A STUNNING BAEN BOOKS DEBUT. A brilliant Americana flintlock fantasy novel set in a world of Appalachian magic that works.

Sarah Calhoun is the fifteen‑year‑old daughter of the Elector Andrew Calhoun, one of Appalachee’s military heroes and one of the electors who gets to decide who will next ascend as the Emperor of the New World. None of that matters to Sarah. She has a natural talent for hexing and one bad eye, and all she wants is to be left alone—especially by outsiders.

But Sarah’s world gets turned on its head at the Nashville Tobacco Fair when a Yankee wizard‑priest tries to kidnap her. Sarah fights back with the aid of a mysterious monk named Thalanes, who is one of the not‑quite‑human Firstborn, the Moundbuilders of the Ohio. It is Thalanes who reveals to Sarah a secret heritage she never dreamed could be hers.

Now on a desperate quest with Thalanes to claim this heritage, she is hunted by the Emperor’s bodyguard of elite dragoons, as well as by darker things—shapeshifting Mockers and undead Lazars, and behind them a power more sinister still. If Sarah cannot claim her heritage, it may mean the end to her, her family—and to the world where she is just beginning to find her place.

SEQUEL TO GRAND CENTRAL ARENA AND SPHERES OF INFLUENCE. The climax of the Arenaverse adventure SF series!

The Arena: a vast alien otherspace that all species were forced to enter when they discovered faster‑than‑light travel. The Arena: where the lives of entire species might hang in the balance in a single Challenge. The Arena: filled with mysteries, alliances, betrayals, opportunities, and hideous dangers for individual and empire alike. And the only thing you couldn't do …was refuse to play the Arena's game.

Ariane Austin and her crew had learned these lessons the hard way, and—with luck, skill, and sheer will, had managed to survive so far. But now a debt of honor to Humanity's oldest, if sometimes self‑serving, ally Orphan has come due. The threat of war looms with the xenophobic Molothos, one of the five Great Factions; the dark and omnipresent legacy of the Hyperion Experiment lingers. As Leader of the Faction of Humanity, Captain Ariane Austin had to deal with all of these problems, and deal with them soon. For within her was also the alien power that the Shadeweavers and the Faith had sealed away—with a seal that would not last forever. She needed to find a way to control that power before it broke free—or more than just Humanity would pay the price.

Now Ariane must travel with Orphan into the legendary Deeps of the Arena, far from any known Spheres—to a destination only the enigmatic alien knows, leaving behind one of her most trusted friends and advisors to confront whatever new trials the Arena may throw at Humanity in her absence.

But before Ariane can depart, she must deal with a minor matter of a Challenge against one of the Great Factions—a Challenge with an entire species' citizenship in the Arena at stake!

Book three in the nationally best‑selling Manticore Ascendant series, a prequel series to David Weber's multiple New York Times best‑selling Honor Harrington series. Sequel to A Call to Duty and A Call to Arms.

After the disastrous attack on the Manticoran home system by forces unknown, the Royal Manticoran Navy stands on the brink of collapse. A shadowy enemy with the resources to hurl warships across hundreds of light years seeks to conquer the Star Kingdom for reasons unknown, while forces from within Manticore’s own government seek to discredit and weaken the Navy for reasons very much known: their own political gain.

It’s up to officers like Travis Long and Lisa Donnelly to defend the Star Kingdom and the Royal Manticoran Navy from these threats, but the challenge is greater than any they have faced before. Weakened but not defeated, the mercenary forces and their mysterious employer could return at any time, and the anti‑Navy faction within Parliament is growing. The situation becomes even more dire when fresh tragedy strikes the Star Kingdom.

While the House of Winton faces their enemies at home, Travis, Lisa, and the other officers of the Royal Manticoran Navy must reunite with old friends and join new allies to hunt down and eliminate the forces arrayed against them in a galaxy‑spanning conspiracy.

Manticore has learned that the universe is not a safe place, but the Star Kingdom’s enemies are about to learn a lesson of their own!

