The title story is about a human mercenary company which finds itself in the employ of an elf king. Outnumbered and under attack from an army of orcs and goblins, the Company discovers it is no longer fighting for pay, but for survival. The second story, Qalabi Dawn, features a young tribal chieftain, Shabaka No-Tail, who seeks to find a way to unite the fractious tribes of The People before the implacable legions of the Dead God invade the desert to carry out their crusade of total extermination.

    Being assassinated twice is enemy action. Aeneas Tell of the House of Tell is one of the youngest Lords of Creation. His family rules the Nine Worlds through its control of the ultra-advanced technology that has permitted the colonization of the entire solar System. More gods than men, the Lords of Creation have cheated Death itself. But even a quasi-immortal god will take exception to being assassinated. Twice. Especially when the assassin turns out to be a someone he thought was a friend.

    She changes bodies and fights, again and again. But now the enemy has surrendered. There will be no further deployment. The war is over . . . but not for her.

    They say that vengeance is a dish best served cold, but to the men and woman who went with him over the border to deliver that vengeance, it was dish served hot, and out of the barrel of a gun and cannon, and from the air. Yet in victory came defeat as he found three hundred years later in the world he woke up in. One far different from the one he'd left behind when he went into cold sleep. Now he had to find a place in this strange new world, one without the means to wage war against an alien race raping the planet of its young people. First, he had to build an army, navy and air force from scratch while fending off attacks from the aliens and the secret government that wanted to put him and his men back into cold sleep or the grave.

    Their objective is classified, marked only by coordinates leading them into a deserted city at the heart of the fighting. From the beginning, everything possible goes wrong. A missile strike rocks the carrier mid-launch, and only a fraction of the unit reaches the surface alive.Outmanned, outgunned, and scattered, with a hard deadline to orbital bombardment looming, it is up to Drop Commander Tyco Hale to rally his troops and reach their objective. But what they find, hidden deep in the tunneled passages under the city, will change everything about what he fights for and what he believes in. With the unit in tatters and loyalties divided, the choice he makes in the dark will seal all of their fates - and much more besides.

    In the fallout of the devastation, a boy is found in the wreckage of a fortress from the Great War. The strongest of the Weavers, ones who can sense emotions in others, is dispatched to monitor the child. As the boy matures it becomes evident there is a dangerous power within him. Relocated to an academy on the edge of the Commonwealth, Brent is put to the test to determine if he is the greatest threat humanity has ever encountered. As his every move is observed and scrutinized he’ll have to face the exams of instructors, attempts on his life, and the wrath of the young Weavers.

    But time is running short: the mark knows that he’s coming, and he’s not the only contractor on the job …

    The slaves stole an ore carrier and escaped, and after failing at trade, desperation and hatred drove them to piracy. John was a hugely successful pirate, until forced to confront the horrors committed by his men. He grabs a ship and a bag of gems, and runs away, determined to regain his self-respect. Pursued by his former colleagues, he flees across man-settled space. Along the way, he learns that his ship is much more than a simple yacht, deals with a stowaway girl, almost accidentally buys an orbital scrap yard, finds himself responsible for a beautiful young woman, fights off a pirate attack, falls in love, makes a friend, and learns that his refuge has been invaded by another planet. John, now Cale, and his friends plan to use derelicts from his scrap yard to free his sanctuary planet. But can a bunch of resurrected hulks really defeat a planetary fleet? And just what IS a Privateer, anyway?

     After first contact, which had not ended as the Earthlings expected, all traces of the visitors were lost in space, seemingly forever. But soon after, scientists noticed a mysterious gravitational anomaly not far from the Solar System as it journeyed around the centre of the Milky Way. To find out more, and perhaps discover the aliens’ secret, a research expedition fitted out with state-of-the-art scientific and military equipment sets out...

    Eleven exploratory ships carrying humans escaping a degenerating Earth are discovered by a more advanced space-faring civilization, the Ildaran Empire. The empire helps the refugees - by now the several-generations-later offspring of the original voyagers - settle suitable planets and sends diplomats with a few of them to Earth to establish trade and diplomatic relations.Meanwhile, both Terran and Ildaran authorities bring hidden agendas to their first-contact discussions, and asEarth attempts to become a player in this new arena, its ambassadors are thrust into a foreign world of alien life forms, backstabbing politics, bitter feuds, and a deadly struggle to become the supreme force in the universe.

    Captain Lee Saito's massive new starship is sent to seal the uneasy truce.But a series of terrorist attacks on Earth and the mysterious acts of a strange cult threaten to derail the fragile peace.When the mission goes awry, Saito must try to salvage what he can in deep space while his estranged son must navigate a conspiracy back on Earth that could implicate the highest levels of government.As it all spirals out of control, the future of humanity hangs in the balance.Includes all 9 books in the Oblivion series:Lost MissionFirst ContactFinal InvasionStar FallenBeyond RuinOrion InboundEnter AbyssEarth AriseLast StandFive star reviews for Lost Mission, book 1 in the series:★★★★★ "Plenty of high octane action sequences ... Readers should expect a twisting and curving wild ride."★★★★★ "This is a fast moving book that you won’t want to put down."★★★★★ "A rip roaring tale that does a fine job of world building and character development."

    The odds against their personal survival are slim. The time of humanity has come to a close. The great nations have all fallen, either to the encroaching alien threats or to internal fighting and civil war. The aliens who seek to supplant humanity, however, have not taken one thing into account: Lucius Giovanni. He and his crew will not give up – not while they still draw breath. If this is to be the fall of humanity, then the crew of the War Shrike will go down fighting...and in the heat of that fight, they may just light a new fire for humanity....

    103 pages of summaries and analysis on Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.This comprehensive study guide includes the following sections written by BookRags.com: Plot Summary, Chapter Summaries & Analysis, Characters, Objects/Places, Themes, Style, and Topics for Discussion.

    Weil comes a chilling story of the future.To the Kleese, the Earth is nothing more than a planet full of conscripts to be used to fight in their numerous wars of aggression against other planets. The Kleese are one of several large Galactic Empires that control the majority of the galaxy. To them, Earth is a dangerous planet due to the aggressiveness of the humanoid species that inhabits it. This is a species that cannot be allowed to spread out into the galaxy. Once they have taken their handful of conscripts, the planet will be destroyed.Unknown to the Kleese, their attack against the human homeworld will ignite a war that will spread across the known galaxy. Billions will die in their quest to free themselves from the heartless alien race. Can the human race rise up and lead the few worlds willing to fight against the Kleese? Find out in the Galactic Empire Wars.

    He is left with nothing but the clothes on his back, not even citizenship to his name. Is the ancient, broken down military surplus starship and the young lady living aboard it the key to a bright future, or will his repairs and new mercenary friends reawaken the demons lurking in the ship’s murky and lethal past to come back and deliver a world of destruction?