KEITH LAUMER'S POPULAR
SAGA OF THE BOLOS CONTINUES

Controlled by their tireless electronic brains which were programmed to admit no possibility of defeat, the gigantic robot tanks known as Bolos were almost indestructible, and nearly unstoppable. Their artificial intelligences were designed to make them selflessly serve and protect humans throughout the galaxy and made each Bolo the epitome of the knight sans peur et sans reproche, and often far more noble than the humans who gave them their orders.

Now, David Weber, New York Times best-selling author of the Honor Harrington series, continues the history of the Bolo, in four short novels, one of them published here for the first time.

One Bolo is driven over the edge by the very humans it is pledged to protect. Another Bolo must decide whether or not to disobey when it is given an order that constitutes genocide. A third must hunt one of its own kind whose robot brain is damaged and rescue two children which the deranged Bolo thinks it is protecting from a nonexistent enemy.

And more, including as a bonus, David Weber's own authoritative technical history of the Bolo, all in a volume that will be irresistible both for David Weber's huge readership and Bolo fans everywhere.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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 Apocalypse Troll, Empire from the Ashes) 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 Upcountry and has continued it with March to the Sea and March to the Stars. Weber and his wife Sharon live in South Carolina with their three children.

ABOUT THE CREATOR

Keith Laumer, creator of the Bolo series, was renowned both for his fast-paced stories of science fiction adventure, and for his comical stories of Retief, the only two-fisted diplomat in the galaxy. His novels and story collections have gone through printing after printing for nearly four decades. Laumer was a Captain in the US Air Force and later an officer in the Diplomatic Corps, serving all over the world, giving him a solid background both for his fast-moving action stories, including his Bolo series, and his satirical Retief adventures, which deftly skewer the bureaucratic mentality, whether human or alien. Among his other books, all from Baen, are The Compleat Bolo, The Lighter Side, Retief, Future Imperfect, and A Plague of Demons.

THE NEWEST NOVEL IN ONE OF
SCIENCE FICTION'S MOST POPULAR SERIES

Harry Silver has already had a lifetime of trouble from ordinary Berserkers®, the automated killing machines programmed an age ago to denude the galaxy of life. Now when his own family is kidnapped, he faces a deviant machine, a good fit for some or all of the Galactic Dictionary's definitions of ROGUE:

(1) A deceitful, double-dealing evildoer .. .

(4) A fierce elephant or stamodont that has been banished from the herd . . .

(10) Having a peculiarly malevolent or unstable nature . . .

(11) No longer loyal, affiliated, or recognized, and hence not governable or accountable . . . erring, apostate.

— Galactic Dictionary of the Common Tongue

Ordinary Berserkers armed with weapons powerful enough to kill an entire planet were enough of a nightmare. What worse deviltry will a killing machine gone rogue attempt—and even if Silver can stop it, will he ever see his family alive again

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Fred Saberhagen is the author of many popular science fiction and fantasy series. His Berserkers® have menaced the universe for over 40 years. His "Swords" and "Lost Swords" stories have caught the imagination of many fantasy readers. Equally intriguing are Saberhagen's exploits in the area of historical fantasy where figures such as Hitler and Lincoln, Daedalus and the pharaohs, populate his alternate worlds. On the border of history and fantasy Saberhagen has created a unique picture of an old favorite, Dracula. More recent is the "Book of the Gods" series, a new telling of the ancient myths. Many of his works also appear in tape and e-book format. Before abandoning himself to imagination, he served in the US Air Force, worked as a civilian electronics technician, and wrote and edited articles on science and technology for the Encyclopedia Britannica. Born and raised in Chicago, he now lives and works with his wife, Joan Spicci, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Additional information on Fred Saberhagen and his work can be found at his website: www.berserker.com

GET READY FOR A GIANT, MIND-EXPANDING DOSE OF THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION EVER WRITTEN BY THE GREATEST SCIENCE FICTION WRITERS OF ALL TIME!

When readers first encounter science fiction, they find adventures on other planets and in future worlds, explorations of future technology and its implications, and extrapolations of social trends and warnings of where they may lead—but they also encounter concepts heretofore undreamed of, and the impact on the readers' thinking does nothing less than turn their world upside down.

