When an experiment on an orbiting space station went wrong—bad wrong—ripples in time washed over the Earth bringing global disaster. The survivors, beginning to rebuild, learned that they were now able to travel into the past, utilizing the remnant time strings. But first, the time strings had to be mapped.
That was the job of the brave pioneers known as time scouts. Their occupation was only slightly less dangerous than front line combat, and when it was discovered that a time traveler who wasn’t extremely careful could zap himself out of existence, elaborate rules to prevent that evolved, and it was the job of the time scouts to enforce them.
Time Scout:
Kenneth “Kit” Carson was one of the best, if not the best, time scouts in the business. But he has collected more than a few scars, both physical and mental, while poking around back in time, and trying not to draw the dangerous attention of the natives, not always successfully. Nowadays, he runs a small hotel at Time Terminal 86, and just wants to be a hotelier renting rooms to tourists on their way to see the Roman Circus Maximus or Victorian London firshand . . . until a cartain red‑headed girl flounces out of his life through an illicit gate that may collapse and leave her lost eternally in the corridors of time . . .
Wagers of Sin:
Time Travel stations have become big business, with wealthy tourists taking vacations back in time. For Skeeter Jackson, one of Time Terminal 86’s least honest residents, scamming those tourists is a way of life. A man’s got to follow his calling, even a con man, and Skeeter might be a dyed‑in‑the‑wool thieving scoundrel, but he freely admits it and relishes the crisp, cool feel of cash in hand—until one of his scams went terribly wrong, and he was in more trouble than even his quick wits and crooked tricks could get him out of again . . .
Having won her at great peril, young Aidan, a powerful but not very ambitious magician, would be content to enjoy the fruits of peace with Ailanna, his Faerie love. But Aidan's dying mother has revealed to him that he is half brother to the King--and requires of him that he provide magical aid to his embattled royal brother. Aidan perforce must yield to this dying maternal wish.
Alas, to win Ailanna in the first place, Aidan has also sworn a mighty oath to the Lord of Faerie. Caught between these conflicting vows, torn between the mortal world and the lands of Faerie, Aidan is about to learn the perils, even for a magician, of serving two masters...
Book Three in the View from the Imperium series from humorous SF master Jody Lynn Nye. Lieutenant Lord Thomas Kinago and his trusty constant companion, the unflappable Parsons, are back. And this time they've got a planet to save.
The Zang, an elder race of the galaxy, may be a shrinking population, but they're also intelligent, curious, and powerful. What's more, they practice a most unusual art form: they bonsai star systems. Eager to witness this first hand, Lieutenant Lord Thomas Kinago, accompanied as always by his personal assistant Parsons, sets out on a several-week jaunt to see the Zang destroy a moon to enhance the beauty of a star system.
But the trip is sidelined when Kinago's uncle offers to take him to the seldom seen human homeworld, Earth. Unable to resist, Kinago goes along, only to find on his return that the planet he's just visited may be in danger of being eradicated. Earth lies within the protective sphere of the Zang, but enemies of the Imperium are lobbying to have Sol system turned over to them.
It is up to Kinago and Parsons to save Earth. Kinago has the key, but will he be able to persuade the Zang to spare the human homeworld before it's too late?
20th Century American Spirit Meets Seductive and Dangerous Vienna of the
1600s!
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 beset by enemies on all sides. But now, as a young new
emperor comes to the throne in Austria, an opening has developed for making
peace with at least one branch of the farflung and mighty Habsburg dynasty.
This is no job for diplomats or generals, however. The recently formed Austro-
Hungarian empire is teetering on the brink of economic collapse. So, the USE
sends auto mechanics and financiers to the rescue. But the mechanics are
West Virginia hillbillies and the financiers are mostly teenage American girls,
risen to wealth by taking advantage of the new opportunities created by the
Ring of Fire.
Ready to greet them upon their arrival in Vienna is an emperor uncertain of
his goals, common folk desperate for work, noblemen with intentions both fair
and foul, priests plotting on all sides—and a prince unclear on the distinction
between passion and lechery.
To put it mildly, a culture clash is in the making here. What better way to
bridge the gap than to create a race track for the emperor’s new muscle car?
And so the dance begins.
Listen to the author discuss the book here on the Baen Free Radio Hour.
Sasha Naradnyo had come a long way from the slums of Crack City on the planet Peezgtaan—from Human gangster to head of security for Tweezaa e‑Traak, the Varoki heiress to the largest fortune in the history of the Stellar Commonwealth. Then the largest nation on the Varoki home world collapsed into riots and civil war, a murderously anti‑human Varoki fanatic made his bid for power, and the head of the Secret Police decided to take a personal interest in Sasha.
Now Sasha must navigate the violence and anarchy of a growing revolution, come to grips with ghosts from his past who have suddenly turned up alive, make common cause with resistance fighters who want him dead, expose a conspiracy which will shake the Commonwealth to its foundations . . . and do it all without losing his soul.
Henry Vickers's job is to keep clients safe from the dinosaurs they're hunting. That's the easy part. The hard part is to
keep the clients safe from themselves and each other. Men with enough money to go into the past to hunt the largest
land animals of all time are powerful and self‑willed. Some make an effort to act like decent human beings, but more
are selfish, stupid, sadistic‑‑or all three together. The few women are likely to be worse.
Vickers doesn't expect rich people to understand the dangers of where they are and what they're doing; he doesn't
expect them to be competent with the powerful rifles they carry; and he particularly doesn't expect them to be
reasonable. He treats his clients' behavior as he does the rain and the baking heat‑‑the cost of having a life he loves and
which he couldn't afford in any other way.
But no matter how detached Vickers tries to be, eventually there are moral questions that he can't ignore. And when
Henry Vickers starts to behave like a human being instead of a hunting guide, things get really dangerous.
And in a complete change of pace: "Travellers." An airship is crossing the United States in 1897 in search of the
weird and the wonderful. The two teenagers aboard know that the airship's captain is a great scientist and inventor‑‑but
they don't know how much more he is also.
All five of David Drake's time travel stories collected for the first time.
Listen to the author discuss the book here on the Baen Free Radio Hour.
No one thought much about the storm. Not the National Weather Service and not the big‑name meteorologists. Local weatherman Wally Wellman thought there might be trouble, but even he couldn't predict the natural disaster that was about to lay siege to the quiet suburb of Sheridan, Michigan.
Now, with resources stretched to their breaking point, Sheridan police officer Mike Stuart must try to keep the town safe. But there something is lurking in Sheridan. Something as cold as the snow and ice, and just as deadly. A pair of escaped convicts, on the run south, have been stranded in town. But they don't plan on laying low. And as the death toll rises, Officer Stuart must face down enemies far more dangerous—and unpredictable—than any storm.
