The Earth is dying. Humanity—over-breeding, over-consuming—is destroying the very planet they call home. Multinational corporations despoil the environment, market genetically modified crops to control the food supply, and use their wealth and influence and private armies to crush anything, and anyone, that gets in the way of their profits. Nothing human can stop them.

But something unhuman might.

Once they did not fear the sun. Once they could breathe the air and sleep where they chose. But now they can rest only within the uncontaminated soil of Mother Earth—and the time has come for them to fight back against the ruthless corporations that threaten their immortal existence.

They are the last guardians of paradise, more than human but less than angels. They call themselves the Arcadians.

We know them as vampires. . . .

Ante up for the game of a lifetime!

Billy Fox, a small-time gambler on a losing streak, has more than enough problems on his hands, owing too much money to some very impatient people. But when he rescues a blinded stranger from a swarm of bloodthirsty fairies, Billy's life gets a lot more complicated. . . .

Seems the stranger is actually a powerful local god who is involved in a high-stakes Florida poker tournament against various supernatural challengers. And with his eyes currently missing, he needs somebody to take his place at the gaming table. Before Billy knows it, he finds himself playing against the likes of an ancient Egyptian mummy, an unbearably seductive succubus, a mechanical man, an insect queen, and a cannibalistic beast-man. And not just cards are in play; magic, bloodshed, and cheating are not only expected, they're encouraged.

Everybody, including a sexy satyr-girl with her own cards up her sleeve, thinks that Billy is in way over his head. But Billy is a born gambler and, when the chips are down, he might just change his luck for good!

Blind God's Bluff is an outrageously addictive urban fantasy that will keep you flipping pages until the very last hand.

NS201301 January 2013 Night Shade Books

Blind God's Bluff

by Richard Lee Byers

Earth Thirst

by Mark Teppo

Now with a new afterword by David Drake!

The inhuman Rulers of the galaxy sent three fleets to learn what had happened to the world located by Captain North and the Survey Team he led. Neither a soul nor a message returned. The fourth time, the Rulers sent a single man: Nils Hansen.

Commissioner Hansen had a mind that saw the shortest path to each task's completion and a ruthless determination to do what the task required. The cost - to himself and whoever happened to be in the way - didn't matter. Hanson's Special Units had kept his planet safe from the most sophisticated and violent criminals in the galaxy. Now Hansen was being sent to penetrate a spacetime enigma which had made gods or demons of the first humans to discover it. He would succeed or die.

Northworld: a place of slashing violence and mystic transformation
Northworld: a place of treachery and dazzling beauty
Northworld: a place of honor, of faith, and of love.

Hansen's iron will and strong arm confront godlike power and godlike cunning while a galaxy trembles for the outcome. And if Hansen dies - he will not die alone!

"Down and dirty . . . this one blazes!" — Los Angeles Daily News

"Fast-paced adventure with convincing depth!"
—Publishers Weekly

"Good military SF . . . the action is fast and the tension is high!"
— Locus

" Northworld is that rare work-a novel that works on more than one level. A stunning tapestry . . . highly recommended!" — The SFRA Newsletter

ABEL DASHIAN'S WORLD DOESN'T NEED A HERO

Duisberg is one of thousands of planets plunged into darkness and chaos by the collapse of the galactic republic, but where other worlds have begun to rebuild a star-travelling culture, Duisberg remains in an uneasy balance between mud-brick civilization and bloodthirsty barbarism.

The people of Duisberg have a god: Zentrum, a supercomputer from the ancient past. Zentrum has decided avoid another collapse by preventing civilization from rising from where it is. And because even a supercomputer and the powerful religion which it founded cannot block all progress, Zentrum has another tool: every few centuries the barbarians sweep in from the desert, slaughtering the educated classes and cowing the peasants back into submission. These are the Blood Winds, and the Blood Winds are about to blow again.

This time, however, there's a difference: Abel Dashian, son of a military officer, has received into his mind the spirit of Raj Whitehall, the most successful general in the history of the planet Bellevue--and of Center, the supercomputer which enabled Raj to shatter his planet's barbarians and permit the return of civilization.

One hero can't stop the tide of barbarians unless he has his own culture supporting him. To save Duisberg, Abel must break the power of Zentrum.

With the help of Raj and Center, Abel Dashian must become . . . THE HERETIC!

