ONE CUNNING PLAN TOO MANY. . .

 It's spring in Vorbarr Sultana, and a young person's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love . . .

. . . money . . . bio-genetics . . . love . . . lack of money . . . incompatible planetary sexual mores . . . love . . . District succession scandals . . . the Emperor's wedding . . . and, of course, love . . . 

Lord Miles Vorkosigan, youngest Imperial Auditor to be appointed by the Emperor since the Time of Isolation, has a problem all his new power can't solve: unrequited love for the beautiful Vor widow Ekaterin Vorsoisson.  Ekaterin is violently allergic to marriage as a result of her first exposure.  But as Miles learned from his late career in galactic covert ops, if a frontal assault won't do, go to subterfuge.  He has a cunning plan . . .

Lord Mark Vorkosigan has a problem: his love for the sunny Kareen, daughter of Commodore Koudelka, has just become unrequited again.  But if all his new money can't solve their dilemma, perhaps a judicious blending of science and entrepreneurial scheming might.  He has a cunning plan . . .

"It's another winner with all kinds of unexpected adventures . . . Georgette Heyer has met her match for intrigue and STYLE! A sprightly conducted romance with twists and turns that could only happen in a Vorkosigan-inspired novel. . . . Boy, can she write!" 
—Anne McCaffrey

"Bujold successfully mixes quirky humor with just enough action, a dab of feminist social commentary and her usual superb character development in a sprightly SF romance . . . enormously satisfying." 
—Publishers Weekly

THIRD ENTRY IN A BELOVED SERIES. The Vorkosigan Saga spans over a dozen novels and has won multiple awards and sold 1.8 million copies.

Sick of combat and betrayal, Cordelia Vorkosigan is ready to settle down to a quiet life. But when the Emperor dies, her husband Aral becomes guardian of the infant heir to the imperial throne of Barrayar and the target of high-tech assassins in a dynastic civil war. But neither Aral nor Cordelia can guess the part that their cell-damaged unborn will play in Barrayar's bloody legacy. Winner of the Hugo Award.

While Miles is recuperating from injuries, his boss arrives to question him. Includes three major Vorkosigan novellas: "The Mountains of Mourning," “Labyrinth,” and "The Borders of Infinity."

Miles is having enough trouble keeping his two identities separate -- the charismatic Admiral Naismith of the Denarii Mercenary Fleet and a Vor lord of the Barrayan aristocracy -- when assassination attempts begin. But are his enemies after Miles Naismith or Lord Miles Vorkosigan? The problem of split identities becomes even more confused when a clone of Miles is discovered, in this novel Booklist called "a first-rate sf tale that mixes court intrigue and galactic warfare."

Captain Ivan Vorpatril is happy with his relatively uneventful bachelor's life of a staff officer to a Barrayaran admiral. Ivan, cousin to Imperial troubleshooter Miles Vorkosigan, is not far down the hereditary list for the emperorship. Thankfully, new heirs have directed that headache elsewhere, leaving Ivan to enjoy his life on Komarr, far from the Byzantine court politics of his home system. But when an old friend in Barrayaran intelligence asks Ivan to protect an attractive young woman who may be on the hit list of a criminal syndicate, Ivan's chivalrous nature takes over. It seems danger and adventures have once more found Captain Vorpatril.

Tej Arqua and her half-sister and servant Rish are fleeing the violent overthrow of their clan on free-for-all planet Jackson's Whole. Now it seems Tej may possess a hidden secret of which even she may not be aware. It's a secret that could corrupt the heart of a highly regarded Barayarran family and provide the final advantage for the thugs who seek to overthrow Tej's homeworld.

But none of Tej's formidable adversaries have counted on Ivan Vorpatril. For behind Ivan's façade of wry and self effacing humor lies a true and cunning protector who will never leave a distressed lady in the lurch—up to and including making the ultimate sacrifice to keep her from harm: the treasured and hardwon freedom from his own fate as a scion of Barrayar.

Listen to the author and cover artist discuss the book on the Baen Free Radio Hour: Part 1 | Part 2 | Artist.

Miles Vorkosigan and Cousin Ivan Vorpatril go to Cetaganda to play the part of sprigs of the nobility doing their diplomatic duty by good old Barrayar. The idea is that they will gain diplomatic polish on this simple mission, but when the Cetagandan empress dies naturally and her lifelong attendant dies unnaturally—apparently a suicide, but there are rumors—Miles and Ivan find themselves in the thick of it. 

Miles must play detective in a strange, complicated, and deceptively alien culture, while handsome and lascivious Ivan manages to get himself involved with several noble females at the same time—a diplomatic no-no of the first order. As the plot thickens, it becomes clear that to fulfill a boyhood fantasy and save the Empire, it's up to Miles to do the job. He doesn't mind exactly, but it’s the Cetagandan Empire—which is most decidedly not the Empire he had in mind.

Miles Vorkosigan is back!

Kibou-daini is a planet obsessed with cheating death. Barrayaran Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan can hardly disapprove—he’s been cheating death his whole life, on the theory that turnabout is fair play. But when a Kibou-daini cryocorp—an immortal company whose job it is to shepherd its all-too-mortal frozen patrons into an unknown future—attempts to expand its franchise into the Barrayaran Empire, Emperor Gregor dispatches his top troubleshooter Miles to check it out.

On Kibou-daini, Miles discovers generational conflict over money and resources is heating up, even as refugees displaced in time skew the meaning of generation past repair. Here he finds a young boy with a passion for pets and a dangerous secret, a Snow White trapped in an icy coffin who burns to re-write her own tale, and a mysterious crone who is the very embodiment of the warning Don’t mess with the secretary. Bribery, corruption, conspiracy, kidnapping—something is rotten on Kibou-daini, and it isn’t due to power outages in the Cryocombs. And Miles is in the middle—of trouble!

“Fresh, intriguing, and, as always with Lois McMaster Bujold, superb.” —Robert Jordan

“It is such a delight to read something by such a good writer, who now seems to be writing at the height of her powers. . . . I really have seldom enjoyed a book so much . . . I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.” —Diana Wynne Jones

“Living breathing characters who inhabit unusual yet believable worlds.” —Jean Auel

“Bujold successfully mixes quirky humor with just enough action, a dab of feminist social commentary and her usual superb character development . . . enormously satisfying.” —Publishers Weekly

“One of sf’s outstanding talents . . . an outstanding series.” —Booklist

“Excellently done . . . Bujold has always excelled at creating forceful characters and she does it here again.” —Denver Post

“. . . an intelligent, well-crafted and thoroughly satisfying blend of adventure, sociopolitical commentary, scientific experiments, and occasional perils . . . with that extra spicing of romance. . . .” —Locus

About the Author

Lois McMaster Bujold is one of the most honored writers in the fields of science fiction and fantasy and has won five Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards, including a Nebula Award for Falling Free, included in Miles, Mutants and Microbes. She immediately attracted attention with her first novel, Shards of Honor, which began her popular Vorkosigan series, and quickly followed it up with The Warrior’s Apprentice, which introduced young Miles Vorkosigan, one of the most popular characters ever in science fiction. Her two recent fantasy series for Harper-Collins have been top sellers, from which Paladin of Souls took home her latest Hugo Award. The mother of two, Ms. Bujold lives in Minneapolis, MN.

A COMEDY OF TERRORS . . .

A rich Komarran merchant fleet has been impounded at Graf Station, in distant Quaddiespace, after a bloody incident on the station docks involving a security officer from the convoy's Barrayaran military escort. Lord Miles Vorkosigan of Barrayar and his wife, Lady Ekaterin, have other things on their minds, such as getting home in time to attend the long-awaited births of their first children. But when duty calls in the voice of Barrayar's Emperor Gregor, Miles, Gregor's youngest Imperial Auditor (a special high-level troubleshooter) has no choice but to answer. 

