Now with new content by John Ringo

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

NEW STORIES AND ESSAYS FROM TOP AUTHORS AND EXPERT SCIENTISTS. Explorations of how interstellar travel may affect humanity by best-selling authors and scientists.

The stars will change us.

STELLARIS: PEOPLE OF THE STARS is a collection of original science fiction stories and nonfiction essays speculating about humanity’s far-term expansion into the universe beyond the limits of our solar system—with an emphasis on the changes humans will undergo as a species as we make this happen. Is interstellar travel so far beyond our current imaginings that it will take a fundamental transformation of humanity in order to make it possible? And, if so, will we remain Homo sapiens or become a new and unique species: Homo stellaris (the People of the Stars)?

Herein are original science fiction stories by award-winning authors such as Kevin J. Anderson, William Ledbetter, Todd McCaffrey and Sarah A. Hoyt, supplemented by accessible nonfiction essays describing the science behind the fiction from people who should know—Sir Martin Rees (Astronomer Royal of the United Kingdom), Mark Shelhamer (Chief Scientist for the NASA’s Human Research Program), and more.

This collection of original stories and essays was inspired by a gathering of scientists, science fiction authors, and futurists at a series of annual meetings held by the Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop. Let their speculations, imaginations and boundless sense of what’s possible take your own journey beyond the edge of the solar system in STELLARIS: PEOPLE OF THE STARS!

Stories and Provocative Speculation from
Sir Martin Rees
Kevin J. Anderson
Sarah A. Hoyt
Mike Massa
William Ledbetter
Todd McCaffrey
Kacey Ezell and Philip Wohlrab
Dan Hoyt
Les Johnson
Robert E. Hampson
Mark Shelhamer
Brent Roeder
Jim Beall
Cathe Smith

IF IT'S WAR YOU WANT . . . The best of military epic fantasy as the bestselling Saga of the Forgotten Warrior series continues.

The Great Extermination has begun.

In the Capitol, Grand Inquisitor Omand Vokkan hatches a plot to kill every member of the untouchable caste in all of Lok, down to the last man, woman, and child. As a member of the Order of Inquisition, Vokkan has no official say in the creation of Law, but he has powerful allies willing to do his bidding. Through them, he has convinced the Judges that the genocide will be swift, complete, and without complication. Nothing is farther from the truth.

Lord Protector Devedas has sworn to uphold the Law. Once, he and the traitor Ashok Vadal had been like brothers. Now, he hunts Vadal and the Sons of the Black Sword, heretics and rebels who seek to live outside the rule of the Law. All Devedas must do is find and kill his best friend and order will be restored to Lok.

The rebels seek the secret kingdom spoken of by the Prophet Thera, a paradise where water is pure and food plentiful, where there are no castes, where the people rule themselves, and are not slaves to the Capitol. Ashok Vadal is not sure he believes in such a Paradise, but he—along with his allies—does seek refuge in the rebellion’s hideout in Akershan. But Vadal, a former High Protector who has turned his back on the corrupt Law, will not merely wait meekly, hoping that fleeing to Akershan will spare the rebellion from the clutches of the Great Extermination. No, if it’s a war the Capitol wants, Vadal, who has faced down gods and demons, will be all too willing to give it to them.

NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR. ENTRY #10 IN MERCEDES LACKEY'S CELEBRATED SERRATED EDGE URBAN FANTASY SERIES!

Deeply depressed Olivia, whose parents are divorcing, is ripe for manipulation. And swimming star Blake is looking for someone just like her. Although her friend tries to warn her, Olivia falls for his ploys and accepts an invitation to go to the Adirondack resort camp of Lake Endor with him and his family.

But all is not as it seems at the hundred year old resort. Not only does Olivia discover that Blake is not the guy she thought he was, there is something sinister afoot at the lake.

There is something lying beneath the waters of Lake Endor. Something not of this world.

Will Olivia be drawn under or will she allow true friends to draw her from the lure of oblivion?

The British Empire did not fall apart, but survived and took to the stars! There is no USA, but America and India have become the dynamic portions of a star empire. After dealing with a terrorist plot on the isolated system of New America, Her Majesty’s special agent Robert Rogers finds his loyalties tested as he fights to defend the sometimes prickly colonists of New America, and to foil a conspiracy within the British imperial government which he serves.