Russ Tabor is one of the top security specialists in the galaxy. Much against his will, he finds himself assigned to provide protection for Rupert Medawar Narayan Shenoy—“Lord Shenoy,” as he likes to style himself—who is probably the human race’s most brilliant savant. Shenoy has become convinced that the race of ancient aliens known as the Old Ones possessed powers unknown to any modern intelligent species. He believes they had harnessed forces which may well have been actual magic, giving the Old Ones the stature of gods.

Off Russ and Shenoy go to find the secret. Meanwhile, Occo, a member of the alien race known as the Nac Zhe Anglan, returns to her religious creed’s home cloister to find that it has been completely destroyed—and by means which suggest that the Old Ones were the perpetrators. Yet the Old Ones, those ancient and inimical gods of the galaxy, were thought to have perished eons before.

Occo is not a savant of any kind. She is a shaman castigant, a warrior of her creed. Her purpose now is to seek revenge, not to uncover the secrets of the Old Ones. But she cannot do the one without first doing the other. So, she and her familiar Bresk set ought to track down those long‑gone deities.

Now human adventures and an alien shaman are on a collision course with the truth: despite their many differences, only if they unite their forces do they stand any chance of surviving the coming encounter with the gods of Sagittarius.

THEY PLANNED ON A NICE WAR

There had been a century of peace, and the politicians of Earth and its colonies were running on platforms of cutting “wasteful” military spending—all while Earth’s military tried to keep aging and obsolete ships flying and battle-ready. And while the swords rusted, war clouds gathered on the horizon…

Contact had been made with the Kilrathi—a warrior race feline in appearance and deadly in combat. Yet, even though they had annihilated or enslaved scores of other races throughout the galaxy, and had attacked human colonies on the border worlds, the government was not taking them seriously, thinking that the Fleet could handle them with ease. Commander Winston Turner knew that the government was moving toward a declaration of war against the Kilrathi in response to demands from the border worlds. He also knew that the Fleet would be forced to operate under Plan Orange Five: limited action and punitive responses only. He only hoped that mankind would recognize its mistake before it was too late.

From Hugo‑nominated editor Bryan Thomas Schmidt and Nebula nominated author Robin Wayne Bailey, here are nineteen top‑notch science fiction stories guaranteed to make you think -and‑ laugh, featuring such major writers as Robert Silverberg, Mike Resnick, Allen M. Steele, Esther Friesner, Elizabeth Moon, Seanan McGuire, Jody Lynn Nye, James Gunn, Kristine Kathryn Rusch and many more.

When Little Green Men Attack, It’s All‑out Laugh Warfare

From the far reaches of outer space they come—inscrutable aliens, malicious invaders, wacky tourists from another planet—to conquer, study, and tickle us. From the battlefields of the Ozarks to the marble halls of the Boston Library, from Central Park to the skies above Washington, on the moon and in the seediest bars of Kansas City—they’re here. But do they really know who they’re up against? Not hardly!

SEQUEL TO GRAND CENTRAL ARENA AND SPHERES OF INFLUENCE. The climax of the Arenaverse adventure SF series!

The Arena: a vast alien otherspace that all species were forced to enter when they discovered faster‑than‑light travel. The Arena: where the lives of entire species might hang in the balance in a single Challenge. The Arena: filled with mysteries, alliances, betrayals, opportunities, and hideous dangers for individual and empire alike. And the only thing you couldn't do . . . was refuse to play the Arena's game.

Ariane Austin and her crew had learned these lessons the hard way, and—with luck, skill, and sheer will, had managed to survive so far. But now a debt of honor to Humanity's oldest, if sometimes self‑serving, ally Orphan has come due. The threat of war looms with the xenophobic Molothos, one of the five Great Factions; the dark and omnipresent legacy of the Hyperion Experiment lingers. As Leader of the Faction of Humanity, Captain Ariane Austin had to deal with all of these problems, and deal with them soon. For within her was also the alien power that the Shadeweavers and the Faith had sealed away—with a seal that would not last forever. She needed to find a way to control that power before it broke free—or more than just Humanity would pay the price.

Now Ariane must travel with Orphan into the legendary Deeps of the Arena, far from any known Spheres—to a destination only the enigmatic alien knows, leaving behind one of her most trusted friends and advisors to confront whatever new trials the Arena may throw at Humanity in her absence.