Waiting on Graf Station are diplomatic snarls, tangled loyalties, old friends, new enemies, racial tensions, lies and deceptions, mysterious disappearances, and a lethal secret with wider consequences than even Miles anticipates: a race with time for life against death in horrifying new forms. 

The downside of being a troubleshooter comes when trouble starts shooting back . . .

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lois McMaster Bujold burst upon the science fiction world in 1986 with the first of the Vorkosigan Saga novels, Shards of Honor, closely followed by The Warrior's Apprentice, which introduced Miles Vorkosigan, the hyperkinetic military genius with bones of glass. She has won an unprecedented four Hugo Awards for works in the Vorkosigan Saga. Bujold has published sixteen novels to date, all but one with Baen Books. The mother of two, Bujold lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

A NEW NOVEL IN THE AWARD WINNING SERIES FROM MULTIPLE NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR LOIS MCMASTER BUJOLD!  Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan returns to the planet that changed her destiny.

FUTURE TENSE

Three years after her famous husband’s death, Cordelia Vorkosigan, widowed Vicereine of Sergyar, stands ready to spin her life in a new direction. Oliver Jole, Admiral, Sergyar Fleet, finds himself caught up in her web of plans in ways he’d never imagined, bringing him to an unexpected crossroads in his career.

Meanwhile, Miles Vorkosigan, one of Emperor Gregor’s key investigators, this time dispatches himself on a mission of inquiry, into a mystery he never anticipated – his own mother.

Plans, wills, and expectations collide in this sparkling science-fiction social comedy, as the impact of galactic technology on the range of the possible changes all the old rules, and Miles learns that not only is the future not what he expects, neither is the past.

Download the Reader’s Group Discussion Guide here.

Accident or Treachery

Komarr could be a garden-with a thousand more years work. or an uninhabitable wasteland, if the terraforming fails. Now the solar mirror vital to the terraforming of the conquered planet has been shattered by a ship hurtling off course. The Emperor of Barrayar sends his newest Imperial Auditor, Lord Miles Vorkosigan, to find out why.

The choice is not a popular one on Komarr, where a betrayal a generation before drenched the name of Vorkosigan in blood. In the political and physical claustrophobia of the domed cities, are the Komarrans surrounding Miles loyal subjects, potential hostages, innocent victims, or rebels bidding for revenge

Lies within lies, treachery within treachery-Miles is caught in a race against time to stop a plot that could exile him from Barrayar forever. His burning hope lies in an unexpected ally, one with wounds as deep and honor as beleaguered as his own.

Dying is easy. Coming back to life is hard.

At least that's what Miles Vorkosigan thinks and he should know, having done both once already. That was when he last visited the planet of Jackson's Whole, while rescuing his brother. Thanks to quick thinking on the part of his staff, and incredible artistry on the part of the specialist who revived him, his first death won't be his last. But his next one might be, a realization he finds profoundly unsettling.

Even after he returns to military duty, his late death seems to be having a greater effect than he's willing to admit. Unfortunately, his weakness reveals itself to the world at large at just the wrong time and in just the wrong way, and Miles is summoned home to face Barrayaran security chief Simon Illyan. But when things begin to go subtly wrong in Imperial Security itself, "Who shall guard the guardians " becomes a more-than-rhetorical question, with a potentially lethal answer.

Things look bad, but they are far worse than Miles imagines, as he discovers his worst nightmares about Simon Illyan don't compare to Illyan's worst nightmares—or are they memories

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lois McMaster Bujold burst upon the SF world in 1986 with the first of the Vorkosigan Saga novels, Shards of Honor, closely followed by The Warrior's Apprentice, which introduced the physically handicapped military genius Miles Vorkosigan. She has won an unprecedented four Hugo Awards for works in the Vorkosigan Saga. Last year's Hugo winner, Mirror Dance, was released in paperback in March 1995. Bujold has published a dozen novels to date, all with Baen Books. The mother of two, Bujold lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Listen to the author discuss the book on the Baen Free Radio Hour: Part 1 | Part 2.

"Georgette Heyer has met her match for intrigue and STYLE!"
—Anne McCaffrey

Komarr—Miles Vorkosigan is sent to Komarr, a planet that could be a garden with a thousand more years of terraforming; or an uninhabitable wasteland, if the terraforming project fails. The solar mirror vital to the project has been shattered by a ship hurtling off course, and Miles has been sent to find out if it was an accident, or sabotage. But once there, he uncovers a plot that could exile him from Barrayar forever—and discovers an unexpected ally, one with wounds as deep and honor as beleaguered as his own.

A Civil Campaign—On Komarr, Miles met the beautiful Vor widow Ekaterin Vorsoisson, who has no intention of getting married after the heartbreak and betrayal of her first experience. But Miles has a cunning plan to change her mind. Unfortunately his clone-brother Mark and his cousin Ivan have cunning plans of their own, and the three- way collision of cunning plans threatens to undo Miles's brilliant romantic strategy.

"Winterfair Gifts"—Miles and Ekaterin make elaborate preparations for their wedding. But Miles has an enemy who is plotting to turn the romantic ceremony into a festival of death.

"Bujold continues to prove what marvels genius can create out of basic space operatics."—Booklist

Publisher's Note: Contains two full length novels and a novella, together in one volume for the first time.

THE CLONED STRANGERS

Not everyone would envy young Lord Miles Naismith Vorkosigan, even though he had formed his own mercenary fleet before attending the naval academy, and even though his mother was the beautiful Cordelia, the ship captain who has taught the Lords of Barrayar much about the perils of sexism. Even the fact that Miles is third in line to the throne and personally owns a major chunk of his home planet would not tempt any normal person to change places with him.

When assassins came to rid the world of his father, his mother, pregnant with Miles, was in the line of fire, and Miles was but an egg for the omelet in an all too literal sense. Thanks to heroic medical intervention, Miles survived his near fatal brush with war gas-as a pain-filled dwarf with bones as weak and brittle as some malign composite of chalk and glass. Miles is often mistaken for a mutant by his mutant loathing countrymen.

But there is one who does envy him, who wants to be him: his brother, his cloned stranger formed from tissue stolen from Miles when he was a child. For Mark Vorkosigan was created and raised up for only one purpose: to become Miles, to murder and replace him. In Brothers in Arms that conspiracy was routed and Mark made more or less compliant to his new Miles-less fate. But in the intervening years Mark has learned that without Miles he is . . . nothing. The new and better Mark doesn't really want to kill his brother, but still it may come to that: Mark to stay, Miles to go. . . .

THREE PENRIC AND DESDEMONA NOVELLAS IN THE WORLD OF THE FIVE GODS BY GRANDMASTER LOIS MCMASTER BUJOLD

Penric and Desdemona are back in three novellas from Grand Master Lois McMaster Bujold.

“Masquerade in Lodi”
Bastard’s Eve is a night of celebration for most residents in the canal city of Lodi—but not for sorcerer Learned Penric and his Temple demon Desdemona, who find themselves caught up in the affairs of a shiplost madman, a dangerous ascendant demon, and a very unexpected saint of the fifth god.

“The Orphans of Raspay”
When the ship in which they are traveling is captured by Carpagamon island raiders, Temple sorcerer Penric and his resident demon Desdemona find their life complicated by two young orphans, Lencia and Seuka Corva, who are far from home and searching for their missing father. Pen and Des will need all their combined talents of mind and magic to unravel the mysteries of the sisters and escape from the pirate stronghold.

“The Physicians of Vilnoc”
When a mysterious plague breaks out in the army fort guarding Vilnoc, the port capital of the duchy of Orbas, Temple sorcerer Penric and his demon Desdemona are called upon by General Arisaydia to resurrect Penric’s medical skills and solve its lethal riddle. In the grueling days that follow, Pen will find that even his magic is not enough to meet the challenges without help from dedicated new colleagues—and the god of mischance.

Includes a new introduction, “outroduction,” and suggested reading order by Lois McMaster Bujold.

