Paradise Lost

In the future there is no want, no war, no disease nor ill-timed death. The world is a paradise—and then, in a moment, it ends. The council that controls the Net falls out and goes to war. Everywhere people who have never known a moment of want or pain are left wondering how to survive.

But scattered across the face of the earth are communities which have returned to the natural life of soil and small farm. In the village of Raven's Mill, Edmund Talbot, master smith and unassuming historian, finds that all the problems of the world are falling in his lap. Refugees are flooding in, bandits are roaming the woods, and his former lover and his only daughter struggle through the Fallen landscape. Enemies, new and old, gather like jackals around a wounded lion.

But what the jackals do not know is that while old he may be, this lion is far from death. And hidden in the past is a mystery that has waited until this time to be revealed. You cross Edmund Talbot at your peril, for a smith is not all he once was. . . .

Praise for the Science Fiction of John Ringo

"MARVELOUS!" —David Weber

"Explosive. . . . Fans of strong military SF will appreciate Ringo's lively narrative and flavorful characters. . . . One of the best new practitioners of military SF." —Publishers Weekly

". . . since his imagination, clearly influenced by Kipling and rock and roll, is fertile, and his storytelling skill sound, [When the Devil Dances] is irresistible." —Booklist

". . . fast-paced military sf peopled with three-dimensional characters and spiced with personal drama as well as tactical finesse." —Library Journal

"If Tom Clancy were writing SF, it would read much like John Ringo . . . good reading with solid characterizations—a rare combination." —Philadelphia Weekly Press

"Ringo provides a textbook example of how a novel in the military SF subgenre should be written. . . . Crackerjack storytelling." —Starlog

Move Over, Buffy! Tinker Not Only Kicks
Supernatural Butt—
She's a Techie Genius, Too!

Inventor, girl genius Tinker lives in a near-future Pittsburgh which now exists mostly in the land of the elves. She runs her salvage business, pays her taxes, and tries to keep the local ambient level of magic down with gadgets of her own design. When a pack of wargs chase an Elven noble into her scrap yard, life as she knows it takes a serious detour. Tinker finds herself taking on the Elven court, the NSA, the Elven Interdimensional Agency, technology smugglers and a college-minded Xenobiologist as she tries to stay focused on what's really important – her first date. Armed with an intelligence the size of a planet, steel toed boots, and a junk yard dog attitude, Tinker is ready to kick butt to get her first kiss.

Wen Spencer

"Each and every character is fascinating, extraordinarily well-developed, and gets right under your skin. . . . A terrific, memorable story." —Julie E. Czerneda, author of In the Company of Others

"Spencer takes her readers on a fast-paced journey into disbelief. [Her] timing is impeccable and the denouement stunning." —Romantic Times (four-star review)

"This novel [Alien Taste] is keeper-shelf material." —BookBrowser

"Wonderfully inventive . . . a fun protagonist." —Locus

Two Top-Selling Sequels
to Anne McCaffrey's
The Ship Who Sang
in One Volume

Two novels in one large volume, both set in the same universe as The Ship Who Sang: The Ship Who Searched: Tia, a bright and spunky seven-year old contracted an unknown neural disorder which made her lose control of her body. So she became a shell person—controlling a spaceship as if it were her body and searching for the origin of the disease that laid her low, so that no other little girl will ever suffer the fate of The Ship Who Searched. PartnerShip: Nancia is a brand new member of the elite Courier Service of the Central Worlds. She's the "brains" of an advanced interstellar ship. The last thing she needed was a cynical "brawn" partner like Forister. But idealistic Nancia and worldly-wise Forister together just might save the galaxy. Neither of them would be satisfied to go through life in a glorified wheelchair; like Helva, The Ship Who Sang, they decided to strap on a spaceship!

"Quite entertaining . . . captures the spirit of The Ship Who Sang . . . a single, solid plot. . . ." —Locus

"Splendidly paced and filled with lively characters . . . [PartnerShip is] excellent entertainment." —Rave Reviews

"A perfect combination of SF, adventure, and romance, this is sure to please a wide variety of readers." —Kliatt

"[The Ship Who Searched is] superb . . . Lackey and McCaffrey have created a marvelous love story in an exciting science fictional setting and then topped it all off with an ingeniously spiffy resolution." —Rave Reviews

NO ONE WANTED ANOTHER WAR

Thomas Theisman didn't. After risking his life and a fresh round of civil war to overthrow the Committee of Public Safety's reign of terror and restore the Republic of Haven's ancient Constitution, an interstellar war was the last thing he wanted.

