In the blockbuster bestselling tradition of Heir to the Empire comes this thrilling addition to the Star Wars(r) saga, as peace gives way to a new threat...It is a time of tranquillity for the New Republic.  The remnants of the Empire now lie in complete disarray, and the reemergence of the Jedi Knights has brought power and prestige to the fledgling government on Coruscant.  Yesterday's Rebels have become today's administrators and diplomats, and the factions that fought against imperial tyranny seem united in savoring the fruits of peace.But the peace is short-lived.  A restless Luke must journey to his mother's homeworld in a desperate and dangerous quest to find her people.  An adventurous Lando must seize a mysterious spacecraft that has weapons of enormous destructive power and an unknown mission.  And Leia, a living symbol of the New Republic's triumph, must face down a ruthless leader of the Duskhan League, an arrogant Yevetha who seems bent on a genocidal war that could shatter the fragile unity of the New Republic...and threaten its very survival.

    It all depended on the survival of the last of the entities known as Calebians.But the Caleban was dying - subjected to systematic torture by the richest, most wicked woman in the Galaxy. Unless she could be stopped, the end was only a few days away, or hours - or even minutes!

    As the secrets of the artifact are revealed, Sparta uncovers a mystery that may lead her to the truth about her own identity.

    The vital foodstuffs supplied by its Martian colony are being poisoned. Working in secret, the ruling Council of Science sends David Starr, its youngest member, to the Martian farmlands to discover the truth behind the murders...

    The planet attracted unwary travelers, hardened space-sailors, and merchant buccaneers -- a teeming, constantly shifting horde that provided a comfortable income for certain quick-witted fellows like Flinx and his pet flying snake Pip. With his odd talents, the pickings were easy enough so that Flinx did not have to be dishonest ... most of the time.In fact, it hardly seemed dishonest at all to steal a starmap from a dead body that didn't really need it anymore. But Flinx wasn't quite smart enough. He should have wondered why the body was dead in the first place...

    feel things that no flesh-and-blood creature has ever felt. He can create visions so compelling that they literally seem to dance before your eyes. He can push you back to the beginnings of time and then suddenly, without warning, thrust you forward t the outmost limits of the future. He can make you so much a part of his strange worlds that you literally scream to get out.Seventeen breathtaking stories by the master of the weird and wonderful, including the space-age classic, FROST AND FIRE.

    If they fail, the entire world will be doomed.

    Admiral Naismith of the Dendarii Free Mercenaries, is a young man of many parts.Miles and his handsome cousin Ivan are called upon to play a simple diplomatic role on the capital world of Barrayar's old enemy until murder and deceit thrust them into Cetagandan internal politics at the highest levels, and Miles discovers the secrets of the haut-women's biological domain to be very complicated indeed.Commander Elli Quinn, sent by Miles on the trail of those secrets, meets a man who marches to the beat of a very different drummer. Dr. Ethan Urquhart, obstetrician from a planet forbidden to women, is on a quest at cross-purposes to Elli's mission - or is it?Consequences of Cetagandan bioengineering continue to play out, this time on a Dendrii sortie to the crime planet of Jackson's Whole. When he encounters a genetically altered super-soldier, Miles's routine rescue strike takes a sudden hard turn for the unanticipated.Contents: CetagandaEthan of AthosLabyrinth.

    Together, the three original Star Wars movies–A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi–told one epic: a heroic tale of innocence lost and wisdom gained, of downfall and redemption, of the never-ending fight between the forces of good and evil. Read the story of the movies–all three in one trade paperback volume–and rediscover the wonder of the legend that begins: A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away . . . Luke Skywalker lived and worked on his uncle’s farm on the remote planet of Tatooine, but he yearned to travel beyond the farthest reaches of the universe to distant, alien worlds. Then Luke intercepted a cryptic message from a beautiful, captive princess . . . and found himself catapulted into the adventure of a lifetime.Luke Skywalker, proud Princess Leia, and headstrong Han Solo . . . merciless Darth Vader, wise Obi-Wan Kenobi, loyal droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, and the inscrutable Yoda . . . Chewbacca the Wookiee, shifty Lando Calrissian, and the vile Jabba the Hutt . . . all the vivid characters from the Star Wars universe spring to life in these thrilling pages.The Star Wars Trilogy is a must-read for anyone who wants to relive the excitement, the magic, and the sheer entertainment of this legendary saga–now and forever.

    Each sought his own brand of happiness. But none could have guessed what awaited them. Not even in a million years....