WELCOME A NEW FANTASY HERO FROM LOIS McMASTER BUJOLD!

Follow Penric on his journey from noble young lord to sorcerer and scholar in the Bastard's Order. Three fantasy novellas by multiple award winning author Lois McMaster Bujold, together for the first time!

Penric’s Demon

On the way to his betrothal young Lord Penric happens upon a riding accident and stops to help. But the victim is no ordinary woman. She is is a Temple divine, servant to the five gods of this world. Her avowed god is The Bastard, "master of all disasters out of season." As she lies dying, she passes her strange powers to Penric . . . and changes the course of his life forever.

Penric and the Shaman

Now a divine of the Bastard’s Order as well as a sorcerer and scholar, Penric finds his scholarly work interrupted when he is called upon to accompany a "Locator" of the Father’s Order, assigned to capture Inglis, a runaway shaman charged with the murder of his best friend. But Penric finds that the mission is anything but easy and that his new skills will be pushed to the breaking point.

Penric’s Fox

When Penric—sorcerer, scholar, and divine in the Bastard's Order—travels to Easthome, the capital of the Weald, he once again finds himself embroiled in a mystery. The body of a sorceress has been found in the woods, and it is up to Penric and his friends, Shaman Inglis and Locator Oswyl, to unravel a mystery mixing magic, murder, and the strange realities of Temple demons.

TALES OF A NEW HERO IN FANTASY FROM LOIS McMASTER BUJOLD, TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME! Includes Penric’s Mission, Mira’s Last Dance, and The Prisoner of Limnos. He does it his way! FOLLOW-UP TO COLLECTION PENRIC'S PROGRESS.

Penric’s Mission

Learned Penric, a sorcerer and divine of the Bastard’s Order, has faced danger and intrigue many times before. Now, he finds himself on his first covert diplomatic mission. Penric must travel across the sea to Cedona in an attempt to secure the services of the Cedonia General Arisaydia for the Duke of Adria. But nothing is as it seems. No sooner than he has arrived, Penric finds himself tossed into a dungeon. If Penric is to survive, he’ll have to navigate treacherous politics—and his own feelings for the young widowed sister of the General.

Mira’s Last Dance

Penric, suffering from injuries attained while escaping from the Cedonian dungeon in which he was imprisoned, must now guide General Arisaydia and his widowed sister, Nikys, across the last hundred miles of hostile Cedonia to safety in the Duchy of Orbas. In the town of Sosie, the fugitive party encounters unexpected delays, and even more unexpected opportunities and hazards, as the courtesan Mira of Adria, one of the ten dead women whose imprints make up the personality of the chaos demon Desdemona, comes to the fore with her own special expertise.

The Prisoner of Limnos

Penric and Nikys have reached safety in the Duchy of Orbas when a secret letter from a friend brings frightening news: Nikys's mother has been taken hostage by her brother's enemies at the Cedonian imperial court and confined in a precarious island sanctuary.

Now, Nikys, Penric, and Desdemona must infiltrate the hostile country once more, finding along the way that family relationships can be as unexpectedly challenging as any rescue scheme.

When Cordelia Naismith and her survey crew are attacked by a renegade group from Barrayar, she is taken prisoner by Aral Vorkosigan, commander of the Barrayan ship that has been taken over by an ambitious and ruthless crew member. Aral and Cordelia survive countless mishaps while their mutual admiration and even stronger feelings emerge. A science fiction romance by a Hugo and Nebula Award winning master. Bujold's SHARDS OF HONOR is the first book in her SF universe to feature the Vorkosigan clan, followed by the Hugo award-winning BARRAYAR. The Nebula award-winning FALLING FREE precedes it by internal chronology in the same future history.

by Lois McMaster Bujold

Miles Vorkosigan faces enormous challenges in this Hugo Award-winning novel as he leads a mutiny against his military commander's criminal orders, rejoins his Dendarii mercenaries, and attempts to rescue Emperor Gregor after Barrayar's royal scion has run off straight into trouble. Sequel to The Warriors Apprentice.

The Icarus Plot

by Timothy Zahn

Tower of Silence

by Larry Correia

Into the Vortex

by Charles E. Gannon

Wraithbound

by Tim Akers

Joy to the world . . . or, joy to the worlds! Let heaven and nature—and also the supernatural—sing. A Cosmic Christmas presents twelve stories of Christmas in very unusual circumstances, ranging from vampires to robots, from the hills of Appalachia to a high orbit space station, all celebrating the holiday in their own, off-beat ways.

New York Times best-selling author Larry Correia sends his popular tough guy detective and magicwielder, Jake Sullivan, on a special case at Christmas time, while visions of tommy guns dance in the heads of the thugs he's up against. Mark L. Van Name's Lobo, an A.I. housed in a pocket battle starship, drops his usual cynical pose to help a troubled family at Christmas time. Nebula Award-winner Catherine Asaro tells of a romantic Yuletide weekend that turns into a mystery in a futuristic high-tech house. New York Times best seller Mercedes Lackey offers a Christmas ghost the likes of which Scrooge never encountered. George O. Smith, a star of the Golden Age of science fiction, is on hand with an episode from his classic Venus Equilateral series, in which a Christmas celebration on a gigantic space station is interrupted by the arrival of a ruthless interplanetary criminal, who didn't drop by to hand out presents. And much more, in a holiday package that any fan of science fiction and fantasy would be delighted to find under their tree, on any planet.

Europe has spiraled into chaos. A conspiracy years in the making combined with general unrest lead to upheaval and revolution. In the midst of the murderous disorder, mercenary Michael Valentine is in Europe with a small team of his Exodus personnel trying to track down the evil and highly dangerous Katarina Montalban. She has initiated a mysterious plot to do away with those who stand between her and ultimate power. The team is on their own, with few friends, few resources—and racing against the clock. Both Valentine and Lorenzo will have to risk some dangerous alliances if they're to succeed.

Meanwhile, Valentine’s friend, one‑time enemy, and sometime partner Hector Lorenzo finds himself in a dungeon owned by Asian drug lord Sala Jihan. He must make a deal that may lead him to cross paths with Valentine again. If two of the most effective killers in existence hunt, even the pandemonium in Europe may be just the first act in an orgy of destruction.

Michael Valentine, veteran and former member of an elite private military company, has been recruited by the government to conduct a secret counter-terror operation in the Persian Gulf nation of Zubara. The unit is called Dead Six. Their mission is to take the fight to the enemy and not get caught.

Lorenzo, assassin and thief extraordinaire, is being blackmailed by the world's most vicious crime lord. His team has to infiltrate the Zubaran terrorist network and pull off an impossible heist or his family will die. When Dead Six compromises his objective, Lorenzo has a new job: Find and kill Valentine.

As allegiances are betrayed and the nation descends into a bloody civil war, Lorenzo and Valentine must face off. Two men. Two missions. Only one will win.

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 FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION STORIES WITH A HARDBOILED NOIR TWIST—FOCUSING ON THE MEAN STREETS OF THE CITY

“Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid.” —Raymond Chandler

Humans have always been fascinated by darkness. Especially the darkness of a city at night, when the black sky is made ever more inky by the pools of illumination dropped under streetlights. We harken to the sound of streetcars in the distance. We are drawn to the garish flash of club signs and marquees. We love the danger of shadowed alleyways, of wealth and poverty living side by side.

We love the city. It’s a part of us.

Whether the mean streets be in an alternate past charmed with dark magic or the dirty alleyways of futuristic crowded space stations, the city—and its darkened streets—will always fascinate us. Here then, an anthology of all new stories of science fiction and fantasy with a hardboiled noir twist that acknowledge that the city is a living, breathing entity . . . and it isn’t always on our side.

