A collection of side-splitting science fiction shorts includes tales of paratrooper goblins, space cops and their politically correct alien supervisor, a band of mercenary elves, and a collaboration with Larry Niven.

The Emperor is dead, leaving only a child as successor. Will the leaders of the empire rally behind the heir? If not, interstellar civilization will once again dissolve into civil war and slide into another long night of barbarism. Book 1 of the Crisis of Empire series.

ALIEN MINDS BATTLE 
FOR BYZANTIUM

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 know. . . .

Balefires is the long awaited collection of David Drake's weird and fantastic fiction. Before Drake was a best-selling author of military science fiction, he was a prolific writer of horror and fantasy short fiction. Balefires collects some of his earliest professional sales (including his first sale to Arkham House).

In addition Balefires brings together many stories set in the worlds of his fantasy novels (Ranks of Bronze, Lord of the Isles, etc). More than just a collection of stories, Balefires features extensive story notes that chronicles the development of the writing career of one of science fiction's most popular writers, and provides detailed snapshots of the larger-than-life editors, publishers, and writers with whom Drake has worked throughout his career.

David Drake was born on September 24, 1945, in Dubuque, Iowa. In 1967 he graduated from the University of Iowa with a BA in History and Latin. In the same year he was married and entered Duke Law School. Drake was drafted out of law school and served in the army from 1969-1971, spending most of 1970 as an interrogator with the 11th Armored Calvary Regiment, the Blackhorse, in Vietnam and Cambodia. Drake returned from Vietnam and finished law school, after which he spent eight years as Assistant Town Attorney of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In 1980 he resigned and drove a city bus part-time for a year while doing more writing. He's been a full-time freelance writer since 1981.

Drake sold his first story ( a Lovecraftian pastiche which on rereading isn't as bad as he thought it was) to August Derleth in 1966 while still an undergraduate. He continued to sell stories in law school, the army, and while working as an attorney. His first book was published in 1979 and he has had over 60 books published since then.

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.

Continuing the popular Belisarius saga,
with two full-length novels in one volume.

Destiny's Shield: Evil from beyond time: The Malwa Empire squats like a toad across sixth century India, commanded by ruthless men with depraved appetites. But the thing from the distant future that commands them is far worse. Those who oppose the purulent Hell the Malwa will make of Earth have sent a crystal, Aide, to halt their advance. Aide holds all human knowledge—but cannot act by himself. That requires Count Belisarius, the greatest general fo the age and perhaps of all ages, who must outwit the evil empire—and then, when there is no longer room to maneuver, to meet it sword-edge to sword-edge, lest evil beyond human conception rules the world forever.

Fortune's Stroke: Link, the supercomputer from a future that should not, must not exist has used terror and gunpowder weapons to forge the Malwa Empire on the Indian subcontinent. Aide and Belisarius have led the armies of Byzantium and blunted the first assault of the Malwa hordes. Now he and his allies from all the world face overwhelming numbers in a ring that tightens about them. The armies of Good and Evil gathered on the fertile plains of Mesopotamia will decide the fate of the world—and the fate of all the future.

Next

The Tide of Victory: The creators of the monster called Link once were human, but that was distant ages in their past. Now, from the far future, they have sent their creation back to rule the Malwa Empire, then to conquer and shape the world of the sixth century A.D. into the form that will make their own foul existence possible. Those in the future who never were human have sent their own messenger to the past: Aide, a gleaming jewel who has come to Belisarius, the greatest general of the sixth century and perhaps any century. Between them they have forged an alliance of all the world against the evil fro the far future—and an army that can be the spear through evil's heart.

The Dance of Time: The Malwa and their evil have been driven back to their Indian heartland, but there they coil to strike again. Ruled by a monster from the future that is part computer and part demon, they prepare a fresh attack whose success will leave them rulers of the world—and the monster that guides the Malwa will rule the whole future. Guided by Aide, Belisarius has arrayed the forces of Mankind against the Malwa evil. There is no hope for Mankind if he fails—so he must not fail! The triumphant conclusion of the Belisarius saga. 

About the Authors

Eric Flint is the co-author of three New York Times best sellers in his "Ring of Fire" alternate history series. His first novel for Baen, Mother of Demons, was picked by Science Fiction Chronicle as a best novel of the year. His 1632, which launched the Ring of Fire series, won widespread critical praise, as from Publishers Weekly, which called him "an SF author of particular note, one who can entertain and edify in equal, and major, measure." A longtime labor union activist with a master's degree in history, he currently resides in northwest Indiana with his wife Lucille.

 David Drake is one of the grand masters of military science fiction, known for his best-selling Hammer's Slammers series and many other novels. A Vietnam veteran, he employs his first-hand experience with the military life and combat to give his work the vivid images and feel of battle that have won him a huge readership. He was attending Duke University Law School when he was drafted. Upon his return from the U.S. Army, he completed his law degree at Duke and was for eight years Assistant Town Attorney for Chapel Hill, North Carolina. A full-time writer since 1981, his other books for Baen include the RCN-Leary series, the latest being In the Stormy Red Sky, and the Belisarius series, written in collaboration with Eric Flint, the fourth and fifth novels of which are now combined in this volume.