    "Doc" Smith's visionary Lensmen series of stories began in 1934 in the pages of Amazing Stories, and when it finished in 1948 it was universally recognized as the greatest space opera yet written. In telling the tale of a cosmos-spanning battle between good and evil, the Lensmen saga encompassed two entire galaxies in collision, each home to a primordial race of nearly limitless power. On one side were the Arisians, uplifting agents of wisdom who had taken it upon themselves to mentor the younger races and steer them towards the enlightenment they called Civilization. On the other were the Eddorians, embodiments of crushing efficiency and unthinking obedience who had woven together a vast web of tyrannies called the Boskone, through which they plotted the enslavement of all life. As their greatest weapon in the fight against the Boskone, the Arisians created the Lenses -- almost-living complexities of crystal that released and amplified their wearers' latent psychic powers. Those chosen for this honor were called Lensmen, and as the leaders of the Galactic Patrol they formed Civilization's spearhead against the Boskone. Within the Žlite ranks of the Lensmen was an even more rarified Žlite -- the four Second Stage Lensmen, one from each of the races which the Arisians had chosen as the most capable defenders of their galaxy. It is one of these Second Stage Lensmen -- the Velantian named Worsel -- that David A. Kyle chose to headline his first authorized sequel to Smith's Lensmen canon: The Dragon Lensman. As The Dragon Lensman opens, the Boskonian conspiracy seems to have been vanquished with its defeat at the great Battle of Klovia, and the victorious Galactic Patrol is busy re-orienting itself to face the new challenges of policing a galaxy instead of defending it against a ruthless invader. Among those adjusting to the new reality is Second Stage Lensman Worsel, the legendary warrior/scientist famed for his intelligence and dedication to the fight against ignorance and evil. Like all of his species, Worsel resembles the mythological dragons of old Tellus (Earth), with a sinewy, ten-meter-long body covered in scales and boasting great wings and terrifying claws and teeth. But Worsel's real strength is his mind and its unmatched psychic abilities, concentrated and focused by the Lens shining among his many eye-stalks. And it is the intuition bred of that power that now draws Worsel to the Velantians' incredible archive, the 18-mile-wide artificial moon known as the Planetoid of Knowledge, where he feels certain something important is waiting for him. He is right -- but what awaits him on POK is more than he bargained for, and before long Worsel and his fellow Lensmen are racing against time to confront a threat that almost no one had thought possible: machines becoming self-aware and battling against organic Civilization, their calcuating computer brains invisible to any kind of psychic detection! To counter this new menace, the Dragon Lensman finds himself hurtling through space to rendez-vous with the one Lensman who understands robots well enough to strategize against an inorganic uprising -- the mysterious Twenty-Four of Six, whose knowledge of machines turns out to be deeper and more hard-won than even Worsel could guess. Soon it becomes clear that Civilization will need every bit of that knowledge, and more besides, to face the enemies that are now revealing themselves. For behind the overt power there lurks a vastly more dangerous covert one, and to defeat it Worsel will not only have to challenge the worst fears of his race, but also discover the secret of the young Lensman with whom he must entrust his life -- a secret that will shake the very foundations of the Galactic Patrol!

    When the Hunter emerged from his wreck of a ship, he soon realized that a man of earth would make a suitable host. It became obvious, too, that his quarry had already selected his host—but which human being. Then the Hunter found an excellent host in the person of young and intelligent Robert Kinnaird. He made his presence known and, in return for some clever suggestions and help with his search, he helped Robert with his problems. There follows an exciting, excellently wrought, and—you will agree—absolutely unique chase and deduction story. Tense, dramatic, and humorous, too, it's a top-drawer tale of scientific ingenuity. — From the dust jacketOriginally published in Astounding Science Fiction. Also published as From Outer Space, followed by a sequel: Through the Eye of a Needle

    Then sabotage forces the craft to crash land, and the survivors face an epic 40,000-mile trek across the dangerous landscape. A SF landmark. "One of the finest writers the science fiction field has ever known."--Poul Anderson. "Vividly compelling...Vance at the top of his form."--Damon Knight.

    * 65 · A Hole in Hell · Dane Helstrom · ss * 73 · Graceland · Allen Steele · nv * 101 · Every Man a God · Mike Resnick & Barry N. Malzberg · nv * 141 · Blandings on Riverworld · Phillip C. Jennings · nv * 173 · Two Thieves · Harry Turtledove · nv * 207 · Fool’s Paradise · Ed Gorman · nv * 237 · The Merry Men of Riverworld · John Gregory Betancourt · na * 283 · Unfinished Business · Robert Weinberg · nv *

    The plan is to beat the Chinese to Mars--in under four days at three million miles an hour. It would be history in the making if it didn't sound so insane.