Now with a new Afterword by Eric Flint
The Ultimate Y2K Glitch....

1632 In the year 1632 in northern Germany a reasonable person might conclude that things couldn't get much worse. There was no food. Disease was rampant. For over a decade religious war had ravaged the land and the people. Catholic and Protestant armies marched and countermarched across the northern plains, laying waste the cities and slaughtering everywhere. In many rural areas population plummeted toward zero. Only the aristocrats remained relatively unscathed; for the peasants, death was a mercy.

2000 Things are going OK in Grantville, West Virginia. The mines are working, the buck are plentiful (it's deer season) and everybody attending the wedding of Mike Stearn's sister (including the entire membership of the local chapter of the United Mine Workers of America, which Mike leads) is having a good time.

THEN, EVERYTHING CHANGED....

When the dust settles, Mike leads a small group of armed miners to find out what's going on. Out past the edge of town Grantville's asphalt road is cut, as with a sword. On the other side, a scene out of Hell; a man nailed to a farmhouse door, his wife and daughter Iying screaming in muck at the center of a ring of attentive men in steel vests. Faced with this, Mike and his friends don't have to ask who to shoot.

At that moment Freedom and Justice, American style, are introduced to the middle of The Thirty Years War.

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

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.

THE MAELSTROM THAT IS EUROPE,
COMPLICATED BY IRON,
LOVE AND 20TH CENTURY AMERICANS

The Thirty Years War continues to ravage 17th century Europe, but a new force is gathering power and influence: the United States of Europe, forged from an alliance between Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, and the West Virginians from the 20th century, led by Mike Stearns, who were hurled centuries into the past by a mysterious cosmic accident.

This troubled century was full of revolutions and plans for more revolutions before the Americans arrived, and gave every would-be revolutionary an example of a revolution that succeeded. Europe is a pot coming to a boil, and Mike Stearns finds himself walking the fine line between keeping the pot boiling while keeping it from boiling over and destroying the USE in the process.

The USE has the know-how of 20th century technology, but needs iron and steel to make the machines. The iron mines of the upper Palatinate were rendered inoperable by wartime damage, and American ingenuity is needed on the spot to pump them out and get the metal flowing again—a mission that will prove more complicated than anyone expects. First, because the expedition sent to revitalize the mining industry in the upper Palatinate walks into the middle of a ferocious battle between the USE and the Duke of Bavaria. Second, because in the maelstrom that is Europe, even a 20th century copy of the Encyclopedia Britannica can precipitate a crisis from the most unexpected quarters. The young and beautiful daughter of the Austrian emperor, sent to marry the Duke of Bavaria for reasons of state, comes to an unforeseen conclusion based on her study of up-time history. The decision she makes as a result transforms the Bavarian war into a crisis for all of Europe.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Eric Flint is a popular star of SF and fantasy. 1634: The Baltic War, a collaboration with David Weber, was the latest New York Times best seller in the Ring of Fire series. His first novel for Baen, Mother of Demons, was picked by Science Fiction Chronicle as a best novel of the year. His novel 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 machinist, and labor union activist with a master's degree in history, he currently resides in northwest Indiana with his wife Lucille.

Virginia DeMarce, after jobs as peculiar as counting raisins for the Calif. Dept. of Agriculture, received her Ph.D. in Early Modern European History from Stanford University. She has published a book on German military settlers in Canada after the American Revolution and has served as president of the National Genealogical Society. She taught at Northwest Missouri State University and at George Mason University. She has had stories in the Ring of Fire anthology and Grantville Gazette (#1), and more stories in the online Grantville Gazettes. She has three grown children and five grandchildren, and lives in Arlington, VA, with her husband.

The Epic Struggle of Freedom and Justice
Against the Tyrannies of the 17th Century Continues,
as European Cunning Meets American Courage!

The Thirty Years War continues to ravage 17th century Europe, but a new force is gathering power and influence: the Confederated Principalities of Europe, an alliance between Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, and the West Virginians from the 20th century led by Mike Stearns who were hurled centuries into the past by a mysterious cosmic accident. The democratic ideals of the CPE have aroused the implacable hostility of Cardinal Richelieu, effective ruler of France, who has moved behind the scenes, making common cause with old enemies to stop this new threat to the privileged and powerful. But the CPE is also working in secret. A group of West Virginians have secretly traveled to Venice where their advanced medical knowledge may prevent the recurrence of the terrible plague which recently killed a third of the city-state's population. At the same time, the group hopes to establish commercial ties with Turkey's Ottoman Empire, then at the height of its power. And, most important, they hope to establish private diplomatic ties with the Vatican, exploiting Pope Urban VIII's misgivings about the actions of Richelieu and the Hapsburgs. But a Venetian artisan involved with the West Virginians may cause all their plans to come to naught. Having read 20th century history books of the period, he has become determined to rescue Galileo from his trial for heresy. The Americans are divided on whether to help him or stop him—and whether he succeeds or fails, the results may be catastrophic for the CPE.

Praise for Earlier Novels in the Series:

"A rich complex alternate history with great characters and vivid action. A great read and an excellent book."
—David Drake

"Gripping . . . depicted with power!"
—Publishers Weekly

". . . formidable historiography, wit, balance (there are few stupid bad guys—well, England's Charles I), intelligently ferocious women, and mouth-watering displays of alternate technology . . . [many readers] will turn every page and cry for more!"
—Booklist

"[Flint takes] historic speculation to a new level in a tale that combines accurate historical research with bold leaps of the imagination. Fans of alternate history and military sf should enjoy this rousing tale of adventure and intrigue."
—Library Journal

The Great Revolt is On!