ALIEN FEROCITY vs ROMAN COURAGE AS THE EMPIRE DIES

Rome, 262 A.D. It has been the capital of the greatest civilization on Earth. Now both city and civilization are dying. Germans flood across the borders from Britain to the Bosporus, leaving a trail of rape, carnage, and ashes. In the cities, mobs riot; in the countryside, cults seek salvation in dark rituals. Imperial unity has shattered into a mosaic of separatists and usurpers, squabbling among themselves as greater enemies gather to swallow them all.

One man stands between humanity and the Long Night, matching savage determination against a hopeless future. He is Aulus Prennius, an Imperial secret agent as tough and ruthless as the age in which he lives. Until now, though, his enemies have all been human...

"David Drake is one of the most gifted users of historical and military raw materials at work today."
— Chicago Sun-Times

THEIR FINEST HOUR,
OR THEIR FINAL DAYS...

The First Empire has entered what may very well be its last crisis: the Emperor is dead by assassination and has left an infant heir. Worse, the imperial mystique is but a fading memory: nobody believes in empire anymore. Indeed nobody believes in much of anything beyond the boundaries of self. There are exceptions, of course, and to those few falls the self-appointed duty of maintaining a military-civil order that is corrupt, despotic—and infinitely preferable to the barbarous chaos that will accompany its fall.

One such is commander Anson Merikur.
This is his story.

ALL HAIL THE CONQUEROR!

With the aid of a sentient battle computer from before the collapse of interstellar civilization, Raj Whitehall has come close to reuniting the entire planet of Bellevue. Because of his victories and because of the way he won them, Raj is loved by the people—and his army would follow him to Hell. Even those closest to him, his band of sworn companions and his wickedly subtle but utterly loyal wife, hold him in awe.

And that's the problem. For though Raj battles only in the name of his emperor and has proven his loyalty again and again, still the half-mad jealousy and fear of Barholm Clerett is about to give Raj no choice but to revolt or face death by torture. Raj Whitehall, Hammer of the Barbarians, Sword of the Spirit of Man, has always been ready to bear any burden, pay any price for final victory.

Now his fate is on him.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

S.M. Stirling instantly became known as a talented new writer of military SF for his highly acclaimed, widely-read "Draka" series, which began with Marching Through Georgia. His collaborative novel with Anne McCaffrey, The City Who Fought, was a national bestseller. In addition to his popular General series, written in collaboration with David Drake, he has also collaborated with Jerry Pournelle on both the best-selling Man-Kzin Wars series and the Falkenberg's Legion series, recently collected in one volume as The Prince. His alternate history series which began with Island in the Sea of Time has also been very popular. He lives with his wife in Santa Fe, NM.

Vietnam veteran, former lawyer, former bus driver, and now bestselling author, David Drake tells a military story like no other. His readers recognize that he can take them where no one else can, with gut-wrenching description that puts them face-to-face with the enemy, and in the midst of the action right on the battlefield. He helped create the audience for mercenary military science fiction with his best-selling "Hammer's Slammers" books. Drake graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Iowa, majoring in history (with honors) and Latin. His stint at Duke University Law School was interrupted for two years by the U.S. Army, where he served as an enlisted interrogator with the 11th Armored Cavalry in Vietnam and Cambodia. Drake has a wife, a son, and various pets.

THE LONG WAY HOME

Hammer's Slammer Don Slade is coming home to the planet Tethys, to his son and the woman he loves. But the space between is dark and cold. And the stars he must pass shine their light on planets which beckon to the weary traveler, planets which hold hidden dangers.

And if Don Slade should ever reach Tethys ... that is when the real fighting starts.

"-[Drake] has developed a following for his Slammers just short of cult proportions.
-Rave Reviews

the best in military science fiction.

Hope Reborn

by David Drake and S. M. Stirling

March Upcountry

by David Weber and John Ringo

Redliners, Second Edition

by David Drake

Belisarius I: Thunder at Dawn

by David Drake and Eric Flint

Old Nathan

by David Drake

Lord of the Isles

by David Drake

The Spark

by David Drake

Starliner, Second Edition

by David Drake

Slow Train to Arcturus

by Eric Flint and Dave Freer

Night & Demons

by David Drake

Weird World War III

edited by Sean Patrick Hazlett

A NEW NOVEL IN THE NATIONALLY BEST-SELLING RCN MILITARY SF SERIES!  Leary and Mundy are back in another military science fiction adventure as they undertake a mission to a distant but critical star system.

IT'S JUST A REBELLION IN A DISTANT STAR CLUSTER.

Captain Daniel Leary thinks that his marriage will allow him to slip into the quiet role of a naval officer in peacetime. His friend, the spy and cybrarian Adele Mundy, is content to be collating data in her library. But high officials of both superpowers are involved! Those who want Daniel and Adele to become involved in the Tarbell Stars claim that only they can prevent a war between the Republic of Cinnabar and its great rival, the Alliance of Free Stars. The conflict is political, but at the sharp end it means blazing warfare and cold-blooded murder. Daniel and Adele will be at the sharp end.