But before Ariane can depart, she must deal with a minor matter of a Challenge against one of the Great Factions—a Challenge with an entire species' citizenship in the Arena at stake!

A STUNNING BAEN BOOKS DEBUT. A brilliant Americana flintlock fantasy novel set in a world of Appalachian magic that works.

Sarah Calhoun is the fifteen‑year‑old daughter of the Elector Andrew Calhoun, one of Appalachee’s military heroes and one of the electors who gets to decide who will next ascend as the Emperor of the New World. None of that matters to Sarah. She has a natural talent for hexing and one bad eye, and all she wants is to be left alone—especially by outsiders.

But Sarah’s world gets turned on its head at the Nashville Tobacco Fair when a Yankee wizard‑priest tries to kidnap her. Sarah fights back with the aid of a mysterious monk named Thalanes, who is one of the not‑quite‑human Firstborn, the Moundbuilders of the Ohio. It is Thalanes who reveals to Sarah a secret heritage she never dreamed could be hers.

Now on a desperate quest with Thalanes to claim this heritage, she is hunted by the Emperor’s bodyguard of elite dragoons, as well as by darker things—shapeshifting Mockers and undead Lazars, and behind them a power more sinister still. If Sarah cannot claim her heritage, it may mean the end to her, her family—and to the world where she is just beginning to find her place.

Little Green Men - Attack!

edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt and Robin Wayne Bailey

Wing Commander: Action Stations

by William R. Forstchen

Witchy Eye

by D.J. Butler

Ring of Fire IV

edited by Eric Flint

Challenges of the Deeps

by Ryk E. Spoor

Changeling's Island

by Dave Freer

From the Romantic Times Sapphire award winning author of the Internationally best‑selling Elfhome series.

REBUILD A LIFE, SAVE A CITY

Silas Decker had his world destroyed when he was attacked by vampires outside of New Amsterdam. He has rebuilt his life a dozen times in the last three hundred years—each time less and less successfully. Now he lives alone, buried under a hoarding habit, struggling to find some reason to wake up with the setting of the sun.

Eloise is a Virtue, pledged to hunting evil. What she doesn’t know is how to live alone in a city full of strangers who know nothing about monsters.

Seth is the sixteen‑year old Prince of Boston, ward of the Wolf King. Now he is left in a city that desperately needs his protection with enemies gathering all around.

Joshua believes he is a normal, college‑bound high school senior. His life is shattered when he wakes up in a field, covered with blood, and the prom committee scattered in pieces about him like broken dolls.

These four must now come together to unravel a plot by Wickers, witches who gain power from human sacrifices and have the power to turn any human into their puppet. Four people who lost everything struggle to save Boston by saving each other.

A new entry in the critically acclaimed Caine Riordan science fiction series by three‑time Nebula nominee Charles E. Gannon! Science fiction on a grand scale. Prequels Raising Caine, Trial by Fire and Fire with Fire were all Nebula Award finalists. Charles E. Gannon is also the winner of the Compton Crook Award.

Caine Riordan, fresh from serving as envoy to the aliens known as the Slaasriithi, has been given yet another daunting task: apprehend raiders that are terrorizing a distant planet.

As difficulties mount, Caine becomes aware that the mission his superiors sent him to perform may not be the one they actually hope he will achieve. Which means Caine may be forced to choose between honoring a promise to friends or following orders—a choice that could ultimately put him in front of a board of inquiry. Or a firing squad.

BOOK #5 IN THE BEST‑SELLING TAU CETI AGENDA SERIES, SEQUEL TO TRAIL OF EVIL. Humanity takes to interstellar space to face conflict and an extermination threat from an evil artificial intelligence, and an alien menace from beyond.

A century and a half after the Martian Separatist Wars, Alexander Moore returns to the stars with the Sienna Madira, a United States Navy supercarrier spacecraft outfitted with advanced FTL and endlessly strange, extremely effective, quantum‑based weapons and remote sensing technology. And, of course, he's brought Marines, and lots of them. These are troops superbly trained for space battle, and equipped with advanced powered armor and artificial intelligence backup.