Europe, 1634. With the example of future Grantsville, U.S.A., a small town thrown back in time by a cosmic accident, a peasant revolt becomes a revolutionary movement. You're from the future. You want the serfs to liberate themselves-but you also know what a bloodbath the French Revolution became. Avoiding that possibility will take all American horse-trading diplomacy you can muster. The stakes: an explosion that could cover half the continent in blood!

Alternate history master Eric Flint and exciting newcomer Virginia DeMarce fire another exciting volley in Flint's engrossing "Grantsville" chronicles.

"[W]itty, tightly written alternative history."
—Publishers Weekly on Eric Flint

When the diplomatic embassy from the United States of Europe was freed from the Tower of London during the Baltic War, most of its members returned to the continent. But some remained behind in Britain: Oliver Cromwell and a few companions, including the sharpshooter Julie Sims, her Scot husband Alex Mackay, and Cromwell’s Irish-American self-appointed watchdog Darryl McCarthy.

Soon, the hunt is on for the most notorious rebel in English history, with King Charles himself demanding Cromwell’s head. The new chief minister Richard Boyle, Earl of Cork, brings over from Ireland a notorious crew of cutthroats led by the man called Finnegan to track down and capture the escapees from the Tower.

The hunt passes through England and into Scotland, where the conflict between Cromwell and his companions and their would-be captors becomes embroiled in Scotland’s politics, which are every bit as savage and ruthless as Finnegan and his men. To make things still more conflicted and confused, the time Darryl McCarthy spends fighting alongside Cromwell forces him against his will to admire and respect—and even like—the man, despite Cromwell’s demonic reputation among all self-respecting Irish nationalist families like Darryl’s own.

It’s a Gordian knot anywhere you look—until Julie Sims brings out her rifle. Now it’s the turn of Scot partisans and English lords and Irish toughs to learn the lesson already learned on the continent:

A safe distance isn’t what you think it is. Not after the American angel of death spreads her wings.

The Dark Ages Strike Back!

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. Now Spain makes its countermove on the Enlightenment brought by the West Virginians, as Cardinal Gaspare de Borja y de Velasco sets into motion a plot to establish Spanish hegemony over the city-states of Italy and to disgrace and assassinate a pope who has been friendly to the new ideas.

But there are those — up-timers and locals alike — who are determined that the fire of sweet reason so recently lit will never again be extinguished. To do so they must summon all the willpower and political craft they can muster. For they face the Heart of Medieval Darkness Itself, an implacable foe determined to use force of imperial arms and treasonous deceit to retain its grip on power — and to be sure that life for all but the wealthy and connected remains nasty, brutish, and very short.

None of which is a surprise. You see, it's 1635. Everyone expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Alternate history master Eric Flint teams again with Andrew Dennis (1634: The Galileo Affair) in a return to war-torn Italy for the latest idea-laced thriller in Flint's massive "Assiti Shards" saga!

The Thirty Years War continues to ravage 17th century Europe, but a new force is gathering power and influence: the Confederated Principalities of Europe, an alliance between Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, and the West Virginians from the 20th century led by Mike Stearns who were hurled centuries into the past by a mysterious cosmic accident.

While the old entrenched rulers and manipulators continue to plot against this new upstart nation, everyday life goes on in Grantville, the town lost in time, with librarians, firefighters, and garbage collectors trying to make do under unusual circumstances. And what better place for an undercover spy from France than working with the garbage collectors, examining 20th century machines that others throw out and copying the technology (though he wishes one device—the paper shredder—had been left behind in the future).

There are more sinister agents at work, however. One of them, Ducos, almost succeeded in assassinating the Pope, but his plan was ruined by quick action by a few Americans. Now, the would-be assassin not only has a score to settle, but has also decided on two excellent targets: Grantville's leader Mike Stearns and his wife Rebecca. . . .

The Thirty Years War continues to ravage 17th century Europe, but a new force is gathering power and influence: the United States of Europe, a new nation led by Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, and the West Virginians from the 20th century led by Mike Stearns who were hurled centuries into the past by a mysterious cosmic accident. While the old entrenched rulers and manipulators continue to plot against this new upstart nation, everyday life goes on in Grantville, even under the shadow of war, as this lost outpost of American freedom and justice must play David against a 17th century Goliath of oppressive feudalism.

Praise for the New York Times Best-Selling Series:

". . . gripping and expertly detailed . . . a treat for lovers of action-SF or alternate history . . . battle scenes depicted with power . . . distinguishes Flint as an SF author of particular note, one who can entertain and edify in equal, and major, measure."
—Publishers Weekly (in a starred review)

"[This] alternate-history saga . . . is certainly a landmark in that subgenre. . . . A splendid example of character-centered alternate-history, this is a must read for its series' growing fandom."
—Booklist (Starred Review)

". . . takes historic speculation to a new level in a tale that combines accurate historical research with bold leaps of the imagination. Fans of alternate history and military sf should enjoy this rousing tale of adventure and intrigue."
—Library Journal

"This alternate history series is already one of the best around and each new entry appears better than the previous one, a seemingly impossible feat . . . terrific. . . ."
—The Midwest Book Review

#15 in the multiple best-selling Ring of Fire Series.

It's springtime in the Eternal City, 1635. But it's no Roman holiday for uptimer Frank Stone and his pregnant downtime wife, Giovanna. They're in the clutches of would be Pope Cardinal Borgia, with the real Pope—Urban VIII—on the run with the renegade embassy of uptime Ambassador Sharon Nichols and her swashbuckling downtime husband, Ruy Sanchez de Casador y Ortiz. Up to their necks in papal assassins, power politics, murder, and mayhem, the uptimers and their spouses need help and they need it quickly.