The odds in ships and guns are badly in the enemy's favor. Daniel, Adele, and the crew of the Princess Cecile will do everything humanly possible, but that may not be enough against an enemy battleship. And even if Daniel and his companions succeed in battle, they can't be sure whether their employers really wanted them to win—or whether they even want them alive. All they can do is to race forward, hoping to come through into DEATH'S BRIGHT DAY.

EVIL FROM BEYOND TIME

The Malwa Empire squats like a toad across 6th century India, commanded by ruthless men with depraved appetites. The thing from the distant future that commands them is far worse.

Those who oppose the purulent Hell the Malwa will make of Earth have sent a crystal, Aide, to halt their advance. Aide holds all human knowledge-but he cannot act by himself.

Count Belisarius, the greatest general of the age and perhaps of all ages, must outwit the evil empire — and then, when there is no longer room to maneuver, to meet it sword-edge to sword-edge, because,

no matter what it costs

"It isn't often you come across a book or series you recommend to everyone. This one is an exception. Buy all the Belisarius books. Read them. No! After all, misery, loves company, and I shouldn't have to be the only one waiting this hard for number four!"
—David Drake

"The battle scenes and strategies are as expert as expected in a book with Drake's name on it. . . "
— Publishers Weekly

Henry Vickers's job is to keep clients safe from the dinosaurs they're hunting. That's the easy part. The hard part is to keep the clients safe from themselves and each other. Men with enough money to go into the past to hunt the largest land animals of all time are powerful and self‑willed. Some make an effort to act like decent human beings, but more are selfish, stupid, sadistic‑‑or all three together. The few women are likely to be worse.

Vickers doesn't expect rich people to understand the dangers of where they are and what they're doing; he doesn't expect them to be competent with the powerful rifles they carry; and he particularly doesn't expect them to be reasonable. He treats his clients' behavior as he does the rain and the baking heat‑‑the cost of having a life he loves and which he couldn't afford in any other way.

But no matter how detached Vickers tries to be, eventually there are moral questions that he can't ignore. And when Henry Vickers starts to behave like a human being instead of a hunting guide, things get really dangerous.

And in a complete change of pace: "Travellers."  An airship is crossing the United States in 1897 in search of the weird and the wonderful. The two teenagers aboard know that the airship's captain is a great scientist and inventor‑‑but they don't know how much more he is also.

All five of David Drake's time travel stories collected for the first time.

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

Lots of Soldiers Work for Civilians They don't Like,
but these Romans had It Worse than Most—
Their Commanders were Blue-Skinned Aliens!

The guilds of star-traveling merchants had strict rules to prevent their technology from falling into the hands of the natives of planets they were exploiting: military operations had to be carried out with weaponry no more complex than swords and bows.

            That was no handicap to merchant princes with a galaxy to scour for military slaves to do their fighting for them. Some came to Earth for soldiers and returned to the stars with the best the planet had to offer. For over two thousands years the aliens thought they'd succeeded brilliantly—but then things changed!

            Set in the universe of Ranks of Bronze, masterful new novellas by:

            David Drake

                        Eric Flint

                                    S. M. Stirling

                                                Mark L Van Name

                                                            and David Weber

explore the bleeding edge between human courage and the science of alien slavemasters. The right man with a sword is just as deadly as a technician with a laser—

            And not all the blood spilled is red!

ABOUT THE CREATOR

Vietnam veteran, former lawyer, former bus driver, and now famous author, David Drake tells a military story like no other. His readers recognize that he can take them where no one else can, with gut-wrenching description that puts them face-to-face with the enemy, and in the midst of the action right on the battlefield. He helped create the audience for mercenary military science fiction with his bestselling "Hammer's Slammers" books. Drake graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Iowa, majoring in history (with honors) and Latin. His stint at Duke University Law School was interrupted for two years by the U.S. Army, where he served as an enlisted interrogator with the 11th Armored Cavalry in Vietnam and Cambodia. Drake has a wife, a son, and various pets. In addition to his celebrated novels of Hammer's Slammers, his works for Baen include With the Lightnings, the prequel to Lt. Leary, Commanding, as well  Starliner, Ranks of Bronze, Redliners, the "General" series (with S.M. Stirling) and the "Belisarius" series (with Eric Flint), the latest of which is Fortune's Stroke, and many more.

EVIL FROM BEYOND TIME 
RULES THE GREATEST 
EMPIRE ON EARTH!

Link, the supercomputer from a future that should not exist, has used terror and gunpowder weapons to forge the Malwa Empire: harnessing the vast manpower of the Indian subcontinent and using the barbarian races of the periphery to bind the whole together. No power on Earth in the 6th century could stand against Link's evil.

Aide, a human soul embodied in a jewel, has come back to halt evil's progress. Aide has no power but that of truth, but truth is the only power that could move the greatest general of the age, Belisarius.

With his sword, his paladins, and his genius, Belisarius has turned the armies of Byzantium into a weapon capable of blunting the first assault of the Malwa hordes. Now, supported by allies from all the world yet free, Belisarius, with his wife and co-commander Antonia, faces overwhelming Malwa numbers in a ring that tightens about them.

