Contains Raj Whitehall series opening novels The Forge and The Hammer together in one volume. A young hero overcomes implacable foes to lead a planet fallen into a dark age back to the high point of its lost technological civilization.

Raj Whitehall was a young noble of the Civil Government, the last remnant of galactic civilization on the planet Bellevue, when he came across an ancient but still functioning Fleet Battle Computer named Center. With Center's vast fund of knowledge and strategic calculating abilities, Raj could defeat the barbarians threatening to engulf the Civil Government, and start Bellevue on the road back to the stars. But the Governor, to whom Raj has sworn absolute loyalty, nourishes a paranoid envy and mistrust that grows with every victory. Can even a battle computer of the Galactic Age be enough to counter the fury of Raj's enemies—and the treachery of his so-called friends?

THE ROYAL BRAT IS IN TROUBLE

 Roger Ramius Sergei Chiang MacClintock didn't understand.

He was young, handsome, athletic, an excellent dresser, and third in line for the Throne of Man ... so why wouldn't anyone at Court trust him

Why wouldn't even his own mother, the Empress, explain why they didn't trust him Or why the very mention of his father's name was forbidden at Court Or why his mother had decided to pack him off to a backwater planet aboard what was little more than a tramp freighter to represent her at a local political event better suited to a third assistant undersecretary of state

It probably wasn't too surprising that someone in his position should react by becoming spoiled, self-centered, and petulant. After all, what else did he have to do with his life

But that was before a saboteur tried to blow up his transport. Then warships of the Empire of Man's worst rivals shot the crippled vessel out of space. Then Roger found himself shipwrecked on the planet Marduk, whose jungles were full of damnbeasts, killerpillars, carnivorous plants, torrential rain, and barbarian hordes with really bad dispositions. Now all Roger has to do is hike halfway around the entire planet, then capture a spaceport from the Bad Guys, somehow commandeer a starship, and then go home to Mother for explanations.

Fortunately, Roger has an ace in the hole: Bravo Company of Bronze Battalion of The Empress' Own Regiment. If anyone can get him off Marduk alive, it's the Bronze Barbarians.

Assuming that Prince Roger manages to grow up before he gets all of them killed.

 ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Granted, the decade has just begun, but David Weber shows all signs of being the science fiction phenomenon of the decade. Weber 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). Weber lives in South Carolina and, in spite of having gotten married a year ago, shows no sign of slowing down. . . .

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. 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.

Now with a new afterword by David Drake!

They were the toughest fighters in the galaxy-
until they got used up.

The mission: redemption-or death,
The troops were walking dead already,
so there wasn't much of a downside.

Major Arthur Farrell and the troops of Strike Force Company C41 had seen too much war with the alien Kalendru. They had too many screaming memories to be fit for combat again, but they were far too dangerous to themselves and others to be returned to civilian life.

The bureaucracy that administered human affairs arranged a final mission with the same ruthless efficiency as it conducted the war against the Kalendru. C41 would guard a colony being sent to a hell planet. If the troops succeeded, they might be ready to return to human society.

When the mission went horribly wrong, Art Farrell and his troops found their lives on the line as never before, protecting civilians to whom bureaucratic injustice was a new experience. And there was one more thing...

A story of soldiers and civilians,
of hope and, possibly, redemption.

Two complete novels in one volume—
the beginning of the Belisarius saga.

An Oblique Approach: In northern India the Malwa have created an empire of unexampled evil. Guided or possessed by an intelligence from beyond time, with new weapons, old treachery, and an implacable will to power, the Malwa will sweep over the whole Earth. Only three things stand between the Malwa and their plan of eternal domination: the empire of Rome in the East, Byzantium; a crystal with vision; and a man named Belisarius, the greatest commander Earth has ever known.

In the Heart of Darkness: Having conquered sixth century India, the Malwa Empire is forging the subcontinent's vast population into an invincible weapon of tyranny. Belisarius, the finest general of his age, must save the world. Guided by visions from a future that may never be, he and a band of comrades penetrate the Malwa heartland, seeking the core of the enemy's power. And when Belisarius leads the forces of good, only a fool would side with evil.

FIVE YEARS AFTER 
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 
MAGIC IS LOOSE IN THE BACKWOODS

The forces of evil are poised to prey on the folk of the hamlets and hollows: witches, demons, and red-handed men—but first they'll have to overcome Old Nathan the Wizard.

He doesn't claim much for his magical powers, but they're real enough for what they are—and besides, he hasn't forgotten how to use his long flintlock rifle ....

Enter the gritty, realistic world of Old Nathan, a backwoodsman who talks to animals and says he'll face The Devil himself-and who in the end will have to face The Devil in very fact.