Special rescue teams—including Harry Lefferts and his infamous Wrecking Crew—converge on Rome to extract Frank and Gia. And an uptime airplane is on its way to spirit the Pope to safety before Borgia's assassins can find him. It seems that everything is going to work out just fine in sunny Italy.

Until, that is, everything goes wrong. Now, whether they are prisoners in Rome or renegades protecting a pope on the run, it's up to the rough and ready can do attitude of Grantville natives to once again escape the clutches of aristocratic skullduggery and ring in freedom for a war torn land.

NEW RING OF FIRE SERIES ENTRY FROM THE LATE ERIC FLINT AND BEST-SELLING AUTHOR JODY LYNN NYE

A young gentlewoman, Margaret de Beauchamp, finds her fate twisted into the lives of the up-timers when she meets the Americans imprisoned in the Tower of London. In exchange for her help, Rita Simpson and Harry Lefferts give her a huge sum of money to keep her family’s manor and its woolen trade from falling into the hands of the crown and its unscrupulous minister, Lord Cork. But Margaret’s troubles are not at an end. Her family’s fortunes are in a downward spiral. Her trip to Grantville brings unexpected dangers and a possible up-time solution.

Inspired by books in the Grantville library, Margaret has an idea to restore her family’s fortunes with an innovation never before seen in fabric design. With the help of Aaron Craig, an up-timer programmer using aqualators, water-powered computers, they teach her father’s craftsmen to create a combination machine loom that can produce a new type of woolen cloth. The ornate and perfect patterns quickly trend among the nobility. However, the Master Weavers of the county’s Weaver’s Guild aren’t happy about being overshadowed by the changes to the status quo, and take their grievance to Lord Cork, who is still looking for the people who helped the Americans escape from the Tower.

Cork isn’t interested in squabbles between mere tradesmen, but he is very interested in taking over the new calculating machine that is fueling the upsurge in the de Beauchamp fortunes. He sends agents ordered to stop at nothing to secure it for his own ends. Margaret has to protect her new business, and prevent anyone from discovering that up-timers are in the country to assist her, but she still has to deal with an uprising at home.

At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).

Eddie Cantrell, now married to the king of Denmark’s daughter, is sent by Admiral Simpson to the Caribbean to secure access to the most valuable commodity on that continent—not the gold and silver which the Spanish treasure, but the oil which up‑time machines and industry need. The admiral has also provided Eddie’s small task force with the new steam‑powered frigates that have just come out of the navy’s shipyards.

Even with the frigates, a giant obstacle stands in his way: the Gulf‑girdling Spanish presence in the New World. So a diversion is needed, carried out by an up‑time car mechanic and a down‑time mercenary colonel who also happens to be the last earl of Ireland. Their mission: grab the oil fields on Trinidad, and so distract the attention of Spain’s New World governors.

While the Spanish galleons and troops head for Trinidad, Commander Cantrell’s smallest and fastest steam sloop will make a run to the Louisiana coast. There, her crew will wind their way up the bayous to the real New World prize: the Jennings Oil Field.

But Cantrell’s plans could be wrecked in a multitude of ways. He faces often‑hostile natives, rambunctious Dutch ship captains, allied colonies on the brink of starvation, and vicious social infighting that can barely be contained by his capable and passionate new wife. When the galleons finally come out in force to engage his small flotilla, Eddie will discover that the Spanish aren’t the only enemies who will be coming against him in a fateful Caribbean show‑down.

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

The latest entry in the multiple New York Times best-selling Ring of Fire series created by Eric Flint. After carving a free state for itself in war-torn 17th century Europe, citizens of the modern town of Grantville, West Virginia go on a quest for the makings of medicines that have yet to be invented in 17th century Europe.

The United States of Europe, the new nation formed by an alliance between the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus and the West Virginians hurled back in time by a cosmic accident—the Ring of Fire—is beset by enemies on all sides. The U.S.E. needs a reliable source of opiates for those wounded in action, as well as other goods not available in Europe. The Prime Minister of the U.S.E., Mike Stearns, sends a mission to the Mughal Empire of India with the aim of securing a trade deal with the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan.

The mission consists of a mixed group of up-timers and down-timers, including paramedics, a squad of soldiers with railroad-building experience, a spy and a pair of swindlers. On reaching India the mission finds a grieving emperor obsessed with building the Taj Mahal, harem-bound princesses, warrior princes, and an Afghan adventurer embroiled in the many plots of the Mughal court.

The emperor’s sons are plotting against each other and war is brewing with the newly risen Sikh faith. But in the midst of these intrigues, the U.S.E. mission finds a ally: the brilliant and beautiful Jahanara Begum, the eldest daughter of Shah Jahan. She is the mistress of her father's harem and a power in her own right, who wishes to learn more of these women who are free in a way she can scarcely comprehend.

When the Emperor learns of what befalls his empire and children in the time that was, he makes every effort to change their fate. But emperors, princesses, and princes are no more immune to the inexorable waves of change created by the Ring of Fire than are the Americans themselves.

THE BEST-SELLING RING OF FIRE SERIES CONQUERS THE NEW WORLD!

It has taken almost five years for the United States of Europe to stabilize its position in 17th-century Europe. Now it turns its attention to the New World, where the English have ceded their colonial claims to France. There are vast lands and rich resources across the Atlantic for any nations powerful enough to rule and control them—and equal incentive for other nations to block their path.

The time-displaced Americans know about the future path that led to their own United States in North America, in the other universe they came from. But do they want to repeat that history as it was? Yes, they had democracy—but they are helping to create that in Europe. And they have learned the bitter prices paid for chattel slavery and the near-extermination of the native populations.