Perhaps it is not true that there will always be war. Perhaps, one day, humanity will succeed in taming its savage nature so that peace for all humanity will not be merely a pious hope but a concrete reality. Perhaps, on day, we will all be angels. But until then, there will be war—and humanity, being what it is, will always form graven images to give life to its greatest hopes and fears. Because our modern age is "scientific" does not make us immune to this reality. And those images will always take on a life their own.

And, lo, there was TEK.

He is the latest in a long tradition of militant deities. But before this god can take his rightful place at the head of the pantheon, he has to survive the not-so-low-tech efforts of jealous older gods to destroy him.

Featuring stories by Mike Resnick, Jody Lynn Nye, Katherine Kurtz, Diane Duane, and other great military SF storytellers.

The human race had settled more than a hundred worlds before it met the Emerging Planets Fairness Court—six alien species who sit in judgment on all galactic newcomers. Humanity must now pass the EPFC test. Soon the human fleets find themselves under the eyes of stern overseers known as the Mromrosii. It seems the Mromrosii do not like humanity's freewheeling ways. Most of all, they have severe problems with that group of fleet troubleshooters, the Harriers, for whom breaking the rules is sometimes the only way to get the job done. Features novellas by David Drake, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, and Christopher Stasheff.

2105, September: Intelligence Analyst Caine Riordan uncovers a conspiracy on Earth's Moon—a history-making clandestine project—and ends up involuntarily cryocelled for his troubles. Twelve years later, Riordan awakens to a changed world. Humanity has achieved faster-than-light travel and is pioneering nearby star systems. And now, Riordan is compelled to become an inadvertent agent of conspiracy himself. Riordan's mission: travel to a newly settled world and investigate whether a primitive local species was once sentient—enough so to have built a lost civilization.

However, arriving on site in the Delta Pavonis system, Caine discovers that the job he's been given is anything but secret or safe. With assassins and saboteurs dogging his every step, it's clear that someone doesn't want his mission to succeed. In the end, it takes the keen insights of an intelligence analyst and a matching instinct for intrigue to ferret out the truth: that humanity is neither alone in the cosmos nor safe. Earth is revealed to be the lynchpin planet in an impending struggle for interstellar dominance, a struggle into which it is being irresistibly dragged. Discovering new dangers at every turn, Riordan must now convince the powers-that-be that the only way for humanity to survive as a free species is to face the perils directly—and to fight fire with fire.

Listen to the author discuss the book here on the Baen Free Radio Hour.

Now with a new afterword by David Drake!
The Empress of Earth

Finest passenger liner in the galaxy —

Brightest link in the chain that binds the starflung civilization of the 23rd century—

Six thousand lives in a single hull, trembling through multiple universes to land on raw, often violent worlds, each with its own history and wonder —

The Empress of Earth

Neutral pawn in an interstellar war!

When hostile necessity knows no law, Ran Colville and the rest of the complement of the Empress of Earth must bring home their ship and the passengers entrusted to them. From the Captain on his bridge to the Cold Crewmen who work in conditions that differ from Hell only by name, they'll have their work cut out for them this voyage!

Now with a new afterword by David Drake!

FROM PALACE . . . Dennis flees the crystal walls of Emath when he learns the truth behind the city his father rules.

TO WILDERNESS . . . The jungle enfolds him, tests his sword arm with monsters and his courage with nightmares more terrible than any monster.

FROM LOVE . . . Sword and spirit can win Dennis a princess--

TO BLACKEST WIZARDRY . . . But he can overcome the final evil only at the risk of all he has become--and his soul besides.

Now with a new foreword by David Drake!
THE SAGA OF THE SLAMMERS BEGINS!

COLONEL ALOIS HAMMER: He welded five thousand individual killers into a weapon more deadly than any other in the human universe. When a planetary government faces unfriendly natives, guerrilla insurgents, or ruthless terrorists, they do the only thing that might save them— they hire Hammer's Slammers, the toughest, meanest bunch of mercs who ever wrecked a world for pay. Known throughout the galaxy for their cold, ruthless ferocity, the men of Colonel Hammer's indomitable armored brigade routinely accept impossible missions. Again and again, they go up against overwhelming forces, or fight a two-front war against ferocious opposition, all without atomizing their civilian employers. Can they keep doing it Not if they abide by the rules of civilized warfare...but nobody ever said the Hammers were nice. Even when their chances are not good—those who oppose them have no chance at all!

Publisher's Note: THE TANK LORDS contains two full volume's worth of the Hammer's Slammer's saga, for the first time presented in chronological story sequence as determined by the author.