Moore's task: hunt down remnant weaponry platforms left by the brilliant, mad artificial intelligence known as Copernicus, the being ultimately responsible for the Solar System‑wide civil war. Now Copernicus has formed an alliance with something else out there with a similar goal: wipe humanity from the galaxy forever.

Pros and Cons: How Authors Can Make the Most of a Convention Appearance

by Jody Lynn Nye and Bill Fawcett

Clockwork Lives

by Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart

Empire's Rift

by Steve Rzasa

The Science Fiction Professional

Expanded & Updated
by Mike Resnick

Grim Tales of the Brothers Kollin

by Dani Kollin and Eytan Kollin

Attending your first convention as a professional writer? Don’t know what opportunities are out there for you? How do you get invited? How do you approach editors? How do you deal with fans who love your book and those who haven’t read it yet? Jody Lynn Nye and Bill Fawcett have answers to the questions you don’t even know you have. From how to approach a convention committee to how to handle yourself on panels and signings, this book will give you an expert’s perspective on how to make the most of a convention.

In Clockwork Angels, #1 bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson and legendary Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart created a fabulous, adventurous steampunk world in a novel to accompany the smash Rush concept album of the same name. It was a world of airships and alchemy, clockwork carnivals, pirates, lost cities, a rigid Watchmaker who controlled every aspect of life, and his nemesis, the ruthless and violent Anarchist who wanted to destroy it all.

Anderson and Peart have returned to their colourful creation to explore the places and the characters that still have a hold on their imagination. Marinda Peake is a woman with a quiet, perfect life in a small village; she long ago gave up on her dreams and ambitions to take care of her ailing father, an alchemist and an inventor. When he dies, he gives Marinda a mysterious inheritance: a blank book that she must fill with other people’s stories — and ultimately her own.

Clockwork Lives is a steampunk Canterbury Tales, and much more, as Marinda strives to change her life from a mere “sentence or two” to a true epic.

Master Walk

Tales of the Advocacy #1
by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

Spell Bound

Archers Beach #6
by Sharon Lee

Surfside

Archers Beach #4
by Sharon Lee

TimeRags II

by Steve Miller

The Gift of Magic

Archers Beach #5
by Sharon Lee

Steve Miller is rapidly approaching one of those milestones many writers never reach—one million words in print. He's written science fiction, been a reporter, edited newspapers, and written articles for newspapers.

As a drama critic Steve's covered opening night plays and as a blues and rock music critic he's covered everything from one-gig garage bands to the Baltimore club scene to Bob Dylan and Little Feat in concert.

TimeRags II might seem an oddity to those who know him as a fictioneer, critic, or journalist, but Steve—grandson of internationally esteemed poet Dorothea Neale—spent portions of his early writing years as a touring coffee house poet and reader.
In response to audience requests, Steve's first book, TimeRags, was published in 1975 in an edition of 200 copies.

TimeRags II updates that edition, with three poems added and two deleted; a number of typographical errors have been corrected and some minor changes in punctuation and order of presentation were made.

Archers Beach is a more-than-slightly battered resort town on the coast of Maine, but there's something a little bit special about it. Magic works there, sort-of, and the trenvay—the beings that guard the land and the people—work their own kind of magic.

Includes two short stories, "The Gift of Music," and "The night don't seem so lonely."

Both stories were previously published at Baen.com

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this novel are fiction or are used fictitiously.

Two tales inspired by the magical Maine coast.

"Emancipated Child" features Jason Thibodeau, a young man who is challenged to accept his power—and his destiny—in the tiny coastal town of Surfside.

"How Nathan Archer Came to be a Prince of the Land of the Flowers," tells the story of a young woman who puts duty before all.

Also included in an author's foreword—"In Which Writing Novels is Like Sewing."

Two stories touching on Archers Beach, Maine, scene of the novels Carousel Tides, Carousel Sun, and Carousel Seas, that explore the "what came after" or "what came before" in the lives of several characters from the novels.

"Will-o'-the-Wisp" is a contemporary fantasy story about love and the changes it brings.

"The Wolf's Bride" is set in the Land of the Flowers, and explores the background of Kael, called The Wolf.

Sharon Lee is co-author of the Liaden Universe® novels and short stories.