Knowledge is power. Perhaps a new course can be taken. Accordingly, an expedition is sent to the New World to see just what might be happening there and what might be done. They are armed with their technology, among which are a radio and an airship. More importantly, they are armed with the knowledge of future history and their determination not to repeat the errors of their past.

What could possibly go wrong?

Book #19 in the multiple New York Times best-selling Ring of Fire series. After carving a free state for itself in war-torn 17th century Europe, citizens of the modern town of Grantville, West Virginia must contend with France's infamous Cardinal Richilieu, who is determined to keep his grip on power no matter what history says.

France, 1636 . . . It has been twenty years since King Louis took Aña Maria Mauricia, daughter of Spain's King Philip III, as his wife, and their union has not yet produced an heir. Under the guidance of his chief minister, Cardinal Richelieu, a plan is developed to remedy that situation. Once she is with child, Queen Anne goes into seclusion to guard her health and protect her from those who would prefer that the child is never born—France's foreign enemies as well as schemers such as Monsieur Gaston d'Orleans, the King's younger brother and heir. When the Crown's opponents make their move, factions inside and outside France must choose sides and help determine the future and fate of the Kingdom.

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

The Ring of Fire Series Continues! The United States of Europe finds itself embroiled in international intrigue, as the up-timers attempt to establish an embassy in Ming Dynasty era China.

The newly formed United States of Europe, created by an alliance between the time-displaced Americans from the town of Grantville and the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus, decides to send an embassy to the Chinese empire. One of the main purposes of the embassy is to establish trade in order to gain access to critical resources. The mission is a gamble—some might say, a long shot. The Ming dynasty is on the verge of collapse and China’s rulers are suspicious of foreigners.

The mission experiences one setback after another, but presses on. And they gain an important ally along the way: Zheng Zhilong, a former pirate now an admiral for the Ming navy and the head of an extremely wealthy Fujian province trading family. He knows through his Jesuit missionary connections that according to Grantville's history books, the Ming dynasty is in danger, from famines, bandit armies and barbarian invaders. And he is determined that, one way or another, he and his family will survive and even prosper.

The embassy is joined as well by a young scholar, who helps them make inroads into China’s complex and often dangerous society. Can the up-timers and their friends persuade the imperial dynasty and its mandarins to establish trade and diplomatic relations with the USE? They have one great asset: their knowledge may be the key to saving China from decades of mass suffering and civil war.

Eric Flint and David Carrico serve up the latest entry in the best‑selling alternate history saga of them all, the Ring of Fire!

It is the year 1636. The United States of Europe, the new nation formed by an alliance between the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus and the West Virginians hurled back in time by a cosmic accident, is on the verge of civil war.  His brain injured in the war with Poland, the USE's emperor Gustavus Adolphus is no longer in command. Enter Swedish chancellor Oxenstierna, a leader of aristocratic reaction against democracy.  His goal:  to assemble the forces of the hidebound ruling class in Berlin and drown the revolution in a bloodbath.

In Magdeburg, the capital of the USE, Mike Stearns' wife Rebecca Abrabanel is organizing popular resistance to Oxenstierna's plot. As part of the resistance, the American musician Marla Linder and her company of down‑time musical partners are staging an opera that will celebrate the struggle against oppression. Princess Kristina, the heir to the USE's throne, is now residing in Magdeburg and is giving them her support and encouragement.

But another plot is underway‑‑this one right in the heart of the capital itself, and with murder as its method. The only people standing in the way are a crippled boy and the boxing champion who befriended him, and an unlikely pair of policemen. Can the American detective Byron Chieske and his down‑timer partner Gotthilf Hoch thwart the killers before they succeed in their goal?

Download the Reader’s Group Discussion Guide here.

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

After carving a place for itself in war-torn 17th century Europe, the modern time-displaced town of Grantville, West Virginia has established its new mission and identity. Yet some have been left behind—people like goodtime Bernie Zeppi, courageous in battle, but a bust in life.

Bernie gets his second chance when he’s hired to help Mother Russia modernize. Now war with Poland is afoot and Russia is about to get a revolution from within—three centuries early! It’s do or die time for good-time Bernie. His task: to save the Russian woman he has come to love and the country he has come to call his own from collapse into a new Dark Age.

Download the comprehensive Teacher’s Guide here.

Book #21 in the multiple New York Times best‑selling Ring of Fire series. The uptimers and their allies take on the Ottoman Empire at its height of power.

The modern West Virginia town of Grantville has been displaced in time to continental Europe in 1632. Now four years have passed. The long‑feared attack on Austria by the Ottoman Empire has begun. Armed with new weapons inspired by the time‑displaced Americans of Grantville, the Turks are determined to do what they were unable to do in the universe the Americans came from: capture Vienna.

The Ottomans have the advantage of being able to study the failings and errors of their own campaigns in a future they can now avoid. They are led by the young, dynamic, and ruthless Murad IV, the most capable emperor the Ottomans have produced in a century. They are equipped with weapons that would have seemed fantastical to the Turks of that other universe: airships, breech‑loading rifles, rockets—even primitive tanks.

And this time they won’t have to face massive reinforcements from Austria’s allies. In fact, the only force Emperor Gustav Adolf can think of sending to Austria is the United States of Europe Third Division under the command of Mike Stearns. It’s an army currently engaged in a desperate struggle for Bavaria.

The emperors of the USE and Austria share the same problem. They have one too many enemies, one too few allies, and only one general to cover the gaps. Fortunately, that general is Mike Stearns, also known as the Prince of Germany. 

CATACLYSM

It's 2026, and catastrophe has struck from an unexpected source. The Alpha Centauri supernova has risen like a second sun, rushing Earth toward its last summer. Floods, fires, starvation and disease paralyze the planet. In a blue aurora flash of gamma rays, all microchips worldwide are destroyed, leaving an already devastated Earth without communications, transportation, weaponry, or medicine.