Stories by: Laurell K. Hamilton, Larry Correia, Kacey Ezell, Mike Massa, Steve Diamond, Robert E. Hampson, Chris Kennedy, Marisa Wolf, Griffin Barber, Robert Buettner, Hinkley Correia, Casey Moores, Patrick M. Tracy, and Dan Willis.

In January of 2011 we started posting free short stories we thought might be of interest to Baen readers. The first stories were "Space Hero" by Patrick Lundrigan, the winner of the 2010 Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Contest, and "Tanya, Princess of Elves," by Larry Correia, author of Monster Hunter International and set in that universe. As new stories are made available, they will be posted on the main page, then added to this book (to save the Baen Barflies the trouble of doing it themselves).

As is usual with such copyrighted material from Baen, the contents may be copied and shared but NOT sold. All commercial rights are reserved to Baen Books.

Eleutherios
by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller Seven Miles
by T.C. McCarthy To Spec
by Charles E. Gannon Skyspark
by Ryk E. Spoor The Krumhorn and Misericorde
by Dave Freer Pittsburgh Backyard and Garden
by Wen Spencer Haunts of Guilty Minds
by John Lambshead The Lamplighter Legacy
by Patrick O'Sullivan Dog's Body
by Sarah A. Hoyt The Sorcerer of Daigawa
by Jon F. Merz Sweothi City
by Larry Correia Out of True
by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller Mars Farts
by Ben Bova The Virgin of Hertogenbosch
by David Drake Murder on the Hochflieger Ost
by Frank Chadwick

In January of 2011 we started posting free short stories we thought might be of interest to Baen readers. The first stories were "Space Hero" by Patrick Lundrigan, the winner of the 2010 Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Contest, and "Tanya, Princess of Elves," by Larry Correia, author of Monster Hunter International and set in that universe. As new stories are made available, they will be posted on the main page, then added to this book (to save the Baen Barflies the trouble of doing it themselves). This is our compilation of short stories for 2019.

As is usual with such copyrighted material from Baen, the contents may be copied and shared but NOT sold. All commercial rights are reserved to Baen Books.

The Testimony of the Traitor Ratul by Larry Correia
Today I Remember by Martin L. Shoemaker
Extracurricular by Wm. Mark Simmons
Waiting for the Talisman by P.C. Hodgell
Voodoo Magic by Robert Buettner
Burners by Matt McHugh
Treason Properly by J.J. Cragun
Talk Girl by Wil McCarthy
Weeping Willikers by Aaron Michael Ritchey
A Visit to the Galaxy Ballroom by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
Next Giant Leap by Patrick Chiles

Hero of the people Ashok Vadal lives! Now, he must face down enemies on all sides if he and the Sons of the Black Sword are to have any hope of destroying the evil Capitol in a new entry in NYT best-selling author Larry Correia’s Saga of the Forgotten Warrior epic fantasy series.

In a land where the Age of Law reigns supreme and the casteless are condemned to live as untouchables, rebellion brews, and the forgotten gods whisper of a hero’s return.

THE BATTLE RAGES

Once a Protector enforcing the Capitol’s strict laws with an iron fist, Ashok Vadal discovers his entire life is built on lies. The ancient black steel sword chose him not for his bloodline but for his spirit, thrusting him into a destiny fraught with peril and glory. The Capitol is in chaos, teetering on the brink of collapse as the Great Extermination spreads its dark shadow across the land. The casteless, descendants of the once-great kings, are hunted to extinction. Their only hope lies in Ashok Vadal, now a fugitive, and Thera, the prophet of the forgotten gods.

Thera’s visions and unyielding spirit rally the Sons of the Black Sword, fierce warriors sworn to overthrow the tyrannical Capitol and restore balance. As Ashok traverses deserts, battles sea demons, and navigates political treachery, he grapples with his identity and the heavy burden of his newfound purpose. Alongside him are allies old and new: Jagdish, the strategic commander of the Sons; Gutch, a resourceful criminal-turned-ally; and Devedas, his former brother-in-arms now caught in the Capitol’s ruthless power struggles.

Meanwhile, Grand Inquisitor Omand Vokkan, a master manipulator with his own dark agenda, strikes a secret pact with ancient demons, promising them the annihilation of the casteless in exchange for godlike power. As the demonic invasion begins, Ashok and his companions must unite to combat threats both human and supernatural. Lines between friend and foe blur, battles rage, and the fate of Lok hangs in the balance.

Ashok Vadal may desire redemption and vengeance, but in a world where gods and demons once walked, a warrior’s heart and a black steel sword turns out to be mankind’s last hope.

THRILLING SCIENCE FICTION ADVENTURE FROM BEST-SELLING AUTHORS LARRY CORREIA AND JOHN BROWN

The Heart of a Warrior

Once, Jackson Rook was a war hero. Raised from boyhood to pilot an exosuit mech, he’d fought gallantly for the rebellion against the Collectivists. But that was a long time ago, on a world very far away.

Now, Jackson Rook is a criminal, a smuggler on board the Multipurpose Supply Vehicle Tar Heel. His latest mission: steal a top-of-the-line mech called the Citadel and deliver it to the far-flung planet Swindle, a world so hostile even the air will kill you. The client: a man known only as the Warlord. Rook has been in the smuggling business long enough to know that it’s best to take the money and not ask questions. But Rook cannot stand by and watch as the Warlord runs roughshod over the citizens of Swindle, the way the Collectivists did on his homeworld. For all his mercenary ways, Rook is not a pirate. And deep within the smuggler, the heart of a warrior still beats.

Jake Sullivan is a war hero, a private eye-and an ex-con. He's free because he has a magical talent, being able to alter the force of gravity in himself and objects in his vicinity, and the Bureau of Investigation calls on him when they need his help in apprehending criminals with their own magical talents. But the last operation he was sent along to help with went completely wrong, and Delilah Jones, the woman the G-men were after, who just happened to be an old friend of Jake's in happier times, had a lot of magical muscle with her, too much muscle for the cops to handle, even with Jake's help.

It got worse. Jake found out that the Feds had lied to him about Delilah being a murderer as well as a bank robber, and they had lied about this being his last job for them-he was too valuable for them to let him go. And things were even worse than Jake imagined. There was a secret war being waged by opposing forces of magic-users, and Jake had no idea that he had just attracted the attention of one side, whose ruthless leaders were of the opinion that Jake was far too dangerous to be permitted to live...

About the Author

Larry Correia is hopelessly addicted to two things: guns and B-horror movies. He has been a gun dealer, firearms instructor, accountant, and is now a very successful writer. He shoots competitively and is a certified concealed weapons instructor. Larry resides in Utah with his very patient wife and family. His first novel, Monster Hunter International is now in its third printing.

The final novel in New York Times best-selling author Larry Correia’s epic fantasy Saga of the Forgotten Warrior series.

What happens after the War of the Gods?

The answer lies in the Heart of the Mountain . . .

Ashok Vadal was chosen by a powerful weapon to be its bearer. As a Protector, an elite roving law-enforcer, his path to leader of the Sons of the Black Sword has been anything but straight

Thera Vane, a child of privilege, has become the reluctant prophet of an illegal and forgotten god—whose prophecies are proving all too correct, if frustratingly unclear about the war between demon and man.

Ashok’s erstwhile sword brother, Lord Protector Devedas, was meant to be a puppet king, but he and his wife, a court scholar, have other plans. And possibly even access to the lore that will let them triumph.

Grand Inquisitor Omand Vokkan is a man of ambition. He’s set in motion all that was necessary to destroy the current order and install Lord Protector Devedas as a tyrant. But Vokkan has a vision beyond control of the continent. He would challenge even the gods. . . .

It seems the time of prophecy and the Age of Law is over: it is time the prophecies will be fulfilled.

LARRY CORREIA'S BEST-SELLING EPIC FANTASY SERIES, SAGA OF THE FORGOTTEN WARRIOR, CONTINUES.