There is no room for maneuver and no safety in defeat. The armies of Good and Evil gathered on the fertile plains of Mesopotamia will decide the fate of the world.

And the fate of all the future!

The Drugs of War
by J.R. Dunn Putting the Science in Science Fiction
by Tedd Roberts The Roads to the RCN Series
by David Drake The Menace from Lydia: The Social Spider as Alien Invader
by Robert E. Furey Rediscovering the Solar System
by Les Johnson The Conquest of Planet Baen
by Bob Kruger Indirectly Mistaken Decision Cycles
by Tom Kratman Do Tanks Have a Future?
by J.R. Dunn Getting Guns Right
by Michael Z. Williamson Rediscovering the Universe
by Les Johnson The Neuroscience of Darkships
by Tedd Roberts Stars That Wander, Are You Bright: Are Stars Conscious?
by Dr. Greg Matloff

In February of 2011 we started posting free nonfiction we at Baen thought might be of interest to our readers. The first article was "The Size of it All" by Les Johnson, a Baen author and space scientist. As new nonfiction is made available, it will be posted on the main page, then added to this book (to save the Baen Barflies the trouble of doing it themselves). This is our compilation of nonfiction for 2015.

As is usual with such copyrighted material from Baen, the contents may be copied and shared but NOT sold. All commercial rights are reserved to Baen Books.

Eleutherios
by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller Seven Miles
by T.C. McCarthy To Spec
by Charles E. Gannon Skyspark
by Ryk E. Spoor The Krumhorn and Misericorde
by Dave Freer Pittsburgh Backyard and Garden
by Wen Spencer Haunts of Guilty Minds
by John Lambshead The Lamplighter Legacy
by Patrick O'Sullivan Dog's Body
by Sarah A. Hoyt The Sorcerer of Daigawa
by Jon F. Merz Sweothi City
by Larry Correia Out of True
by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller Mars Farts
by Ben Bova The Virgin of Hertogenbosch
by David Drake Murder on the Hochflieger Ost
by Frank Chadwick

WAR WORLD VENDETTA

It has been three hundred years since the Sauron remnant fled in secret to Haven. Blasted back into savagery by nuclear weapons, divided among themselves by bitter feuds, the human inhabitants were helpless before the initial onslaught of these gene-designed demons who walked like men and fought like battle computers. To the Saurons, humans were merely two-legged cattle, a source of breeding females and other tribute.

But now a new voice is heard on Haven—a summons that will unite nomad and farmer, Mongol, Russki and Jew. Aisha, sister and daughter of Juchi the Accursed, has raised a banner that will sweep across the steppes like a wind of fire. Soon the tribes will meet before the Sauron Citadel—there to encounter the forces of a mad Cyborg Battlemaster in a final struggle to retake their world. Blood Feuds—and No Mercy.

HOLY WAR

Three hundred years ago the Saurons arrived on Haven and proceeded to destroy every vestige of technology except their own. Since then, the history of Haven has been a horror story.

But now one woman has sparked a rebellion, uniting the many tribes of Haven and joining together old enemies having nothing in common but their mutual hatred of the Sauron overlords. And at the Shangri-La valley this rabble in arms has done the impossible, and destroyed the Sauron force there.

But, an outpost is a very different thing from the final target of Aisha's army: the Sauron Citadel. If, against all odds, the Citadel falls, the humans will take back their world from the Sauron invaders—and three centuries of repressed hate and fury will erupt in Blood Vengeance . . .

New York Times best-selling authors S.M. Stirling, Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint, and Jody Lynn Nye return with four novellas. The cat-like Mrem, our heroes, battle the deep reptilian intelligence of humanoid dinosaurs in a Bronze Age world. After the extinction asteroid does notstrike Earth, the dinosaurs keep evolving–but so do the mammals. We mammals have achieved humanlike shapes, but now it’s cold‑blooded, magic‑using reptiles against the hot‑blooded, hot‑tempered descendants of cats.

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

ALL HAIL THE CONQUEROR!

With the aid of a sentient battle computer from before the collapse of interstellar civilization, Raj Whitehall has come close to reuniting the entire planet of Bellevue. Because of his victories and because of the way he won them, Raj is loved by the people—and his army would follow him to Hell. Even those closest to him, his band of sworn companions and his wickedly subtle but utterly loyal wife, hold him in awe.

And that's the problem. For though Raj battles only in the name of his emperor and has proven his loyalty again and again, still the half-mad jealousy and fear of Barholm Clerett is about to give Raj no choice but to revolt or face death by torture. Raj Whitehall, Hammer of the Barbarians, Sword of the Spirit of Man, has always been ready to bear any burden, pay any price for final victory.

Now his fate is on him.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

S.M. Stirling instantly became known as a talented new writer of military SF for his highly acclaimed, widely-read "Draka" series, which began with Marching Through Georgia. His collaborative novel with Anne McCaffrey, The City Who Fought, was a national bestseller. In addition to his popular General series, written in collaboration with David Drake, he has also collaborated with Jerry Pournelle on both the best-selling Man-Kzin Wars series and the Falkenberg's Legion series, recently collected in one volume as The Prince. His alternate history series which began with Island in the Sea of Time has also been very popular. He lives with his wife in Santa Fe, NM.