The disaster sets three groups of survivors on separate quests. A militant cult seizes the opportunity to free their leader, known as the Eye of God, from the long-term coma to which a court sentenced her. Three cancer patients also search for a man in judicial sleep: the brilliant scientist-and monstrous criminal--who alone can continue the experimental treatment that keeps them alive. From a far greater distance come the survivors of the first manned Mars expedition, struggling homeward to a world that has changed far beyond their darkest fears. And standing at the crossroads is one man, U.S. President Saul Steinmetz, who faces a crucial decision that will affect the fate of his own people . . . and the world.

Born to a crack cocaine-addicted mother who abandoned him, Job Napoleon Salk would live to survive the horrors of a corruptly-run orphanage, life on the streets--even first love. But could he survive the dreaded TANDI, the toxic, nuclear disposal unit for all of America's "unwanted?"

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Sight of Proteus

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Proteus Unbound

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Proteus in the Underworld

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Trader's World

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Godspeed

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Cold As Ice

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The Ganymede Club

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Dark As Day

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Brother to Dragons

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Vectors

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Starfire

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The Mind Pool

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Hidden Variables

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Georgia on My Mind and Other Places

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Twenty-five years ago there was a great interplanetary war in the Solar System. It was a suicidal spasm in which terrible weapons were created and used; in which nine billion people were killed. The rivalries that led to the war are not gone. And a few of those deadly weapons remain–some still orbiting the sun in the debris of destroyed ships, some deliberately placed in storage.

Now Cyrus Mobarak, the man who perfected the fusion engine, is determined to bring human settlement to the protected seas of Europa. Opposing him is Hilda Brandt, Europa's administrator. And caught between them are three remarkable young people: Jon Perry, Camille Hamilton, and Wilsa Sheer.

The Solar System is finally recovering from the Great War ñ a war that devastated the planets and nearly wiped out the human race ñ and the population of the outer moons, orbiting Jupiter and Saturn, is growing.

On one of those moons, Alex Ligon, scion of a great interplanetary trading family has developed a wonderfully accurate new population model, and cannot wait until the newly reconstituted "Seine," the interlinked network of computers that spans the planets and moons and asteroids, comes back on line. But when it does, and he extends his perfect model a century into the future, it predicts the complete destruction of the human race.

On another moon, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence goes on, undaunted by generations of failure. And to her amazement, Millie Wu, a young genius newly recruited to the project, has found a signal . . . a signal that is coming from outside the solar system.

And in his new retreat on a minor moon of Saturn, the cranky genius Rustam Battacharyia is still collecting weapons from the Great War. He thinks he may have stumbled on an unexpected new one . . . but heíll need to disarm it before it destroys the Sun.

A brilliant collection of visionary short fiction by the author of Cold as Ice and Godspeed, Georgia on My Mind and Other Places includes the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning title story, along with other widely praised works, including "The Feynman Saltation," "Millennium," "The Fifteenth Station of the Cross," and the novella "Destroyer of Worlds."

The Godspeed Drive. It is the faster than-than-light spaceship drive that made human colonization of the galaxy possible. But it was not invented by humans — it was found in the wreck of an alien ship that drifted into the solar system. No one understood everything about how it worked, but it linked a hundred star systems together, and made even marginal planets like Erin in the Maveen system habitable.

But one day the Godspeed ships stopped coming. Erin and the Forty Worlds around Maveen were cut off from Interstellar commerce, confined to the slow insystem shuttles that were the only spaceships that were left at Muldoon Port.

Jay Hara grew up on isolated Erin, longing for the legendary days when Godspeed ships spanned the galaxy, and a young man's dreams could take him to the stars. So when an old, sick spacer named Paddy Enderton showed Jay some very strange devices and told him that he had found a Godspeed base out in the asteroid belt, Jay was eager to believe, despite the doubts of his uncle Duncan and his friend, Dr. Eileen Xavier. But when Jay's farm was raided, his animals killed and his mother beaten, by men searching for Enderton, he became convinced that there was some truth in Enderton's ravings.

They won financing from the university, and have chartered a ship to take them out to the asteroid belt, in search of a small moving rock marked as Paddy's Fortune in Enderton's navigation device. But the ship is not what they think it is. And the crew and captain have a very different, and deadly, agenda once they find the Godspeed base.

1982 Locus Poll Award, Best Single Author Collection (Place: 15). Collects 14 stories with introduction and afterwords by the author, including: The Man Who Stole the Moon, The Deimos Plague, Forefather Figure, Moment of Inertia (McAndrew series), The New Physics: The Speed of Lightness, Curved Space, and Other Heresies, From Natural Causes, Legacy (later incorporated into the novel Proteus), The Softest Hammer (1982 Locus Poll Award, Best Short Story (Place: 19)), Hidden Variable, A Certain Place in History, All the Colors of the Vacuum (McAndrew series), Perfectly Safe, Nothing To Worry About, Summertide (later incorporated into the novel Summertide), The Marriage of True Minds.

HIGHER EDUCATION

When a misfired practical joke gets him kicked out of school, Rick Luban thinks he has nowhere to go but down. Instead, he gets a second chance—and a whole new life—when he signs up for a career in asteroid mining. Life in space proves more challenging than Rick expected. Competition is heated between the new recruits of Vanguard Mining, and the harsh realities of space allow absolutely no room for error. On his way to a brighter future, Rick faces ever more demanding tests, as well as the very real dangers of sabotage and murder....