Ashok Vadal was once a member of the highest caste in all of Lok. As a Protector, he devoted his life to upholding the Law, rooting out those who still practiced the old ways and delivering swift justice with his ancestor blade Angruvadal. None was more merciless than he in stamping out the lingering belief in gods and demons among the casteless. His brutality was legendary and celebrated.

But soon Ashok learned that his life to that point had been a lie. He himself, senior member of the Protector Order, was casteless. He had been nothing more than an unwitting pawn in a political game. His world turned upside down and finding himself on the wrong side of the Law, he began a campaign of rebellion, war, and destruction unlike any Lok had ever seen.

Thera had been first daughter of Vane. A member of the Warrior Order, she had spent her life training for combat. Until a strange sight in the heavens appeared one day. Thera was struck by lighting and from that day forward she heard the Voice. A reluctant prophet with the power to see into the future, she fought alongside Ashok Vadal and his company of men known as the Sons of the Black Sword until a shapeshifting wizard with designs on her powers of precognition spirited her away. He holds her prisoner in the House of Assassins.

Ashok Vadal and the Sons of the Black Sword march to rescue Thera. With his sword Angruvadal, Ashok was unstoppable. But Angruvadal is gone, shattered to pieces on the demon possessed husk of a warrior. Now, Ashok must fight without the aid of the magic blade for the first time. Thera’s life depends on it.

But there is much more at risk in the continent of Lok. Strange forces are working behind the scenes. Ashok Vadal and the Sons of the Black Sword are caught up in a game they do not fully understand, with powerful forces allied against them.

Ashok no longer knows what to believe. He is beginning to think perhaps the gods really do exist.

If so, he’s warned them to stay out of his way.

They would do well to listen.

A knight of Cygnar follows a strict moral code. His integrity is beyond reproach. He holds himself to the highest standards whether dealing with friend or foe. And he values honor above all.

The year is 606 AR, and Cygnar is sorely pressed by its enemies both at home and abroad. The Cygnaran military is desperate for soldiers with the skill, strength, and bravery to take up the devastating galvanic weaponry of the new Storm Division. Every soldier is valuable, even those fallen from the honor expected of a Storm Knight. A group of such men—thieves, drunkards, and worse—comprise the Sixth Platoon. All they need is someone to lead them.

Lieutenant Hugh Madigan, a peerless warrior knighted during the reign of the deposed king, has spent years in obscurity, punished for his loyalty to the former monarch. Now he has been ordered back to the front and given command of the Sixth, his task to turn a platoon of miscreants into elite soldiers fit to be called Storm Knights.

Time is short, and war is coming. One way or another, Lieutenant Madigan must lead his men into the storm.

The Malcontents are back in action! Into the Wild, the new novel from acclaimed author Larry Correia, picks up the story begun in Correia’s first entry in the series, Into the Storm.

Now under the leadership of the reluctant Lieutenant Kelvan Cleasby, the Sixth Platoon of Storm Knights has been ordered to accompany an archeological expedition from the Royal Cygnaran University deep into the Wyrmwall Mountains. There, the scholarly team from the university will investigate an ancient site of potentially great historical value while the Malcontents stand around playing bodyguards and wishing for just a little excitement.

But what seems a simple enough assignment rapidly turns into a test of the platoon’s survival skills—a seemingly abandoned fort, the lone survivor of a horrifying attack, and a ferociously territorial tribe may be more than even the Malcontents can handle. And even once they know the monsters they face, escape may well be impossible—it’s never as easy to get out as it is to get into the wild.

OMNIBUS EDITION OF ALL THE HARD-HITTING MILITARY THRILLER DEAD SIX NOVELS from the creator of the multiple New York Times best-selling Monster Hunter series Larry Correia and the best-selling science fiction author Mike Kupari. Includes the novels Dead Six, Swords of Exodus, Alliance of Shadows, plus two short stories and an all-new introduction from the authors.

The Dead Six series is an inventive and action-packed military adventure series with a touch of conspiracy and big dollop of descriptive firepower! Now, for the first time, all of the Dead Six novels are available in a single omnibus edition. Inside you will find:

Dead Six: Michael Valentine has been recruited by the government to conduct a secret counter-terror operation in the Persian Gulf nation of Zubara. The unit is called Dead Six. Their mission is to take the fight to the enemy and not get caught. Lorenzo, assassin and thief extraordinaire, is being blackmailed by the world's most vicious crime lord. His team has to infiltrate the Zubaran terrorist network and pull off an impossible heist or his family will die. When Dead Six compromises his objective, Lorenzo has a new job: Find and kill Valentine.

Swords of Exodus: On the far side of the world, deep in former Soviet Central Asia, lies a stronghold called the Crossroads. It is run with an iron fist by a brutally effective warlord. Enter Lorenzo, thief extraordinaire, and Michael Valentine, implacable mercenary warrior. Their task: team with a shadowy organization of modern day Templars and take down a brutal slave lord.

Alliance of Shadows: Europe has spiraled into chaos. In the midst of the disorder, mercenary Michael Valentine and his team are trying to track down an evil woman bent on total power. They’re on their own, with few friends, few resources—and racing against the clock.

Plus, two short stories set in the Dead Six universe: "Sweothi City" by Larry Correia, and the two-part short story "Rock, Meet Hard Place" by Mike Kupari and Peter Nealen.

Features a brand-new introduction by Correia and Kupari!

Dirty Harry meets Twilight. #3 in the break-out series and a follow-up to Monster Hunter International and Monster Hunter Vendetta.

Earl Harbinger may be the leader of Monster Hunter International, but he's also got a secret. Nearly a century ago, Earl was cursed to be a werewolf. When Earl receives word that one of his oldest foes, a legendarily vicious werewolf that worked for the KGB, has mysteriously appeared in the remote woods of Michigan, he decides to take care of some unfinished business. But another force is working to bring about the creation of a whole new species of werewolf. When darkness falls, the final hunt begins, and the only thing standing in their way is a handful of locals, a lot of firepower, and Earl Harbinger's stubborn refusal to roll over and play dead.

Lexile Score: 730

The chaos god Asag has been quiet since the destruction of the City of Monsters, but Monster Hunter International knows that he is still out there, somewhere—plotting, waiting for his chance to unravel reality.

When Owen and the MHI team discover that one of Isaac Newton’s Ward Stones is being auctioned off by Reptoids who live deep beneath Atlanta, they decide to steal the magical superweapon and use it to destroy Asag once and for all. But before the stone can be handed off, it is stolen by a mysterious thief with ties to MHI and the Vatican’s Secret Guard.

It’s a race against time, the Secret Guard, a spectral bounty hunter, and a whole bunch of monsters to acquire the Ward Stone and use it against Asag. For as dangerous as the chaos god is, there is something much older—and infinitely more evil—awakening deep in the jungles of South America.

NEW ENTRY IN THE BESTSELLING MONSTER HUNTER INTERNATIONAL SERIES BY DRAGON AWARD WINNING AUTHORS LARRY CORREIA AND SARAH A. HOYT

When Owen Pitt and the rest of the Monster Hunter International crew are called away to mount a month’s-long rescue mission in a monster-infested nightmare dimension, Julie Shackleford—Owen’s wife and descendant of MHI founder Bubba Shackelford—is left behind. Her task: hold down the fort and take care of her new baby son Ray. Julie’s devoted to the little guy, but the slow pace of office work and maternity leave are starting to get to her. But when a routine field call brings her face-to-face with an unspeakable evil calling itself Brother Death, she’ll get more excitement than she ever hoped for.

Julie is the Guardian of a powerful ancient artifact known as the Kamaresh Yar, and Brother Death wants it. In the wrong hands, it could destroy reality as we know it. Julie would die before giving it up.

Then Ray goes missing, taken by Brother Death. The price for his safe return: the Kamaresh Yar. If Julie doesn’t hand over the artifact it means death—or worse—for baby Ray. With no other choice left to her, Julie agrees to Brother Death’s demands. But when you’re dealing with an ancient evil, the devil is in the details.