Vietnam veteran, former lawyer, former bus driver, and now bestselling author, David Drake tells a military story like no other. His readers recognize that he can take them where no one else can, with gut-wrenching description that puts them face-to-face with the enemy, and in the midst of the action right on the battlefield. He helped create the audience for mercenary military science fiction with his best-selling "Hammer's Slammers" books. Drake graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Iowa, majoring in history (with honors) and Latin. His stint at Duke University Law School was interrupted for two years by the U.S. Army, where he served as an enlisted interrogator with the 11th Armored Cavalry in Vietnam and Cambodia. Drake has a wife, a son, and various pets.

Book 1 of the Treasures of Tartary trilogy Black Chamber alternate history universe

Teddy Roosevelt has steered the Progressive Republican Party and the United States through the Mexican insurrection, and what would have been World War I. Mexico has become a part of the United States, but Europe has been destroyed by the Kaiser’s v-gas. Japan, Germany, and what’s left of the British Commonwealth are struggling for supremacy in the new world of the Twentieth Century. Roosevelt has created a spy agency called the Black Chamber, and two of his best Black Chamber agents are Luz O’Malley and her lover, Ciara Whelan. Luz and Ciara are tasked to figure out where all the Chinese antiquities being smuggled into the USA are coming from. As they dig deeper and deeper, bodies keep turning up all over Chinatown and it is no better in Shanghai. Luz and Ciara have to watch out for daggers in the dark.

HERE THERE BE DRAGONS

The dragon, breathing fire and darkening the sky with its huge batlike wings, fearsome yet fascinating, touches something deep in the human soul. Tales of the fabulous reptiles fill the legends and lore of all peoples, all nations, all times.

Now Christopher Stasheff looks into the Dragon’s Eye – and also through it. With Mike Resnick, Diane Duane, Jodi Lynn Nye, S.M. Stirling, William R. Forstchen and others, he introduces the king who was transformed by magic into a dragon, and the price his daughter has to pay to release him from his curse…the ghost of a silver dragon, who came to save a village in peril…one dragon who was a close friend of Charles Darwin and another who had a fateful meeting with Napolean…and more…

THINK ABOUT HISTORY. 
NOW MAKE IT WORSE . . .

The Domination of the Draka begins as a British possession in Africa, but soon becomes far more. Absorbing refugees after the American Revolution, and later the Civil War, the Draka become a people bred to rule with an iron fist. They permanently enslave the peoples of Africa, when they do not simply kill them.

But this does not slake the Draka thirst for power. Sweeping across the world, the Draka empire engulfs nation after nation, shackling into servitude all who are not Draka. Europe, Asia, and finally all the Earth and its colonies throughout the Solar System fall before the might of the Draka.

But empires are not faceless monoliths; they are made of individuals, complex humans with their own hopes and dreams. And so one might ask: Who are the Draka What sort of people does the Domination rule The Draka would have many different answers . . .

. . . and this is their story.

 " . . an exciting, evocative [and] horrifying read." —Poul Anderson

"A vivid alternate reality . . . truly a tour de force." —David Drake

"A potent, unflinching look at a might-have-been world whose evil both contrasts with and reflects that in our own." —Publishers Weekly

". . . superb action scenes, interesting characters, and a detailed if somewhat grisly world." —Chicago Sun-Times

Gwendolen Ingolfsson, hurled into a parallel Earth filled with billions of unaltered, antique humans when the molehole experiment she was working on malfunctioned, is very clear where her duty lies. As a member of the Draka, genetically engineered to dominate crude, unmodified humans, her task is to build a molehole device in this universe and establish a bridgehead for the Race to come through. It had been some time since the Draka last had such an opportunity for conquest...As for Detective-Lieutenant Henry Carmaggio, he'd seen plenty of blood, both in Cambodia and in twenty years of police work. But he'd never seen anything like this. Something was loose in his city, something inhuman that walked among us, killing with the easy precision of a leopard in a flock of sheep. And unless he could track it down it would kill and kill again - until the whole world was its hunting ground.

First entry in a new series with three big all new linked novellas from multiple best-sellers S.M. Stirling, John Ringo & Jody Lynn Nye, and Harry Turtledove! After the extinction asteroid DOESN'T strike Earth, the dinosaurs keep evolving—but so do the mammals. We mammals have achieved human-like shapes, but now it's cold-blooded, magic-using reptiles against the hot-blooded, hot-tempered descendants of cats.

In a heroic, bronze-age world similar to 300, the Mrem Clan of the Claw and its sister warbands are expanding their rough-and-tumble territory, but now they face the Lishkash, masters of a cold-blooded empire of slave armies and magic. It's mammalian courage and adaptation against reptile cunning in a clash of steel and will that will determine which line shall inherit the Earth.