Now, David Drake, Jim Baen and Eric Flint gather together some of the greatest science fiction ever written in one volume, with each story chosen for a startling breakthrough concept which left readers stunned and changed the course of science fiction.

In the Golden Age of science fiction, the science fiction magazines weren't given titles such as Astounding, Amazing, Startling, etc., for nothing! Pick up this generous serving of the very best of science fiction and prepared to be astounded, amazed, startled—and entertained.

ABOUT THE EDITORS

David Drake was attending Duke University Law School when he was drafted. He served the next two years in the Army, spending 1970 as an enlisted interrogator with the 11th armored Cavalry in Viet Nam and Cambodia. Upon return he completed his law degree at Duke and was for eight years Assistant Town Attorney for Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He has been a full-time freelance writer since 1981. Besides the bestselling Hammer's Slammers series, his books for Baen include With the Lightnings and its sequel Lt. Leary, Commanding, Ranks of Bronze, Starliner, All the Way to the Gallows, Redliners, and many more. His most recent novel is The Way to Glory, the latest in his popular Lt. Leary series.

Jim Baen is Editor-in-Chief of Baen Books, and is renowned throughout the science fiction field for his taste and ability to select authors with strong storytelling ability and steer them to commercial success. Prior to founding Baen Books, he was the editor of the legendary science fiction magazine Galaxy, the science fiction editor of Ace Books, and an editor at Tor Books.

Eric Flint's impressive first novel, Mother of Demons (Baen), was selected by SF Chronicle as one of the best novels of 1997. His next solo novel, 1632, sold out its first hardcover printing and went back to press almost immediately, and received enthusiastic critical praise. With David Drake he has written five popular novels in the Belisarius series. Flint has also begun a highly-praised fantasy adventure series, so far comprising The Philosophical Strangler and Forward the Mage. Flint received his masters degree in history from UCLA and was for many years a labor union activist. He lives in East Chicago, IN, with his wife.

Barbarian Hordes vs. Sheer, Cold Reason
Technology vs. Sorcery

The Empire of Sabis is falling, besieged and overwhelmed by the army and hostile wizards of a more powerful empire. Still, it is not too late for a small group of philosopher-scientists to reverse the tide if they can convince the rulers of Sabis to build the deadly new weapon that they have invented: the cannon. But when the rulers prove too short-sighted and Sabis falls, the scientists flee, disguising their knowledge under the cover of a religion and its arcane rituals.

Though centuries will pass and the Sabirn race will be oppressed and persecuted, the powerful knowledge will be passed on and preserved by the Secret Order. And the time will come when only one thing stands against destruction by a ruthless and invincible barbarian horde:

A Sweeping Fantasy Epic
Complete in One Hardcover
Volume for the First Time

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

C. J. Cherryh is a four-time Hugo Award-winner, and is author of many best-selling science fiction and fantasy series. Among the latest of her more than fifty novels are Hammerfall, Forge of Heaven (both from Eos) and Destroyer (DAW). She makes her home in Spokane, WA. Visit www.cherryh.com.

Mercedes Lackey, author of the bestselling Heralds of Valdemar and Bardic Voices series, began life as a child and has been attempting to rectify that error ever since. Other than writing she can be found at various times prying the talons of the birds of prey she is attempting to nurse back to health out of her hands, endangering her vision by creating various forms of Art Beadwork, and cross-stitching dragons, gryphons, and other semi-mythological fauna. She lives in Oklahoma. Visit www.mercedeslackey.com.

Nancy Asire has written several fantasy novels, including Twilight's Kingdoms, Tears of Time and To Fall Like Stars for Baen, and many short stories.

Leslie Fish has published many short stories, and also has written and recorded many fantasy and science fiction songs. The volume Carmen Miranda's Ghost is Haunting Space Station Three (Baen) is an anthology of stories based on one of her most popular songs.

Earth has been devastated after a near miss by a white-hot protoplanet ejected from Jupiter. The poles and climatic bands have been shifted, continents and oceans resculpted in titanic cataclysms, and civilization as we know it has ended.

Only the colony of Kronia, established among Saturn's moons, preserves technology and human culture. While the few bands of dazed survivors left on Earth revert rapidly to brutality and barbarism, the Kronian culture is already opening up new realms of physics that will carry humankind to the stars.