Now with two additional stories by Ellen Guon!
Prequel to Bedlam's Bard

When one of her friends is gunned down, Kayla uses her latent healing powers to heal her friend—and the gang member who shot him—and soon the city's gangs are eager to use her powers for evil.

Science Fiction meets Magic Realism in one ground-breaking anthology featuring stories by some of SF's greatest names and brightest newcomers: Ursula K. Le Guin, Connie Willis, Greg Bear, Kevin J. Anderson, Brian Herbert, Pamela Sargent, George Zebrowski, Jerry Oltion, Robert J. Sawyer, William F. Nolan, Jay Lake, Ray Vukcevich, Kathleen Alcala, Jason V. Brock, Mary E. Choo, Elton Elliott, James Glass, Bruce Taylor, Patrick Swenson, Doug Odell, and Tamara Kaye Sellman.

In war the men who served under him called him Culebra, the Viper. Soldier, strategist and military assassin, Eduardo Cabral harbors two souls, one dark and deadly, the other loving and creative. After a war ending in betrayal by those in power on a colony world and a man he has spent a lifetime trying to please, Eduardo flees to a peaceful, artistic life on another planet. But the corrupt war and its aftermath will not go away. There is revolution on his home world, and Culebra must return to help save a people crushed by cruel tyrants and those responsible for the betrayal and slaughter of Eduardo’s command in the war. It is Culebra who must decide between innocent and guilty, those who might live or die by his hand, while he searches for a love he has never had, and a world where Eduardo Cabral can peacefully pursue his art.

James C. Glass has been writing science fiction, fantasy and dark fantasy tales for over a dozen years, haunting us with ghosts, aliens, and things far worse. These breathtaking and disturbing stories have now been gathered in his first collection. Also featuring new, unpublished work, Matrix Dreams offers something to every reader of speculative fiction. Peek inside and dare to discover the dreams of this talented, award-winning author.

FP201212 December 2012 Fairwood Press Books

Matrix Dreams

by James C. Glass

The Viper of Portello

by James C. Glass

A science fiction take on The Duchess of Malfi.  The diabolical machinelike Erinye have taken over the solar system and destroyed or assimilated what is left of humanity. One woman, Lady Julia Amalfi, escapes in a starship loaded with genetic material from Earth and, with a young artificial intelligence named Cary, settles frontier planet Midgard. Now factions have arisen, and the brutal totalitarian Rigorists and the stubborn individualist rebels are squaring off for war just as Julia discovers that the Erinye may be on their way to Midgard. With survival on the line, the Midgardians must pull out a save for humanity. If not, night will fall on the last human settlement, and our species's chapter in history may well be over forever.

In the 21st century, the U.S. has been fractured by invasion and terrorism. Much of the Southwest is depopulated, with thousands of survivors having made their way to the small, snowbound town of Ironwood, Montana. There also the remnants of a group of cybernetically enhanced supermen may be going slowly insane—with murderous results. Enter Ross Bohlen of the Computer Subversion Strike Force.  His job: ferret out the Chiphead killers without bringing what remains of civilization crashing down.

Arguably the best time travel tale dealing with the Holocaust ever written, in our humble opinion.  A rebellious group of time travelers attempt to prevent one of the greatest atrocities humanity ever devised: Auschwitz. Monitor and ace enforcement operative Gaspar James is sent to stop them.  Gaspar knows that the horror must be allowed to run its course in order to preserve the integrity of the time line. At least that's what he has told himself throughout his service to the Moiety, the group charged with overseeing the continuity of time. But even Gaspar has his doubts—and millions of lives hang in the balance.

J.R. Dunn:  master of military action, superb storytelling, and fully-realized characters.  Dunn tackles the toughest subjects known to science fiction: genetic engineering, the ethics of time travel when it comes to horrific events, and unaugmented human survival in hard universe.  Furthermore, Dunn brings to bear his own expertise as a military historian to each story.

Discover a treasure trove of hard-hitting, wonder-inducing, idea-driven science fiction adventure from a writer of power and imagination, including Days of Cain, the best time travel tale dealing with the Holocaust every written, in our humble opinion.

"[Dunn's fiction contains] . . . action scenes ranking with the best in military SF."—Publishers Weekly

"Genuinely harrowing and impassioned, with wonderful characters and an unforgettable theme."—Kirkus

Days of Cain

by J. R. Dunn

This Side of Judgment

by J. R. Dunn

Full Tide of Night

by J. R. Dunn