In January of 2011 we started posting free short stories we thought might be of interest to Baen readers. The first stories were Space Hero by Patrick Lundrigan, the winner of the 2010 Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Contest, and Tanya, Princess of Elves, by Larry Correia, author of Monster Hunter International and set in that universe. As new stories are made available, they will be posted on the main page, then added to this book (to save the Baen Barflies the trouble of doing it themselves). This is our compilation of short stories for 2024.

As is usual with such copyrighted material from Baen, the contents may be copied and shared but NOT sold. All commercial rights are reserved to Baen Books.

Stranger, go and tell the Spartans
That we lie here, obedient to their commands.

Since the late 20th century, the Soviet-American CoDominium had kept the peace, both on Earth and among the stars. But now the CoDominium is dying, and its death-throes will be terrible; already the nations arm for their final battle. With Earth doomed, mankind's sole hope for a future worth having rests on a planet called Sparta, a planet where American idealists have raised once more the banner of a liberty that has been forgotten amid the corruptions and tyrannies of Earth.

The Spartans know that they must be strong to survive; that is why they hired John Christian Falkenberg and his Legion to train them. What the Spartans do not know is that Falkenberg's enemies have become their own—that Grand Senator Bronson's techno-ninja will follow the Legion to Sparta, and there wreak a terrible vengeance aimed at ending the Spartan experiment before it has fairly begun . . .

Sequel omnibus edition to Hope Reborn. 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. Contains The Anvil and The Steel in the General series. Series relaunched in The Heretic and continuing in The Savior.

After the collapse of the galactic Web, civilizations crumbled and chaos reigned on thousands of planets. Only on planet Bellevue was there a difference. There, a Fleet Battle Computer named Center had survived from the old civilization. When it found Raj Whitehall, the man who could execute its plan for reviving human civilization, he and Center started Bellevue back on the road leading to the stars.

Now Raj Whitehall has come close to reuniting the entire planet of Bellevue. Because of his victories and because of the way he won them, Raj is loved by the people—and his army would follow him to Hell. Even those closest to him, his band of sworn companions and his wickedly subtle but utterly loyal wife, hold him in awe.

And that's the problem. For though Raj battles only in the name of his emperor and has proven his loyalty again and again, still the half-mad jealousy and fear of that emperor Clerett is about to give Raj no choice but to revolt or face death and the loss of all he has gained for freedom.

About prequel omnibus volume, Hope Reborn:

"The various battles and intrigues–all of them very clever and some of them very unexpected–make up the core of these extremely well-written and unabashedly fun books. And really, the action never stops. I highly recommend them to you as they’ve come out in a tasty trade format that’s very easy to hold and lug around (they are, in other words, backpackable)."—Amazing Stories

About the Raj Whitehall series:

“[T]old with knowledge of military tactics and hardware, and vividly described action. . .devotees of military SF should enjoy themselves.”—Publishers Weekly

“[A] thoroughly engrossing military sf series. . .superb battle scenes, ingenious weaponry and tactics, homages to Kipling, and many other goodies. High fun.”—Booklist

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 Empire of Man has fallen and a new Dark Age is upon the stars. With planets cut off and reduced to subsistence and ignorance, humanity has nearly forgotten its past greatness. But one battle computer has survived the Collapse. He is Center. And Center is determined to find and aid leaders who can return a star-faring republic to the galaxy. The first of these leaders is Raj Whitehall, a man born to be a general, and molded to retake civilization itself from the jaws of barbarism.

The Empire of Man has fallen and a new Dark Age is upon the stars. With planets cut off and reduced to subsistence and ignorance, humanity has nearly forgotten its past greatness. But one battle computer has survived the Collapse. He is Center. And Center is determined to find and aid leaders who can return a star‑faring republic to the galaxy.  The first of these leaders is Raj Whitehall, a man born to be a general, and molded to retake civilization itself from the jaws of barbarism.

The Sword
For five years Raj Whitehall has led his men across the face of the planet Bellevue. With saber and bayonet he has conquered one barbarian nation after another. Now his greatest enemy is his own overlord, Barholm Clerett, who's so paranoid of Raj's victories that he is reduced to only one thought: Raj Whitehall must die.

The Chosen
Planted by interstellar probes on hundreds of human‑occupied worlds, the downloaded personalities of Raj Whitehall and the ancient battle computer known as Center work together for planetary unity. On Visager, a nation‑state of vicious militarists is about to start the final war that will bring their fatal racist infection to the stars. Now two young men once at odds in war must unite and, with the aid of the disembodied voices of their mentors from the stars, stand against exporting eternal tyranny to the galaxy itself.

Welcome to the hottest pocket in Larry Niven’s Known Space: the time of the assault on pacifist humanity by berserker felinoids from the planet Kzin. This time humanity’s representatives to the Warrior Race are Donald Kingsbury, Greg Bear, and Steve Stirling. As is traditional in this war for species survival, in all cases “monkey cleverness” (i.e., human cunning) is more than a match for felinoid ferocity. But as is also traditional, victory never comes cheap to those out on the sharp edge of The Man-Kzin Wars.

GIVE PEACE A CHANCE

A Kzin's instinctively combative responses make for poor diplomatic relations between species. But now that their "first you scream and then you leap" approach to interstellar relations have led to three straight losses to the hairless hominidae of Sol III, there has begun to arise in Kzinti consciousness the faintest glimmering that there may be a Better Way. And in the resulting calm between wars, humans and Kzin are beginning to collaborate.

