moon

by Otfrid von Hanstein
edited by Ron Miller

A Daring Trip to Mars

by Max Valier
edited by Ron Miller

Now with an Historical Afterword by Ron MillerIncludes the original illustrations by Frank R. PaulContains a technical appendix
Featured in Ron Miller’s “The Conquest of Space Book Series.” First published in English in 1930, this remarkable science fiction novel details the fate of three astronauts stranded in space after a daring trip to the moon. Based on the pioneering work of Hermann Oberth, this suspenseful novel is an accurate mirror of the state of the art of astronautics more than 70 years ago.

Now with an Historical Afterword by Ron MillerIncludes the original illustrations by Frank R. Paul
Featured in Ron Miller’s “The Conquest of Space Book Series.” Gail was one of the most popular science fiction authors in Germany during the early decades of the twentieth century. In this novel, a sequel to "The Shot Into Infinity", Gail combines several science fiction themes into a single exciting, suspenseful narrative: Space travel, including one of the first space stations to appear in fiction, Atlantis, the origins of ancient human cultures and the bizarre World Ice Theory of Hanns Horbiger, which eventually became an official science of Nazi racial theory. Although Horbiger was one of the great pseudoscientists of the twentieth century, Gail's descriptions of space travel were based meticulously on the work of astronautics pioneers Hermann Oberth and Max Valier. In addition to being a thrilling novel, this book is also an accurate mirror of the state of the art of astronautics as it existed more than three-quarters of a century ago.