Keith Laumer's Bolos are Back
—and New York Times Best-Selling
Author John Ringo has Signed on
with the Bolo Brigade!

When a ruthless political regime seizes power on a world struggling to recover from alien invasion, a former war hero finds herself leading a desperate band of freedom fighters. Kafari Khrustinova, who fought Deng infantry from farmhouses and barns, finds herself struggling to free her homeworld from an unholy political alliance, headed by the charismatic and ambitious Vittori Santorini, which has seduced her young daughter with its propaganda and subverted the planet's Bolo, using the war machine to crush all political opposition. To free her homeworld, Kafari must somehow cripple or kill the Bolo she once called friend. Unit SOL-0045, "Sonny," is a Mark XX Bolo, self-aware and intelligent. When Sonny's human commander is forced off-world, Sonny tries to navigate his way through ambiguous moral and legal issues, sinking into deep confusion and electronic misery. He eventually faces a dark night of the soul, with no guarantee that he will understand—let alone make—the right decision. And caught in the middle of this volatile battlefield is Yalena Khrustinova, Kafari's young daughter. Will she open her eyes in time to save herself—and millions of innocents—or will Santorini's relentless brainwashing campaign continue to blind her while the tyrant engineers the ultimate destruction of a helpless and enslaved population

Praise for the Science Fiction of John Ringo

"MARVELOUS!" —David Weber

"As much action as you could hope for. . . . And then there's that quirky sense of humor running like a vein of gold under the mayhem." —Eric Flint

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

"[Ringo demonstrates a] flair for 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. . . . For those who have read everything David Drake has written or who may have wished that Tom Clancy, Larry bond or Harold Coyle would write SF, Ringo provides what's needed. . . .Crackerjack storytelling." —Starlog

The Virtual-Reality Mercenaries of
A Boy and His Tank Face a New Menace
—and There's Nothing Virtual About It!

First, the involuntary colonists of New Kashubia rescued their planet from crushing debt by becoming virtual-reality mercenaries, then they successfully revolted against the oppressive government of Earth, but now they are menaced by the Mitchegai, a species whose biology has made them inherently evil. The carnivorous adults lay and abandon vast numbers of eggs, some of which grow into vegetarian juveniles, which are the adults' only food supply. Their culture has no family life, they eat only meat, have nothing like sex., and their main pleasures are gambling, art, and killing each other. They are an ancient civilization, millions of years old, with thousands of densely populated star systems in their realm. Lacking an immune system, they must completely sterilize any planet before they colonize it. The region of the galaxy they occupy is rapidly expanding . . . and Human Space is their next frontier!

Praise for Leo Frankowski and A Boy and His Tank

"When I teach science fiction, I use Frankowski's books as an example of how to do it right." —Gene Wolfe

". . . a literate military adventure laced with political allegory—and a great deal of fun." —Starlog

". . . the action is gripping, and there are plenty of novel twists and ironic moments." —Locus

"A blend of Keith Laumer's Bolos and David Drake's Slammers. . . ." —Science Fiction Chronicle

Two novels in one large volume,
both set in the same universe as
The Ship Who Sang:

The City Who Fought: Simeon was bored with running the mining and processing station that made up his "body." If anyone was to survive, somehow he must transform his wargaming hobby into the real thing and become The City Who Fought.

The Ship Avenged: Ten years later, Joat, the eleven year old techno-demon heroine of the first novel is now an adult herself. She and her ship are on the trail of the Kolnari space raiders, trying to stop them before they can spread an infectious, mind-destroying disease among the inhabited stars and destroy civilization throughout the galaxy.

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

"Anne McCaffrey and S.M. Stirling have, in The City Who Fought, combined her brain-ships and his military expertise to produce a superior book." —Chicago Sun-Times

"McCaffrey and Stirling create vivid heroes and villains in a complex and deadly game." —Publishers Weekly

"Intriguing . . . McCaffrey and Stirling have produced a book that expands the boundaries of the series to which it belongs, yet remains consistent with the cycle's overall design. Fans of both writers should be more than pleased." —Dragon

"[The Ship Avenged is a] compelling story of resourcefulness and politics in space." — Midwest Book Review

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

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

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

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

"Only a few of us have enough willpower, when a new Dick Francis or the latest volume of a David Drake series comes out in hardcover, to wait for the paperback."
-David Friedman, Hidden Order: The Economics of Everyday Life

"... the best in military science fiction. Recommended...."
-Booklist

"... the master of the mercenary science fiction novel. He has developed a following... just short of cult proportions."
-Rave Reviews

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

Ape Man, Space Man

Earth's colonists have spread throughout the cosmos, and have almost divided into two separate species. One is the Swimmers, who have adapted to living in zero-gravity, and regard themselves as the next step in evolution, and those who prefer to live on the surface of a planet as little better than apes. The latter group, the Walkers, are not about to say farewell to the planets they grew up on, and think the Swimmers are not so much advanced as deranged.

Crowell, born a Swimmer but now a Walker by choice, is caught in the middle as the two sides seem headed for war. Then he discovers the true cause of the altercation: a hidden alien race moving behind the scenes to provoke a war so that they can pick up the pieces after the two sides have obliterated each other. And if Crowell cannot head off the war and convince both sides of the existence of the real enemy, both branches of the human race may be headed for untimely extinction.

This full-length novel and much more, fill a huge volume from the master of science fiction adventure.

"Much has been made of the 'sense of wonder' that science fiction evokes, and believe me, there was nothing to evoke that sense quite like the worlds of James Schmitz. . . . Thank you, James Schmitz, wherever you are. And thank you, Eric Flint and Jim Baen, for bringing his Right Stuff back again."
 —Mercedes Lackey

"Take my advice and buy TWO copies of this book! You'll want to lend it to friends and (trust me on this: I have years of experience to back up the observation) once people get their hands on a Schmitz book, they don't let go!"
— Janet Kagan, Hugo-winner and author of Uhura's Song

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. . . .

The Road to Hell

Honor Harrington's career has its ups and its downs. She's survived ship-to-ship battles, assassins, political vendettas, and duels. She's been shot at, shot down, and just plain shot, had starships blown out from under her, and made personal enemies who will stop at nothing to ruin her, and somehow she's survived it all.

But this time she's really in trouble.

The People's Republic of Haven has finally found an admiral who can win battles, and Honor's orders take her straight into an ambush. Outnumbered, outgunned, and unable to run, she has just two options: see the people under her command die in a hopeless, futile battle... or surrender them-and herself-to the Peeps.

There can be only one choice, and at least the People's Navy promises to treat their prisoners honorably. But the Navy is overruled by the political authorities, and Honor finds herself bound for a prison planet aptly named "Hell"... and her scheduled execution.

Put into solitary confinement, separated from her officers and her treecat Nimitz, and subjected to systematic humiliation by her gaolers, Honor's future has become both bleak and short. Yet bad as things look, they're about to get worse ...for the Peeps.