Now the Universe really has something to worry about.

THE HELOT WAR—PART II

Together the new Royal Spartan Army and its instructors, the 5th Battalion of Falkenberg's Mercenary Legion, have defeated the initial assault of Grand Senator Bronson's terrorist hordes and their techno-ninja allies. But Bronson's hatred of Sparta and the Legion was as strong as ever; thanks to his limitless wealth and high office, the Helots were able to reform, retreat—and fight again.

This time they are doing better.

Besieged within, blockaded by the CoDominium without, Sparta grimly fights to preserve its precious experiment in liberty. But just as it seems that the Spartans and their allies might prevail, Bronson has supplied his minions with a battle plan that will bring something worse than a Helot victory: Codename Endlosung-Final Solution.

THESE SPACE PIRATES
ARE THE GOOD GUYS!

Peter Raeder was an ace pilot in the Commonwealth's war against the secessionist Mollies until a  battle cost him his hand—and his right to fly the fighter ships he loved. So he became Flight Engineer on the fast carrier Invincible, a crack new ship with a picked crew, ready to fight the fanatical Mollies and their spiderlike alien allies. On his first mission, he faced pirate raiders, attacks by Mollies and a hidden saboteur on board who came close to destroying the Invincible before Raeder unmasked him.

Unfortunately for Raeder, his heroism didn't follow the rulebook, and his reward for saving the ship was a reprimand from an admiral who didn't trust him, and a deskbound assignment—a fate worse than death for a born spacehound like Raeder. Then a less rulebound Marine General offered Raeder an escape: command of a hidden base deep in Mollie-controlled space from which ships, posing as space pirates, will harry Mollie shipping, like the seagoing privateers of Earth's past. And Raeder finds a dangerous mission preferable to exile to an office cubicle . . . even if his chances of surviving this assignment are very nearly zero.

". . . Doohan ("Scotty" on the original TV series Star Trek) and SF veteran Stirling again deliver the exhilarating action that their fans want. . . . Doohan fans will be delighted as the high-spirited crew of the Dauntless set out on their new ship, The Invincible . . . sharply drawn characters and rousing adventure with an energetic story line, offering first-rate escapist entertainment." 
—Publishers Weekly

"The collaboration of Star Trek's Scottie and top action-sf writer Stirling is a good one. The two have compatible senses of humor. . . . Solid astronautical fare."

The hottest team
in military SF is back in action—
with Book I of a red-hot sequel
to The General series!

Planted by interstellar probes on hundreds of human-occupied worlds, the downloaded personalities of Raj Whitehall and the ancient battle computer known as Center work together for planetary unity. Their goal is to prepare those worlds for membership in the Second Federation of Man. But on one planet they do the opposite: on Visager they work to prevent unity. For on Visager a nation-state of vicious militarists is about to start the final war to unite their world-once that is accomplished and their technology has matured they will turn outward, bringing their fatal racist infection to the stars. ,

John Hosten is the son of a high general of the Chosen. Jeffrey Fair is the son of an admiral of the only nation on Visager that might be capable of halting the onslaught. Through a strange twist of fate they have become as brothers united in their hatred of all that the Chosen hope to do. Only they—with the aid of the disembodied voices of their mentors from the stars-stand between eternal tyranny'for their world and eternal war for the galaxy.

AMERICAN FREEDOM AND JUSTICE
VS. THE TYRANNIES OF
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

The new government in central Europe, called the Confederated Principalities of Europe, was formed by an alliance between Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, and the West Virginians led by Mike Stearns who were transplanted into 17th-century Germany by a mysterious cosmic accident. The new regime is shaky. Outside its borders, the Thirty Years War continues to rage. Within, it is beset by financial crisis as well as the political and social tensions between the democratic ideals of the 20th-century Americans and the aristocracy which continues to rule the roost in the CPE as everywhere in Europe.

Worst of all, the CPE has aroused the implacable hostility of Cardinal Richelieu, the effective ruler of France. Richelieu has created the League of Ostend in order to strike at the weakest link in the CPE's armor—its dependence on the Baltic as the lifeline between Gustav Adolf's Sweden and the rest of his realm.

The greatest naval war in European history is about to erupt. Like it or not, Gustavus Adolphus will have to rely on Mike Stearns and the technical wizardry of his obstreperous Americans to save the King of Sweden from ruin.

Caught in the conflagration are two American diplomatic missions abroad: Rebecca Stearns' mission to France and Holland, and the embassy which Mike Stearns sent to King Charles of England headed by his sister Rita and Melissa Mailey. Rebecca finds herself trapped in war-torn Amsterdam; Rita and Melissa, imprisoned in the Tower of London.

And much as Mike wants to transport 20th-century values into war-torn 17th-century Europe by Sweet Reason, still he finds comfort in the fact that Julie, who once trained to be an Olympic marksman, still has her rifle . . .

