Seas of Venus - Baen Books

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Seas of Venus


THE MOST COLORFUL MYTH
FROM SCIENCE FICTION'S
GOLDEN AGE IS REBORN IN
SEAS OF VENUS

Earth is a dead cinder beyond the dense clouds. On a terraformed Venus the land is ruled by savage plants and the even more savage beasts that prey on them, while monsters out of nightmare swim though the globe-girdling seas. Mankind huddles in domed underwater Keeps, living a purposeless static existence—dedicated to pleasure but destined for oblivion later if not sooner.

Only the Free Companions, the mercenaries who fight proxy wars for the Keeps, live on the surface of Venus. Their warships course the seas, battling one another in struggles to decide victory or defeat for one day, life or death for a few individuals. The Free companions live till they die with the searing thrill of danger, and their deeds bring excitement and color to the bored residents of the Keeps; but Mankind is doomed unless something changes.

Few are willing to risk their lives for that change, battling both the terrifying environment and the ruthless oligarchs for whom the status quo means a lifetime of luxury. But there are a handful of courageous visionaries in the Keeps and in the Free Companies where death is a way of life!

Publisher's Note: Seas of Venus has been previously published in parts as The Jungle and Surface Action. This is the first unified publication.

Cover Art by Bob Eggleton



ORDER Paperback

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

First printing, October 2002

Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN-10: 0-7434-3564-8
eISBN: 978-1-61824-350-8

Seas of Venus Copyright © 2002 by David Drake
Surface Action copyright © 1990 by David Drake
The Jungle copyright © 1991 by David Drake

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.

A Baen Books Original
Baen Publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, NY 10471
http://www.baen.com

Electronic version by Baen Books
http://www.baen.com


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