Rogers is dismayed to find that the news he uncovered of the secret alliance between the hostile alien Gharnakh’sha and the star-spanning Islamic Caliphate has been suppressed. Worse, the fact that the Sons of Wilkinson, New America extremists Rogers previously thwarted, were in league with the Gharnakh’sha and the Caliphate has caused all New Americans to come under a cloud of imperial suspicion.

When the Gharnakh’sha threaten once more, Rogers must decide whether or not to “go rogue,” and help the New Americans resist an oncoming occupation. What’s more, the only hope for the colonists may be to deploy a super-weapon which Rogers has so far done everything in his power to prevent them from ever using!

About Her Majesty's American:
"White presents thought provoking observations about humanity in an alternate future, with clever twists and turns."—Booklist

"With a strong combination of alternate history, science fact, and science fiction, White (the Starfire series) takes readers into a future of interplanetary colonization and threats both foreign and domestic."—Publishers Weekly

MEN IN BLACK AT THE REN FAIRE!

John Rast went to the Ren Faire looking for a fight. Well, a simulated fight, with blunt swords and safety equipment. But when his final opponent turns into a living, fire-breathing dragon, John finds himself in the fight of his life. It’s John or nothing stopping a disaster in its tracks—and the only real weapon at hand is his mom’s Volvo. So John decides to let it roll . . .

And that's when destiny comes to call. John is spirited away to the well-hidden base of Knight Watch, the organization that stands between humanity and the real nasties the rest of the world doesn’t know about.

Knight Watch would be John’s dream job—except for the storm goddess that destroys his parents’ house, the abandoned mall replete with too much dead, and the Fetch that aims to make John’s domain a final resting place. All this has John’s putative allies in the Knight Watch worried that John is the one bringing bad things into multiple worlds. John and his reluctant teammates have to figure out who, or what, is pulling the strings before all of Knight Watch falls prey to a well-concealed puppetmaster and far worse things enter this world.

Things that Go Bump at High Noon! Tales of the Weird Wild West from Charlaine Harris, Mike Resnick, D.J. Butler, Stephen Graham Jones, and more.

Baen’s Bestselling Western Fantasy and Horror Anthology Returns for Another Showdown!

Once again, we return to the Old West with a new posse of top authors spinning tales of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. We take no prisoners as they explore what really was, and mix in what might have been.

Charlaine Harris [The Sookie Stackhouse Series, Midnight, Texas] shows us a glimpse inside her new series as a tormented gunfighter faces a true demon of her past. Mike Resnick [The Buntline Special] reveals what Doc Holiday thought was so funny on his last day. Jeffrey Mariotte [Desperados, Graveslingers] introduces us to a man who specializes in pictures of the dead who won’t stay dead. Jane Lindskold [The Firekeeper Saga, The Star Kingdom Series (with David Weber)] teaches us not to underestimate a schoolmarm when her students are in jeopardy. And Shane Hensley [Deadlands] cooks up a stew that threatens to send every famous lawman in history to their graves!

Plus, a dozen more stories of how the west was wilder than any history book could contain, such as a new Native American legend by Stephen Graham Jones and a Mormon troubleshooter straddling the line between his faith and the supernatural by D.J. Butler.

The west that was rides again with west that could have been in this follow-up to Straight Outta Tombstone!

Contributors:

Mike Resnick
D.J. Butler
Jane Lindskold
Shane Hensely
Jeffrey J. Mariotte
Steve Ransic Tem
Stephen Graham Jones
Derrick Ferguson
Frog and Esther Jones
Cliff Winnig
Jennifer Campbell-Hicks
Alex Acks
Marsheilla Rockwell
Mario Acevedo
Betsy Dornbusch
Travis Heerman

Terman: the lost solider unable to help the people he has encountered who have no memory. Lian: the son of Therman who is destined to battle against the repressive House of Ellon and uphold his father's gift of naming. Anya: the daughter of He Who Leads, Lian, she is an unpredictable youth living in dangerous times, but one who is destined to follow in the footsteps of her courageous family. Albion: a vivid story of the struggles of a people who strive for knowledge and release from a life of enforced drudgery.

Book One in the Albion Series

About Albion:
“. . . bloody and powerful . . .&nbps;recommended.” —GMI

“. . . enough battles to satisfy the most bloodthirsty reader. The heroes in this book, for once, feel real. The first of a series, Albion promises great things; Grant looks set to subvert the entire genre.” —City Limits