The Kronians have a vision of founding a new civilization on the reborn Earth, building upon foundations of freedom and the power of unbridled human creativity worthy of a stargoing civilization, and avoiding the destructive influences of conquest and exploitation. So when conditions on Earth stabilize sufficiently, Landen Keene, previously a nuclear propulsion engineer in the world that no longer exists, returns with the first Kronian reconnaissance mission to establish a base in what was a region of Africa, and commence the task of beginning anew.

But not everyone wants a free society in which individual worth is measured by ability and contribution, not possessions and power. The Terrans who were brought to Kronia included people whose status and recognition on Earth stemmed from wielding power of the kind that the old order understood. When their bid for a bigger part in running things fails, they resort to deception, violence, and the methods that previously served them well.

They plan a series of coordinated moves to seize the newly established base on Earth, and initiate a new Terran order built on the old principles of force, subjugation, and domination all over again. Isolated by distance from the hope of any immediate help from Saturn, and with only a few helpers and pitifully slim resources at his disposal, Keene emerges as the only hope of improvising an effective resistance.

But maybe that was precisely why he was sent there.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

James P. Hogan is a science fiction writer in the grand tradition, combining informed and accurate speculation from the cutting edge of science and technology with suspenseful story-telling and living, breathing characters.

Born in London in 1941, he worked as an aeronautical engineer specializing in electronics and digital systems, and for several major computer firms before turning to writing full-time in 1979. His first novel was greeted by Isaac Asimov with the rave, "Pure science fiction ... Arthur Clarke, move over!" and his subsequent work quickly consolidated his reputation as a major SF author. He has written over a dozen novels including Paths to Otherwhere and Bug Park (both Baen), the "Giants" series (coming soon from Baen), the New York Times bestsellers The Proteus Operation and Endgame Enigma and the Prometheus Award Winner The Multiplex Man (all available from Baen). Hogan currently splits his time between residences in Ireland and Florida.

More information about James Hogan and his work is available from his website at http://jamesphogan.com.

A General in Virtual Reality Warfare,
Now He Was in Danger of Becoming a
Low-Ranking Corpse in Realtime!

New Kashubia was a planet rich in heavy metals, but utterly lacking in carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. Even dirt had to be imported at great expense. The colonists, moved there from Earth against their will, lived in tunnels drilled through solid gold but still were the poorest people in the universe. Since their only resource was people, they sent draftees out as mercenaries, fighting in tanks in symbiosis with a highly intelligent computer. And Mickolai Derdowski had fought bravely and brilliantly for nearly a decade, losing many friends in the process, and risen to the rank of General—he thought.

But then he found out that it was all in virtual reality. The war had been faked, no one had died, and he was still just a tank commander, not a general at all. But New Kashubia had been well paid by the planet that had hired the mercenaries for the war they had faked, severe food rationing back home was no longer necessary, and people could now afford such extravagant luxuries as food, homes and clothing.

There was just one problem. A real war was looming on the horizon and this one couldn't be settled in cyberspace. A lot of people might get really, permanently killed. Such as Mickolai.. ..

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Besides Leo Frankowski's popular Cross-Time Engineer series for Del Rey, which has gone through six novels to date, with frequent reprintings and translated editions in Italy, Spain, and Poland, he has written the novels A Boy and His Tank, The Fata Morgana and Conrad's Time Machine for Baen. Frankowski was nominated for the John W. Campbell award for best new writer. His occupations have ranged from scientist in an electro-optical research lab to chief engineer to company president. His work in chemical and optical instrumentation has earned him several patents. Currently a writer and consulting engineer, he lives with his new Russian wife and teenage daughter in Tver, Russia.

Dave Grossman is a retired U.S. Army Lt. Colonel, West Point Psychology Professor, Professor of Military Science, Army Ranger, and lifelong SF fan. He started his military career as a paratrooper and a sergeant before attending OCS. Colonel Grossman is the author of the Pulitzer nominated book, On Killing, which is used as required reading in courses at military academies, police academies, and colleges worldwide. He has written many other scholarly and popular works, and since his retirement from the military in 1998, he now travels the world almost 300 days a year, training elite military and law enforcement organizations.