In the 22nd century biofeedback techniques have enabled humans the ultimate expression--the ability to transform the body into any viable form. What began as an innocent technique to reduce anxiety without drugs has raised fundamental questions about what it is to be human.

Enter the Humanity Test. For those children who pass the test, life. For those who do not, the organ banks.

But ... what if the test itself cannot be trusted? Has humanity been culling its most valuable children?

There were problems with the Form Change process. One or two malfunctions at first: people emerging from the tanks in an incorrect form or completely unchanged. For three years it had been getting worse. Now there had been deaths, and on the space farms, panic was setting in. People were refusing to go into the tanks. Yet out in the Cloudlands, they needed continuous small form corrections just to stay effective. As the faults increased, their society was on an exponential curve to disaster.

In the twenty-second century, Earth is desperately over-populated and over-stressed, but technology has eased this somewhat by allowing humanity to expand into the Solar System, and biofeedback machines have made people's physical shape a matter of choice and taste.

But now underground experiments have started that may alter forever the very definition of "human", and which menace the delicate balance on which Earth's survival depends.

THE END DRAWS NIGH

The year is 2053, and Earth has barely recovered from the Alpha Centauri supernova that destroyed much of the planet's infrastructure. Now the supernova's residual effect—a storm of high-energy particles—is racing toward Earth, and an international effort has been launched out of the Sky City space colony to save the planet. But the controversial plan—to build a giant protective shield for Earth—is falling dangerously behind schedule. A series of unexplained murders has disrupted the Sky City workforce, so much so that a brilliant but monstrous criminal has been enlisted to track down the Sky City killer.

Then comes more startling news. Evidence indicates that the original supernova was caused deliberately, and that the lethal particle storm will arrive sooner than anyone expected. But who—or what—tried to destroy the Earth? And will the answer come in time to save it from its final apocalypse?

Charles Sheffield returns to the Solar System of his novel Cold As Ice, to spin a tale of the years immediately following the Great War, a horrifying spasm that was over in weeks, but killed half the human race.

Lola Belman was a refugee. She and her younger brother were on one of the last ships to leave Earth as the bombs beganto fall; by the time they left lunar orbit, they were orphans. Lola is now practicing as a therapist on Ganymede, and she has a new patient whose past is a mystery.

During those yars of chaos, many records were lost and histories forgotten, and it was an ideal time for anyone who wanted to conceal his or her identity. Now there is a small, dangerous group who will stop at nothing to keep Lola from exploring the past and discovering their existence.

CALLING ALL HUMANS...

In the 23rd century, out of all the races in the galaxy, only humanity has discovered the secret of travel between the stars--not so much because we're so smart, but because we are incredibly gadget-oriented. We are also, compared to the galaxy's highly sophisticated norms, very, very tough, which when a threat to all life in the galaxy arises from non-living biological constructs, suddenly the peculiar human virtues of valor and stubbornness make us the sword-wielding saviors of All...

Publisher's Note: A shorter and much different verison of this novel was published in 1986 as The Nimrod Hunt.

Drake Merlin's wife, the love of his life, is dying of a rare, fatal disease for which there is no cure. Not now, in the 21st century. But surely in the future...

For Drake there is only one solution: have Ana's body frozen until she can be cured. And he will go with her into the cryowomb. It is a desperate gamble born of folly, obsession ... and love.

Thus begins an epic journey across eons, as Drake is revived again and again, only to find that Ana is beyond help. Millions of years past his first sleep, he learns there is hope for her restoration—at the Omega Point, where the universe collapses, merging past and present. But first he will be awakened to become humanity's unwilling savior. For an alien menace is laying the galaxy to waste, and only an anachronism from the days of human barbarism can save an enlightened race. . . .

After worldwide war and economic collapse, a group of mercenary negotiators arose to bring order to chaos. Theirs was the most sophisticated intelligence network in the world, and soon the Traders were in demand all over to work out important deals and negotiate sensitive treaties.

Mikal Asparian owed his life to the Traders, who had rescued him from desert barbarians and trained him as one of their own. But the more missions he completed, the more he began to question just what it meant to be a Trader. He never suspected that his labors might have had a hidden purpose...

From the absurd to the sublime, the universe according to Sheffield

In Which You Will Encounter

Technological Telepathy
A Politician Who Discovers The Artful Art of Thought-control
A Natural Philosopher Who Invents The Steamship -- In Ancient Persia!
Erasmus Darwin, Brilliant Grandfather of Charles, In An Excitingly Different Kind Of Fantasy -- Or Is It Really Science Fiction
The Incredible Waldo Burmeister, Star Of Thermodynamic Dieting And The Martian Sewer System

Structured by an astounding range of scientific knowledge, here are some of the most entertaining flights of the imagination on which you will ever book passage, from the viewpoint of one of the most astonishing minds you will ever meet.

Two Complete Novels and a
Selection of Shorter Masterworks
by a Hugo Award Winning
Master of Science Fiction Adventure.

 Praise for the Science Fiction of Harry Turtledove:

"[In The Great War: Breakthroughs,] Turtledove displays his usual mastery at maintaining suspense across a broad canvas, with characters that fans will be glad to encounter . . . . A complete and skillfully executed tale." —Publishers Weekly

"[Turtledove's The Victorious Opposition is] almost impossible to praise too highly." —Booklist

"Turtledove has proved he can divert his readers to astonishing places. He's developed a cult following over the years . . . I know I'd follow his imagination almost anywhere." —San Jose Mercury News

"The leading author of alternate history." —USA Today

Hugo Award winner Harry Turtledove has garnered high praise for his best-selling alternate history science fiction, and he's equally a master of science fiction adventure, as he proves in this new Baen MegaBook containing two complete novels and a baker's dozen of brilliant shorter works. Earthgrip—Young Jennifer Logan just wanted to teach Middle English, but ended up on an interstellar trading ship headed for the adventure of a lifetime. Noninterference — The Survey Service was supposed to observe alien worlds, without any interference. Then, an expedition broke the rule and an entire planet was at risk! Kaleidoscope —Suppose a vampire was sent to catch Jack the Ripper Suppose all the galaxy has starships, but hasn't developed Earth's military technology and firepower. And much more.