David Weber is best known for his New York Times bestselling Honor Harrington series, arguably the most popular series in science fiction, which has led to reviewers comparing him to C.S. Forester , celebrated creator of Captain Horatio Hornblower. 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 Honor Harrington novels). With John Ringo, he inaugurated the Prince Roger series of space adventures with March Upcountrij and has continued it with March to the Sea. Weber and his wife Sharon live in South Carolina.

Eric Flint is a new master of alternate-history science fiction. His 1632, prequel to 1633, received lavish critical praise from all directions and enjoyed high sales. His first novel, Mother of Demons, was picked by Science Fiction Chronicle as a best novel of the year. He has also shown a powerful gift for humorous fantasy adventure with Forward the Mage and The Philosophical Strangler, which Booklist described as "Monty Python let loose in Tolkien's Middle Earth." With David Drake he has collaborated on five novels in the popular Belisarius series, the next of which will be The Dance of Time. A longtime labor union activist with a Master's Degree in history, he currently resides in Indiana with his wife Lucille.

Fight for Freedom in a Dark and Bloody Age!

After a cosmic accident sets the modern West Virginia town of Grantsville down in war-torn seventeenth century Europe, the United States of Europe is forged in the fire of battle.  The Baltic War reaches a climax as France, Spain, England, and Denmark besiege the U.S.E. in the Prussian stronghold of Lubeck.  The invention of ironclads, the introduction of special force tactics during a spectacular rescue operation at the Tower of London – the up-timers plan to use every trick in the time traveler's book to avoid a defeat that will send Europe back to a new Dark Age! 

Multiple New York Times best-seller and creator of the legendary "Honorverse" series David Weber teams with New York Times best-selling alternate history master Eric Flint to tell the tale of the little town that remade a continent and rang in freedom for a battle-ravaged land in the latest blockbuster addition to Flint's "Grantsville" saga!

"This is a thoughtful and exciting look at just how powerful are the ideals we sometimes take for granted, and is highly recommended[.]"
— Publishers Weekly on Flint and Weber's 1633.

"[R]eads like a Tom Clancy techno-thriller set in the age of the Medicis…"
— Publishers Weekly on New York Times best-seller, 1634:  The Galileo Affair.

From multiple New York Times best selling author David Weber and #1 New York Times best selling author Timothy Zahn. NEW ENTRY IN BEST-SELLING SERIES. Book #2 in the Manticore Ascendant series, set in David Weber's Honorverse.

Lieutenant Travis Long of the Royal Manticoran Navy is the sort of person who likes an orderly universe. One where people follow the rules.

Unfortunately, he lives in the real universe.

The good news is that Travis is one of those rare people who may like rules but has a talent for thinking outside them when everything starts coming apart. That talent has stood him—and the Star Kingdom—in good stead in the past, and it’s one reason he’s now a “mustang,” an ex-enlisted man who’s been given a commission as a King’s officer.

The bad news is that two of the best ways of making enemies ever invented are insisting on enforcing the rules . . . and thinking outside them when other people don’t. Travis learned that lesson the hard way as a young volunteer in basic training, and he knows that if he could just keep his head down, turn a blind eye to violations of the rules, and avoid stepping on senior officers’ toes, he’d do just fine. But the one rule Travis Long absolutely can’t break is the one that says an officer in the Royal Navy does his duty, whatever the consequences.

At the moment, there are powerful forces in the young Star Kingdom of Manticore’s Parliament which don’t think they need him. For that matter, they’re pretty sure they don’t need the Royal Manticoran Navy, either. After all, what does a sleepy little single-system star nation on the outer edge of the explored galaxy need with a navy?

Unhappily for them, the edge of the explored galaxy can be a far more dangerous place than they think it is. They’re about to find out why they need the Navy . . . and how very, very fortunate they are that Travis Long is in it.

Book four in the nationally best-selling Manticore Ascendant series, set in the world of David Weber’s multiple New York Times best-selling Honorverse series.

Yesterday, the Star Kingdom of Manticore was a small, unimportant interstellar backwater. A quiet little star nation, only recently recovered from the devastating blow of the Plague Years. More affluent than some, perhaps, but with little to attract trade or interstellar commerce, it had little need for a navy . . . and even less interest in paying for one.

But Manticore has now become a target. The Star Kingdom isn't certain who is attacking it, or why, or what its mysterious foe can possibly want, but Queen Elizabeth I knows she has to find out. And she knows that whatever some of her subjects think, Manticore does need a navy. And it needs allies, friends like the dynamic Republic of Haven and the Andermani Empire. It needs their trade . . . and to learn from their more experienced and powerful navies.

It is the job of officers like Travis Long and his wife, Lisa, to acquire that experience. Of utterly inexperienced diplomats like Travis's brother Gavin, Earl Winterfall, to build those alliances.

They have been sent to the powerful Andermani Empire to do just that, for the Imperial Navy is one of the most potent and experienced fleets in the galaxy. But the Andermani have problems of their own. Their Emperor's death is the trigger for insurrection, and now that powerful and experienced navy is locked in civil war.

The Manticoran visitors find themselves squarely in the path of the storm, and before Travis, Lisa, and Gavin can accomplish anything else, they first have to survive.

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!