Baron High Ridge didn't. The Prime Minister of Manticore was perfectly happy with the war he had. No one was shooting anyone else at the moment, and as long as he could spin out negotiations on the formal treaty of peace, his government could continue to milk all those "hostilities only" tax measures for their own partisan projects.

His Imperial Majesty Gustav didn't. Now that the fighting between the Star Kingdom and the Havenites had ended, the Andermani Emperor had his own plans for Silesia, and he was confident he could achieve them without a war of his own.

Protector Benjamin didn't. His people had made too deep a commitment to the Manticoran Alliance, in blood as well as treasure, for him to want to risk seeing it all thrown away.

And Honor Harrington certainly didn't. The "Salamander" had seen the inside of too many furnaces already, knew too much about how much war cost.

Unfortunately, what they wanted didn't matter....

FROM THE HEART OF BELFAST
COMES A TERRORIST THREAT
THAT SPELLS DOOM FOR BRITAIN'S
ONCE AND FUTURE KING . . .
AND THE REST OF US AS WELL

What SAS Captain Trevor Stirling doesn't know may kill him—along with every man, woman, and child alive. Stirling thinks his mission is simple: follow a terrorist into the year AD 500 to stop a Northern Irish fanatic bent on murder. If the terrorist succeeds in killing Artorius, the Briton Lord of Battle and the most revered icon of British history, before his greatest military victory, the time-space continuum will fracture, destroying the British nation. And, coincidentally, the rest of the world.

In a tale where no one is ever quite who or what they seem, hidden enemies and unexpected allies play out a drama of 21st-century terrorism against the backdrop of Arthurian Britain at its darkest hour. One man, alone in time, struggling to save an entire universe from extinction, must choose between duty to his mission and the growing conviction that he should forsake everything he holds dear to follow a higher duty—to risk it All,

Robert Asprin is the nationally best-selling author of the "Phule's Company" series of space adventures and the New York Times bestselling "Myth Adventures" series of humorous fantasies. He was the creator and editor of the "Thieves' World" series, the first shared universe series in fantasy and science fiction. Asprin makes his home in New Orleans.

Linda Evans is coauthor with Robert Asprin of four novels in the "Time Scout series" for Baen. An expert on weapons both modern and ancient, she puts her expertise to good use in her science fiction. She has also written the novel Far Edge of Darkness (Baen). She lives in Archer, FL.

MYSTIC EARTH WARRIORS
VS. ALIEN CULTS OF CHAOS

After a global war had crippled Earth's civilization, lizard-like aliens had thought they would have no trouble in moving in and taking over. That was a big mistake—secret galactic agents had been training the mystic warriors of Earth to defend themselves against just such a power grab. The alien sociopaths had expected the low-tech humans to be easy pickings, but instead they found they had stumbled into a buzz saw, and were soon driven off.

Luis Raoul DenUyl had been only a young recruit in the warrior brotherhood, but still played a pivotal role in what some called The Lizard War. Now, years later, he has just completed his training—and not a moment too soon. The Helverti, furry but definitely not cute aliens, were members of a cult that revered chaos and tried to spread it throughout the galaxy. To that end, they plan to plunge the different tribes of humanity into war. It's mystic warriors vs. alien technology— and the Earthlings are not as weak as they appear....

"A polished and inventive writer." —Spider Robinson

"An outstanding science fiction novelist." —Rave Reviews

"... will keep the reader guessing—and turning pages—to the very end." —West Coast Review of Books

Further Background:

On September 1, 1983, a South Korean airliner was shot down by a Soviet fighter plane, killing 269 people. At a point when Earth was already being studied by an advanced space civilization the resulting events gave rise to an alternate time line. Consequences of that singular event captured the attention of the alien's Cultural Oversight Bureau, and also, after a time, of some sociopathic chaos cults. It also gave rise to a Zen-like warrior brotherhood known as the Order of Saint Higuchi.