"David Drake is one of those rare authors who seems capable of switching from one mode of writing to another, hard science, near future political thriller to high fantasy, with a smooth meshing of gears."
-Science Fiction Chronicle

With Lord of the Isles, David Drake returns to fantasy with a towering and complex epic of heroic adventure set in an extraordinary and colorful world where the elemental forces that empower magic are rising to a thousand-year peak.

In the days following an unusually severe storm, the inhabitants of a tiny seaport town travel toward romance, danger, and astonishing magic that will transform them and their world.

"Unlike most modern fantasy, David Drake's Lord of the Isles is an epic with the texture of the legends of yore, with rousing action and characters to cheer for." —Terry Goodkind

"True brilliance is as rare as a perfect diamond or a supernova. Lord of the Isles is truly brilliant. We are in at the birth of a classic....There is a lot of fantasy out there, but there is only one Lord of the Isles." —Morgan Llywelyn

"David Drake's work here is original, engrossing, and instantly credible. After all the hackneyed, repetitive fantasy I've read recently, Lord of the Isles seems quite wonderful." —Stephen R. Donaldson
Tom Doherty Associates, LLC www.tor.com

In the time of the Ancients the universe was united—but that was so far in the past that not even memory remains, only the broken artifacts that a few Makers can reshape into their original uses. What survives is shattered into enclaves—some tiny, some ruined, some wild.

Into the gaps between settlements, and onto the Road that connects all human reality and the reality that is not human and may never have been human, have crept monsters. Some creatures are men, twisted into inhuman evil; some of them are alien to Mankind—

And there are things which are hostile to all life, things which will raven and kill until they are stopped.

A Leader has arisen, welding the scattered human settlements together in peace and safety and smashing the enemies of order with an iron fist. In his capital, Dun Add, the Leader provides law and justice. In the universe beyond, his Champions advance—and enforce—the return of civilization.

Pal, a youth from the sticks, has come to Dun Add to become a Champion. Pal is a bit of a Maker, and in his rural home he's been able to think of himself as a warrior because he can wield the weapons of the Ancient civilization.

Pal has no idea of what he's really getting into in Dun Add. On the other hand, the Leader and Dun Add have no real idea of what might be inside this hayseed with high hopes.

THE SPARK: A story of hope and violence and courage. And especially, a story of determination.

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!

Make Tracks to the Stars!

0 Ye civilized of Earth: send forth your outcasts, your primitive throwbacks, your religious fundamentalists, your sexual separatists—and heck, you can even toss in your totalitarian crackpots in the bargain. Pack them all in sealed habitats, rocket them into space, and pronounce good riddance to those lunatics, oddballs and losers!

But if you happen to be an alien explorer stranded on that ship and looking to find a way home Well then, your one chance lies in seeking out the true iconoclasts in a sea of nutcase societies—for verily, it is only the absolutely original and terminally weird who shall inherit the stars!

New York Times best-seller Eric Flint and Dave Freer deliver an adventure through the eeriest alien realm of all—human culture at its most extreme!

"[T]he sharpest moments in this giddy entertainment are those where [Flint and Freer] blithely skewer human mores."
—Publisher's Weekly on Rats, Bats & Vats

Listen to Dave Freer, here, and Eric Flint (with Dave Freer), here, discuss the book on the Baen Free Radio Hour.

Here are weird stories set in the present, along with alternative histories filled with gritty realism and exacting detail as well as an assortment of horrors and monsters. Most of all, here are the tough heroes who throughout time master their own fears and face the very real terrors that haunt existence. Sometimes these heroes win a partial victory. Sometimes it’s enough to go down fighting.

Before Drake was a best-selling author of military science fiction, he was a prolific writer of horror and fantasy short fiction. “Denkirch,” Drake’s first sale, is here, and well as many stories set in the worlds of his fantasy novels (Ranks of Bronze, Lord of the Isles, and others).

More than just a collection of stories, Night & Demons features extensive story notes that chronicle the development of one of science fiction's most popular writers, and provide detailed snapshots of the larger-than-life editors, publishers, and writers with whom Drake has worked throughout his career.

Join the author for Fireside Chat as he discusses the book on the Baen Free Radio Hour: Part 1 | Part 2.

TALES OF THE WAR THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN

What if the United States had gone to war with the Soviet Union? What if these rival superpowers had fought on land, sea, air, and the astral plane? What if the Soviets and Americans had struggled for dominion across parallel dimensions or on the surface of the moon? How would the world have changed? What wonders would have been unveiled? What terrors would have haunted mankind from those dark and dismal dimensions? Come closer, peer through a glass darkly, and discover the horrifying alternative visions of World War III from some of today’s greatest minds in science fiction, fantasy, and horror.

Includes new stories by David Drake, Brad R. Torgersen, Mike Resnick, Sarah A. Hoyt, and many more!