THE NORTH SHALL RISE AGAIN!

When Avram became King of Detina, he declared he intended to liberate the blond serfs from their ties to the land. This noble assertion immediately plunged the kingdom into a civil war that would prove long and bloody, and set brother against brother. The northern provinces, dependent on their serf's labor, seceded, choosing Avram's cousin, Grand Duke Geoffrey, as their king. To save the kingdom, Avram sent armies clad in gray against the slave-holding North, battling Geoffrey's army, arrayed in blue.

Though King Avram held more land and wealth than Geoffrey, Geoffrey's men were better soldiers and the North had better and more powerful wizards. Still, as the war raged on, greater population and superior organization began to tell and the tide turned against the North.

Even so, the war is far from over. The South still faces two formidable leaders: General Bell, whose loss of a leg has only strengthened his resolve, and Ned of the Forest, whose unicorn riders are the most dangerous force on the Northern side. And though the Southern sorcerers have become more adept at war spells, use of sorcery is unpredictable—as the North learned earlier when its forces held an almost impregnable position, but retreated in terror when an overconfident sorcerer's spell went awry.

Though victory seems in sight for the South, its armies must now battle the North on its own ground, ground which will prove treacherous and deadly. . . .

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Harry Turtledove is known for his historical fantasy and alternate history. His novels include The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump, Sentry Peak, Marching Through Peachtree, The Guns of the South, and the Great War and World at War series. A Hugo winner and Nebula finalist, he lives in Los Angeles.

LEADERSHIP MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE . . .

... as history demonstrates. But there are other factors at work. Would Sir Francis Drake have as easily put paid to the Spanish Armada if a typhoon hadn't softened up the enemy first What if history were given a twist or two, and great commanders on land and sea had more (or fewer) forces, better (or worse) weather, quicker (or slower) communications, better supplies (or none at all) Just suppose, for example, General Billy Mitchell had not been court-martialed for advocating air power, and happened to be leading training flights of warplanes at Pearl Harbor in December 1941

As it happens, to find out the answer to that question, pick up the first book in the series, Alternate Generals, from Baen. This new volume has even more fascinating speculations in alternate history science fiction, turning history upside down and inside out as leaders who have made their mark on our history make different marks in a very different world.

The possibilities are endless. . . .

Once Again, Great Leaders Make Great History
—but Not History as We Know It. . . .

History shows that leadership is crucial in war, but there are other factors at work. What if history were given a twist or two, and great commanders on land and sea fought their greatest battles under different circumstances

� Suppose General Douglas MacArthur had been captured before he could escape from Manila and became a prisoner of war

� Suppose Joan of Arc had not been burned for heresy and had gone on to lead France to very different victories

� Suppose Genghis Khan had been a convert to Judaism and his horde had fought for a different cause than in our universe

Turtledove and his colleagues turn the past upside down and inside out, and the possibilities are endless. . . .

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hugo-winner, New York Times best-selling author, and historian—Harry Turtledove is equally renowned in science fiction for his rigorously thought-out alternate history novels and in fantasy for his tales of the supernatural placed in historically accurate settings. For Baen, he has written the alternate American Civil War fantasy trilogy comprising Sentry Peak, Marching Through Peachtree, and Advance and Retreat, as well as The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump, and the popular "Gerin the Fox" series, Wisdom of the Fox and Tale of the Fox. He has also authored the Ingram bestseller Guns of the South and the genre bestsellers in the "World at War" series for Del Rey.

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 . . .

THE NEW NOVEL IN THE POPULAR VIDESSOS SERIES

Rhavas was a good, holy, and pious man—and the cousin of the Avtokrator. He would probably have become ecumenical patriarch of the Empire in the capital, Videssos the city . . . if his world had not suddenly and tragically fallen apart when the Empire of Videssos erupted into civil war and the Khamorth barbarians swarmed over the borders.

As the home he loved was brutally sacked, Rhavas had to flee for his life, and then make his way through lands swarming with fierce nomads and with soldiers loyal both to his cousin and to the rebel. He may never see Videssos the city again, let alone preside in its High Temple.

He has always followed Phos, the god of light and goodness, Videssos' god, and despised evil rival Skotos. Those who fall off the Bridge of the Separator during judgment in the afterlife tumble down to Skotos' ice forevermore. But when evil seems to have swallowed the whole world, what is a cleric who reverences logic as well as goodness supposed to believe

It's a harder question than Rhavas wishes it were.

FANTASY ADVENTURE BY A BEST-SELLING AWARD-WINNING MASTER

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.

FREE THE BLONDES!

(America's Civil War Turned Upside Down)

A terrible civil war was tearing apart the kingdom of Detina, a land which could no longer be half serf and half free. When the new ruler, King Avram, announced his intent to liberate the blond serfs upon which the northern provinces depended, Detina was torn in two, and the rebellious north took Avram's cousin, Grand Duke Geoffrey, as their king.

Neither side could expect an easy victory. The south was larger and wealthier, but the north had better soldiers and more powerful wizards. Led by officers riding unicorns, supplied by flying carpets, both sides had been clashing for three years when Count Thraxton, a conceited wizardgeneral whose opinions of his spell-casting ability far outstripped the reality, bungled a spell which backfired disastrously against his own side, giving the Unionists a decisive victory.