To reclaim her son, Julie Shackleford will have to fight her way through necromantic death cults, child-stealing monsters, and worse. And she’ll have to do it all before Brother Death can unleash the Kamaresh Yar.

It’s one woman against an army of monsters. But Julie Shackelford is no ordinary woman—she’s one tough mother!

The Monster Hunter series:
Monster Hunter International
Monster Hunter Vendetta
Monster Hunter Alpha
Monster Hunter Legion
Monster Hunter Nemesis
Monster Hunter Siege
Monster Hunter Guardian

The Monster Hunter Memoirs series by Larry Correia and John Ringo:
Monster Hunter Memoirs: Grunge
Monster Hunter Memoirs: Sinners
Monster Hunter Memoirs: Saints

A mind is a terrible thing to replace.

Ten masters of speculative fiction explore the future of computerized intellect, and how humanity will interact with machines that can outthink them--and are learning to outsmart them. Computers were designed to think faster than the human mind. But solving mathematical equations and retaining dizzying amounts of information are minor achievements compared to the processing technology of tomorrow's artificial intelligences...machines capable of thinking independently without human input - and evolving into self-maintaining sentient beings.

Ride the brainwaves of mechanical intellect with some of today's masters of speculative fiction, as a woman tries to outsmart a runaway A.I. and save the lives of her children...scientists lose control of a supercomputer with the power and omnipotence of a god...and a sentient starship falls in love with its pilot. These and seven more stories of man and machine await you in... A.I.s

“Antibodies” by Charles Stross
“Trojan Horse” by Michael Stanwick
“Birth Day” by Robert Reed
“The Hydrogen Wall” by Gregory Benford
“The Turing Test” by Chris Beckett
“Dante Dreams” by Stephen Baxter
“The Names of all the Spirits” by J.R. Dunn
“From the Corner of My Eye” by Alexander Glass
“Halfjack” by Roger Zelazny
“Computer Virus” by Nancy Kress

Look closely. They’re here.

In this thought-provoking collection of short stories, some of the most ingenious talents in science fiction explore the secret lives of the aliens who walk among us...

"The Other Celia" by Theodore Sturgeon
"Residuals" by Paul J. McAuley & Kim Newman
"Eight O'Clock in the Morning" by Ray Nelson
"Expendable" by Philip K. Dick
"The Reality Trip" by Robert Silverberg
"Decency" by Robert Reed
"The Mindworm" by C. M. Kornbluth
"Popeye and Pops Watch the Evening World Report" by Eliot Fintushel
"The Autopsy" by Michael Shea
"Or All the Seas with Oysters" by Avram Davidson
"Angel" by Pat Cadigan
“Among the Hairy Earthmen" by R. A. Lafferty
"I'm Too Big But I Love To Play" by James Tiptree Jr.
"The Hero as Werwolf" by Gene Wolfe
"Motherhood, Etc." by L. Timmel Duchamp

Magical, miraculous—and sometimes mischievious…fourteen tales of angelic adventure!

A collection of fifteen short stories depicts angelic interventions in subtle forms and includes the writings of such authors as Isaac Asimov, Tanith Lee, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Roger Zelazny.

“Basileus” by Robert Silverberg
“Angelica” by Jane Yolen
“Angels” by Bruce McAllister
“If Angels Ate Apples” by Geoffrey A. Landis
“Alfred” by Lisa Goldstein
“A Plethora of Angels” by Robert Sampson
“The Man Who Loved the Faioli” by Roger Zelazny
“Upon the Dull Earth” by Philip K. Dick
“Angel” by Pat Cadigan
“Curse of the Angel's Wife” by Bruce Boston
“Sleepers Awake” by Jamil Nasir
“And the Angels Sing” by Kate Wilhelm
“Grave Angels” by Richard Kearns
“All Vows” by Esther M. Friesner

It's the end of the world—but not as we know it . . .

As the new millennium approaches, speculations about Earth's destruction abound. This collection presents twelve world-ending scenarios that are all too frightening—and all too real.

"Fermi and Frost" by Frederik Pohl
"A Desperate Calculus" by Gregory Benford
"Evolution" by Nancy Kress
"A Message to the King of Brobdingnag" by Richard Cowper
". . . The World, As We Know’t" by Howard Waldrop
"The Peacemaker" by Gardner Dozois
"The Screwfly Solution" by Raccoona Sheldon
"A Pail of Air" by Fritz Leiber
"The Great Nebraska Sea" by Allan Danzig
"Inconstant Moon" by Larry Niven
"The Last Sunset" by Geoffrey A. Landis
"Down in the Dark" by William Barton

"Stories about legendary creatures of myth and magic!”

An anthology of extraordinary stories about legendary creatures of myth and magic features works by Tanith Lee, T.H. White, Jane Yolen, and Gene Wolfe

“The Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule” by Lucius Shepard
“Draco, Draco” by Tanith Lee
“The Rule of Names” by Ursula K. Le Guin
“The Black Horn” by Jack Dann
“Walk Like a mountain” by Manly Wade Wellman
“Treaty in Tartessos” by Karen Anderson
“The Woman Who Loved the Centaur Pholus” by Gene Wolfe
“The Sleep of Trees” by Jane Yolen
“The Hardwood Pile” by L. Sprague de Camp
“The Blind Minotaur” by Michael Swanwick
“Landscape with Sphinxes” by Karen Anderson
“Simpson’s Lesser Sphynx” by Esther M. Friesner
“God’s Hooks!” by Howard Waldrop
“A Leg Full of Rubies” by Joan Aiken
“The Valor of Cappen Varra” by Poul Anderson
“The Troll” by T. H. White
“Return of the Griffins” by A. E. Sandeling
“The Last of His Breed” by Rob Chilson

Consider the possibilities when the mind and body are things of the past.

These cutting-edge techno-tales by Poul Anderson, Greg Egan, Michael Swanwick, and other masters explore the infinite ways that new technology will free humankind from the boundaries of the flesh.

"Call Me Joe" by Poul Anderson
"Learning to Be Me" by Greg Egan
"Pretty Boy Crossover" by Pat Cadigan
"Ancient Engines" by Michael Swanwick
"Winemaster" by Robert Reed
"More Adventures on Other Planets" by Michael Cassutt
"Nevermore" by Ian R. MacLeod
"Approaching Perimelasma" by Geoffrey A. Landis
"The Gravity Mine" by Stephen Baxter
"Reef" by Paul J. McAuley

The future isn’t through with you yet.

Featuring stellar contributions from some of today's most masterful practitioners of speculative fiction, Beyond Singularity presents fourteen visions of a tomorrow where rapid technological and genetic breakthroughs have rendered humanity obsolete.

“Old Hundredth” by Brian W. Aldiss
“Rogue Farm” by Charles Stross
“Naturals” by Gregory Benford
“Osmund Considers” by Timons Esaias
“Coelacanths” by Robert Reed
“The Dog Said Bow-Wow” by Michael Swanwick
“Barry Westphall Crashes the Singularity” by James Patrick Kelly
“Flowers from Alice” by Cory Doctorow and Charles Stross
“Tracker” by Mary Rosenblum
“Steps Along the Way” by Eric Brown
“The Millennium Party” by Walter Jon Williams
“The Voluntary State” by Christopher Rowe

New tales of genetic engineering and its impact on tomorrow…

Long before there was Dolly the sheep, there were brilliant science fiction authors speculating on the power and potential, the temptations and the terrors, of cloning. Join them as they explore the ideas, the implications, and the thrilling dramatic possibilities in this collection of nine stories by Ursula K. LeGuin, Joe Haldeman, John Varley, Greg Egan, Damon Knight, Ian R. MacLeod, Kate Wilhelm, Pamela Sargent, and Charles Sheffield.