But the war was far from over: Thraxton the idiot had been relieved of command; which meant that the south faced a far more competent general: Joseph the Gamecock. And Joseph and his troops were determined to hold Peachtree Province against the loyalist troops. They had occupied Rockface Rise, which offered only two narrow places where the Unionists could come at them, and had further fortified it with trenches and catapults. When the southern army attacked, they would face formidable obstacles both natural and manmade, as well as the repeating crossbows of the troops and the deadly sorcerous storm and lightning wielded by the northern wizards.

Still, the very survival of Detina as one united realm was at stake, and King Avram's forces had no choice but to attack, no matter what the odds, no matter how desperate the situation ....

THE STRANGEST CIVIL WAR 
NOVEL YOU EVER READ!

When Avram became King of Detina, he declared he intended to liberate the blond serfs from their ties to the land. The northern provinces, where most of the serfs lived, would not accept his lordship. The hot north was a land of broad estates, whose noble overlords took the serfs' labor and gave back next to nothing. Those provinces left Detina, choosing Avram's cousin, Grand Duke Geoffrey, as their king in his place.

Avram said he had inherited all of the kingdom, not just a part. He refused to let Geoffrey rule the north without a challenge. And the southron provinces, full of merchants and smallholders stood solidly behind him. So he sent armies clad in gray against the north. Geoffrey raised his own army, and arrayed his men in blue made from the indigo much raised on northern estates to distinguish them from the southrons.

Avram held the larger part of the kingdom, and the wealthier part, too. But Geoffrey's men were bolder soldiers. And the north, taken all in all, had better wizards than the southrons did. The war raged for almost three years, until Avram's General named Guildenstern and his great lieutenant, Doubting George, moved against the northern army under Count Thraxton the Braggart and his commander of unicorn-riders, Ned of the Forest, which held the town of Rising Rock, close by Sentry Peak. . . .

TODAY'S TOP WRITERS PAY TRIBUTE TO A MASTER

For seven decades, L. Sprague de Camp was a giant in both science fiction and fantasy, renowned for his fast-moving action-adventure tales filled with genial humorous touches and backed up with a profound knowledge of history and science. He was also renowned for his popular (and meticulously researched) novels of historical fiction, and his authoritative non-fiction books in many fields.

Now, Hugo Award-winner and best-selling author Harry Turtledove has gathered together today's top writers and invited them to write stories in the same humorous adventure vein which de Camp practically invented.

On board are Poul Anderson, Frederik Pohl, David Drake, Judith Tarr, Esther M. Friesner, Lawrence Watt-Evans, S.M. Stirling, Michael F. Flynn, Harry Turtledove himself, and more, including a personal remembrance of de Camp by Robert Silverberg. The result is a volume worthy of the Grand Master himself, and certain to enchant the reader—completely.

The Masters Praise a Fellow Master:

"Consistently humorous . . . he fills his stage with such authentic detail that empathy is built and never broken."
—Robert A. Heinlein

"[De Camp is the epitome of science fiction in all possible ways."
—Isaac Asimov

"He was an extraordinary writer, a pillar of our field . . . de Camp was one of the shapers of modern science fiction . . . [and] a superb storyteller."
—Robert Silverberg

Two Complete Novels in the Popular Videssos Series.

The Stolen Throne
The fragile peace between the Empire of Videssos and the nation of Makuran had shattered. War came, and the King of Makuran lay dead on the field of battle. Worse, a power-mad minister had seized the throne and the rightful heir had disappeared.

Abivard, son of a Makuran lord who also had fallen in the same battle, realized that his only hope of saving his family and his land was to find the missing heir, though that would mean he would be branded traitor and become the target of every armed man who served the usurper—and of his nation's most powerful sorcerers.

Abrivard's only hope lay in the form of a perplexing prophecy of a field, a hill, and a shield shining across the sea. If the prophecy was true, it might lead him to the rightful ruler of Makuran—but first, he would have to survive long enough to solve its riddle.

Hammer and Anvil
The once-mighty Empire of Videssos had a despot on its throne, the pretender Genesios who enjoyed the opulent wealth at his command while barbarian attackers and invading enemies ravaged Videssos' borders. Some wondered if Videssos would even exist before many more years had passed.

None within the empire dared oppose Genesios, but young Maniakes, exiled with his father to a faraway island, raised a military force and set out to liberate his homeland. The forces against him were formidable, he faced Videssos' external foes as well as the legions of the tyrant, and a former friend would prove to be his most dangerous enemy.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hugo-winner, New York Times best-selling author, and historian—Harry Turtledove is equally renowned in science fiction for his rigorously thought-out alternate history novels and in fantasy for his tales of the supernatural placed in historically accurate settings. For Baen, he has written the alternate American Civil War fantasy trilogy comprising Sentry Peak, Marching Through Peachtree, and Advance and Retreat, as well as The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump, and the popular "Gerin the Fox" series, Wisdom of the Fox and Tale of the Fox. He has also written the Ingram bestseller Guns of the South and the genre bestsellers in the "Worldwar" series for Del Rey.

Abrivard, marshal of Makuran, has been given an impossible task by his King: destroy the mighty Empire of Videssos. Even as he pondered how to obey, Videssos's legions are on the march, attacking Makuran first. Abrivard finds himself fighting a defensive war, putting his great battle skills to the task of driving the invaders from his home, the land of the Thousand Cities.

But even as he struck back at the invader, he realized that force of arms alone would not carry the day, for Videssos's powerful sorcerers were the stuff of legend, and a strong sword are could not stand against a potent battle spell which could strike the mightiest warrior dead from miles away . . .