“The Extra” by Greg Egan
“The Phantom of Kansas” by John Varley
“Nine Lives” by Ursula K. Le Guin
“Past Magic” by Ian R. MacLeod
“Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang” by Kate Wilhelm
“Out of Copyright” by Charles Sheffield
“Mary” by Damon Knight
“Clone Sister” by Pamela Sargent
“Blood Sisters” by Joe Haldeman

In the reality shows of the future, people will literally be dying to watch.

Science fiction's most expert dreamers envision the computerized, high-risk games of the future in this winning collection. Features:
Robert Sheckley
Cory Doctorow
Kate Wilhelm
Alastair Reynolds
Vernor Vinge
Jonathan Letham
Gwyneth Jones
William Browning Spencer
Allen Steele
Terry Dowling
Jason Stoddard.

Fantastic tales of devilish delights.

A collection of fourteen fantastic and frightening tales from such renowned writers as Stephen King, Harlan Ellison, and Jack Vance, featuring worlds inhabited by darkness, wicked devils, dark tords, playful imps, and shapechangers.

"The Willow Platform" by Joseph Payne Brennan
"The Night of White Bhairab" by Lucius Shepard
"The Mangler" by Stephen King
"The Last Demon" by Isaac Bashevis Singer
"The Golden Rope" by Tanith Lee
"Basileus" by Robert Silverberg
"Twilla" by Tom Reamy
"The Purple Pterodactyls" by L. Sprague de Camp
"Goslin Day" by Avram Davidson
"Nellthu" by Anthony Boucher
"Snulbug" by Anthony Boucher
"One Other" by Manly Wade Wellman
"An Ornament to His Profession" by Charles L. Harness

Eleven earthshaking tales of the most fearsome creatures of all time

Eleven tales of primeval fantasy bring readers to the world of dinosaurs with the works of such notable writers as Isaac Asimov, Robert Silverberg, Ursula K. Le Guin, Roger Zelazny, Jane Yolen, Lisa Tuttle, and Michael Bishop.

"The Big Splash" by L. Sprague de Camp
"Just Like Old Times" by Robert Sawyer
"The Virgin and the Dinosaur" by R. Garcia y Robertson
"The Odd Old Bird" by Avram Davidson
"Bernie" by Ian McDowell
"Small Deer" by Clifford D. Simak
"Dinosaur Plies" by R. V. Branham
"Day of the Hunters" by Isaac Asimov
"Herding with the Hadrosaurs" by Michael Bishop
"Ontogeny Recapitulates Phlogeny" by R. Garcia y Robertson
"Trembling Earth" by Allen Steele

Earthshaking stories of the most fearsome creatures of all time.

Authors include:

L. Sprague de Camp
Brian W. Aldiss
Howard Waldrop
Harry Turtledove
Steven Utley
Bob Buckley
Sharon N. Farber
Edward Bryant
Arthur C. Clarke
Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois
James Tiptree, Jr.
Steve Rasnic Tem
Geoffrey A. Landis
Tim Sullivan

"Sixteen spellbinding stories of uncanny canines, heroic hounds and magical mutts"

This latest volume of the "Magical Tales" series contains tales of fantasy involving a range of unusual canines and features works by Philip K. Dick, Harlan Ellison, Fritz Leiber, and others.

"Auto-da-Fe" by Damon Knight
"Roog" by Philip K. Dick
"The Hounds" by Kate Wilhelm
"The Howling Tower" by Fritz Leiber
"Demon Lover" by M. Sargent Mackay
"A Few Kindred Spirits" by John Christopher
"Dogs’ Lives" by Michael Bishop
"here, Putzi!" by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt
"Desertion" by Clifford D. Simak
"I Lost my Love to the Space Shuttle Colombia" by Damien Broderick
"The Master of the Hounds" by Bruce Boston
"Friend’s Best Man" by Jonathan Carroll
"Wish Hound" by Pat Murphy

Wonder inducing. Mind blowing. Comprehensive. Simply amazing. This entire collection includes hundreds of popular and award-winning science fiction and fantasy stories collected in thirty-five volumes gathered by the winner of fifteen Hugo awards for editing, the inimitable Gardner Dozois, and award-winning writer and anthologist, Jack Dann.

We are presenting these thirty-five anthologies in six discount bundles. Get them all, and you will own a huge swath of some of the best short science fiction ever written.

These are luminous, superb stories collected around popular science fiction and fantasy themes. They are written by dozens and dozens of amazing authors. Poul Anderson, Charles Sheffield, Gregory Benford, Fritz Leiber, Brian Aldiss, Ursula K. LeGuin, Arthur C. Clarke, Harry Turtledove, Neal Stephenson, Cordwainer Smith, Greg Bear, William Gibson, Gene Wolfe, Nancy Kress, Fred Saberhagen—the distinguished list goes on and on!

Aliens Among Us

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Armageddons

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Beyond Flesh

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Demons!

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Future Crimes

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Immortals

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Wonder inducing. Mind blowing. Comprehensive. Simply amazing. This entire collection includes hundreds of popular and award-winning science fiction and fantasy stories collected in thirty-five volumes gathered by the winner of fifteen Hugo awards for editing, the inimitable Gardner Dozois, and award-winning writer and anthologist, Jack Dann.

We are presenting these thirty-five anthologies in six discount bundles. Get them all, and you will own a huge swath of some of the best short science fiction ever written.

These are luminous, superb stories collected around popular science fiction and fantasy themes. They are written by dozens and dozens of amazing authors. Poul Anderson, Charles Sheffield, Gregory Benford, Fritz Leiber, Brian Aldiss, Ursula K. LeGuin, Arthur C. Clarke, Harry Turtledove, Neal Stephenson, Cordwainer Smith, Greg Bear, William Gibson, Gene Wolfe, Nancy Kress, Fred Saberhagen—the distinguished list goes on and on!

Dinosaurs II

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Invaders!

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Magicats I

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Magicats II

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Sea Serpents!

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Nanotech

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Wonder inducing. Mind blowing. Comprehensive. Simply amazing. This entire collection includes hundreds of popular and award-winning science fiction and fantasy stories collected in thirty-five volumes gathered by the winner of fifteen Hugo awards for editing, the inimitable Gardner Dozois, and award-winning writer and anthologist, Jack Dann.

We are presenting these thirty-five anthologies in six discount bundles. Get them all, and you will own a huge swath of some of the best short science fiction ever written.

These are luminous, superb stories collected around popular science fiction and fantasy themes. They are written by dozens and dozens of amazing authors. Poul Anderson, Charles Sheffield, Gregory Benford, Fritz Leiber, Brian Aldiss, Ursula K. LeGuin, Arthur C. Clarke, Harry Turtledove, Neal Stephenson, Cordwainer Smith, Greg Bear, William Gibson, Gene Wolfe, Nancy Kress, Fred Saberhagen—the distinguished list goes on and on!

AIs

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Clones

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Beyond Singularity

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Future Sports

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Future War

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Futures Past

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Wonder inducing. Mind blowing. Comprehensive. Simply amazing. This entire collection includes hundreds of popular and award-winning science fiction and fantasy stories collected in thirty-five volumes gathered by the winner of fifteen Hugo awards for editing, the inimitable Gardner Dozois, and award-winning writer and anthologist, Jack Dann.

We are presenting these thirty-five anthologies in six discount bundles. Get them all, and you will own a huge swath of some of the best short science fiction ever written.

These are luminous, superb stories collected around popular science fiction and fantasy themes. They are written by dozens and dozens of amazing authors. Poul Anderson, Charles Sheffield, Gregory Benford, Fritz Leiber, Brian Aldiss, Ursula K. LeGuin, Arthur C. Clarke, Harry Turtledove, Neal Stephenson, Cordwainer Smith, Greg Bear, William Gibson, Gene Wolfe, Nancy Kress, Fred Saberhagen—the distinguished list goes on and on!

Angels!

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Bestiary

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Dangerous Games

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Dogtales!

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Unicorns I

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Unicorns II

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Dozois/Dann Theme Anthology Bundle 5

Genometry

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Hackers

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Space Soldiers

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Robots

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Timegates

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Dozois/Dann Theme Anthology Bundle 6

Dragons

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Horses!

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Little People!

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Mermaids!

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Sorcerers!

edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

Fierce, fiery, fascinating . . . ten tales of fantasy’s most powerful creatures.

A collection of dragon stories from some of the masters of the fantasy genre includes contributions from James P. Blaylock, Avram Davidson, Tanith Lee, Lucius Shepard, and L. Sprague De Camp.

“Draco, Draco” by Tanith Lee
“Two Yards of Dragon” by L. Sprague de Camp
“Mrs. Byres and the Dragon” by Keith Roberts
“A Handful of Hatchlings” by Mark Sumner
“Covenant With a Dragon” by Susan Casper
“Paper Dragons” by James P. Blaylock
“Up the Wall” by Esther M. Friesner
“Lan Lung” by M. Lucie Chin
“Climacteric” by Avram Davidson
“The Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule” by Lucius Shepard

A collection of legendary science fiction classics selected and individually introduced by the winner of fifteen Hugo awards for best editor, Gardner Dozois.

From the introduction:
They are stories that we intuit as life, that somehow fool us into thinking—while we are reading them—that they are something more than words on paper, that the events in the story are actually occurring in some dimension congruent with our own, viewed through the window of fiction. . .They show us, with conviction, something we would otherwise never know on this earth: what everyday, day-to-day life would be like in a different society, an alien culture, another world."

This outstanding collection full of authentic SF masterpieces includes: "On the Storm Planet," by Cordwainer Smith, "Slow Tuesday Night," by R. A. Lafferty, "This Moment of the Storm," by Roger Zelazny, "Driftglass," by  Samuel R. Delany, "Mary," by Damon Knight, "The Haunted Future," by Fritz Leiber, "The Lady Margaret" by Keith Roberts, and "A Happy Day in 2381," by Robert Silverberg.

Science Fiction Hall of Fame Inductee Gardner Dozois is the winner of two Nebula awards for fiction. Dozois was also the long-time editor of Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, a position for which he won fifteen Hugo awards. He remains editor of the annual Year's Best Science Fiction anthologies.  

With all-new cover art by Ron Miller.

A mind is a terrible thing to replace.

Ten masters of speculative fiction explore the future of computerized intellect, and how humanity will interact with machines that can outthink them--and are learning to outsmart them. Computers were designed to think faster than the human mind. But solving mathematical equations and retaining dizzying amounts of information are minor achievements compared to the processing technology of tomorrow's artificial intelligences...machines capable of thinking independently without human input - and evolving into self-maintaining sentient beings.

Ride the brainwaves of mechanical intellect with some of today's masters of speculative fiction, as a woman tries to outsmart a runaway A.I. and save the lives of her children...scientists lose control of a supercomputer with the power and omnipotence of a god...and a sentient starship falls in love with its pilot. These and seven more stories of man and machine await you in... A.I.s

“Antibodies” by Charles Stross
“Trojan Horse” by Michael Stanwick
“Birth Day” by Robert Reed
“The Hydrogen Wall” by Gregory Benford
“The Turing Test” by Chris Beckett
“Dante Dreams” by Stephen Baxter
“The Names of all the Spirits” by J.R. Dunn
“From the Corner of My Eye” by Alexander Glass
“Halfjack” by Roger Zelazny
“Computer Virus” by Nancy Kress

Look closely. They’re here.

In this thought-provoking collection of short stories, some of the most ingenious talents in science fiction explore the secret lives of the aliens who walk among us...

"The Other Celia" by Theodore Sturgeon
"Residuals" by Paul J. McAuley & Kim Newman
"Eight O'Clock in the Morning" by Ray Nelson
"Expendable" by Philip K. Dick
"The Reality Trip" by Robert Silverberg
"Decency" by Robert Reed
"The Mindworm" by C. M. Kornbluth
"Popeye and Pops Watch the Evening World Report" by Eliot Fintushel
"The Autopsy" by Michael Shea
"Or All the Seas with Oysters" by Avram Davidson
"Angel" by Pat Cadigan
“Among the Hairy Earthmen" by R. A. Lafferty
"I'm Too Big But I Love To Play" by James Tiptree Jr.
"The Hero as Werwolf" by Gene Wolfe
"Motherhood, Etc." by L. Timmel Duchamp

Magical, miraculous—and sometimes mischievious…fourteen tales of angelic adventure!

A collection of fifteen short stories depicts angelic interventions in subtle forms and includes the writings of such authors as Isaac Asimov, Tanith Lee, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Roger Zelazny.

“Basileus” by Robert Silverberg
“Angelica” by Jane Yolen
“Angels” by Bruce McAllister
“If Angels Ate Apples” by Geoffrey A. Landis
“Alfred” by Lisa Goldstein
“A Plethora of Angels” by Robert Sampson
“The Man Who Loved the Faioli” by Roger Zelazny
“Upon the Dull Earth” by Philip K. Dick
“Angel” by Pat Cadigan
“Curse of the Angel's Wife” by Bruce Boston
“Sleepers Awake” by Jamil Nasir
“And the Angels Sing” by Kate Wilhelm
“Grave Angels” by Richard Kearns
“All Vows” by Esther M. Friesner

A collection of science fiction classics edited and introduced by the winner of fifteen Hugo awards for best editor, Gardner Dozois.

From the introduction:

Here is life on another world, in another place, another time. Here is what it is like to wear an alien skin. Here are new concepts, new vistas, magic. . . "Why read science fiction?" It's alive in a world of dead art, dead minds, dead institutions; it's a bright-eyed, irreverent little animal scurrying through a petrified landscape of old dead trees; it's unashamedly potent and prolific in a world that grows increasingly weary and sterile; it dares to raise its voice in boisterous joy, sorrow, and anger in a place full of sour silence and dead echoes.

Contains these legendary tales: "The Oldest Soldier" by Fritz Leiber, "After the Myths Went Home," by Robert Silverberg, "The Stars Below," by Ursula K. Le Guin, "Straw," by Gene Wolfe, "On the Gem Planet," by Cordwainer Smith, "Beam Us Home" by James Tiptree, Jr.,"The Barbarian," by Joanna Russ, "Among the Hairy Earthmen," by R. A. Lafferty, "Man in the Jar," by Damon Knight, "Old Hundredth," by Brian W. Aldiss, and "The Signaller,"  by Keith Roberts.

 "A fine idea for an anthology – 'adventures in otherness' is really what SF is all about, isn't it? – and the stories . . . are a very neat mixture of themes and literary methods, and of course a bunch of very fine examples of first-class narrative prose . . .an artful and elegant group, intelligently chosen."—Robert Silverberg

Science Fiction Hall of Fame Inductee Gardner Dozois is the winner of two Nebula awards for fiction. Dozois was also the long-time editor of Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, a position for which he won fifteen Hugo awards. He remains editor of the annual Year's Best Science Fiction anthologies.  

With all-new cover art by Ron Miller.

It's the end of the world—but not as we know it . . .

As the new millennium approaches, speculations about Earth's destruction abound. This collection presents twelve world-ending scenarios that are all too frightening—and all too real.

"Fermi and Frost" by Frederik Pohl
"A Desperate Calculus" by Gregory Benford
"Evolution" by Nancy Kress
"A Message to the King of Brobdingnag" by Richard Cowper
". . . The World, As We Know’t" by Howard Waldrop
"The Peacemaker" by Gardner Dozois
"The Screwfly Solution" by Raccoona Sheldon
"A Pail of Air" by Fritz Leiber
"The Great Nebraska Sea" by Allan Danzig
"Inconstant Moon" by Larry Niven
"The Last Sunset" by Geoffrey A. Landis
"Down in the Dark" by William Barton