A Desert Called Peace


Tom Kratman - 2007
    The Federated States of Columbia has consolidated power and risen against the oppression of Earth's corrupt Caliphate. But when Salafi madmen bent on a new jihad kill FSC Captain Patrick Hennessey's family in a cowardly attack, they create an enemy that will show even less mercy than they do.A legendary warrior is born: Carrera, the scourge of Salafism. He will forge an army from the decrepit remains of a military in a failing state. He will find those who killed his family. He will destroy them utterly. And he will try like hell to not becoming exactly like the enemy he is fighting. Only when he is finished will there be peace: the peace of an empty wind as it blows across a desert strewn with the bones of Carrera's enemies.

Forged in Blood


Michael Z. WilliamsonJohn F. Holmes - 2017
    WILLIAMSON'S FREEHOLD SERIES WARRIORS AND SOLDIERS TIED TOGETHER THROUGHOUT TIME AND SPACE. From the distant past to the far future, those who carry the sword rack up commendations for bravery. They are men and women who, like the swords they carry, have been forged in blood. These are their stories. In medieval Japan, a surly ronin is called upon to defend a village against a thieving tax collector who soon finds out it's not wise to anger an old, tired man. In the ugliest fighting in the Pacific Theater, an American sergeant and a Japanese lieutenant must face each other, and themselves. A former US Marine chooses sides with outnumbered Indonesian refugees against an invading army from Java. When her lover is stolen by death, a sergeant fighting on a far-flung world vows vengeance that will become legendary. And, when a planet fragments in violent chaos, seven Freeholders volunteer to help protect another nation's embassy against a horde. Featuring all-new stories by Michael Z. Williamson, Larry Correia, Tom Kratman, Tony Daniel, Micahel Massa, Peter Grant, John F. Holmes, and many more. Contributors: Zachary Hill Larry Correia Michael Massa John F. Holmes Rob Reed Dale Flowers Tom Kratman Leo Champion Peter Grant Christopher L. Smith Jason Cordova Tony Daniel Kacey Ezell Michael Z. Williamson At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). About Michael Z. Williamson: “A fast-paced, compulsive read . . . will appeal to fans of John Ringo, David Drake, Lois McMaster Bujold, and David Weber.”—Kliatt “Williamson's military expertise is impressive.”—SF Reviews Novels of Michael Z. Williamson's Freehold Universe: Freehold series Freehold The Weapon The Rogue Contact with Chaos Angeleyes Freehold: Forged in Blood Ripple Creek series Better to Beg Forgiveness . . . Do Unto Others . . . When Diplomacy Fails . . . Standalone A Long Time Until Now Michael Z. Williamson is retired military, having served twenty-five years in the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force. He was deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Desert Fox. Williamson is a state-ranked competitive shooter in combat rifle and combat pistol. He has consulted on military matters, weapons and disaster preparedness for Discovery Channel and Outdoor Channel productions and is Editor-at-Large for Survivalblog, with 300,000 weekly readers. In addition, Williamson tests and reviews firearms and gear for manufacturers. Williamson’s books set in his Freehold Universe include Freehold, The Weapon, The Rogue, Better to Beg Forgiveness . . ., Do Unto Others . . ., and When Diplomacy Fails . . .. He is also the author of time travel novel A Long Time Until Now, as well as The Hero—the latter written in collaboration with New York Times best-selling author John Ringo. Williamson was born in England, raised in Liverpool and Toronto, Canada, and now resides in Indianapolis with his children.

Armored


John Joseph AdamsJohn Jackson Miller - 2012
    First, when the armor starts to take over, even the generals may be at its mercy–and under its control. Then solve the problem of armored rescue when irradiated vacuum stands between the frail flesh of the living and safety.  And what happens when the marriage of soldier and armor becomes a bit too intimate—and that marriage goes sour! It’s an armor-plated clip of hard-hitting tales featuring exoskeleton adventure with fascinating takes on possible future armors ranging from the style of personal power suits seen in Starship Troopers and Halo to the servo-controlled bipedal beast-mech style encountered in Mechwarrior and Battletech.

The Day After Gettysburg


Robert Conroy - 2017
    Now, J.R. Dunn completes one of his final novels. LEE STRIKES BACK! After a terrible setback at Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee does not retreat across the Potomac and his ultimate surrender at Appomattox. Instead, he turns the tables on Union General George Meade with a vicious counterattack that sets the Union Army on its heels. While Lee sets across Pennsylvania in a dazzling war of maneuver, a crazed actor closes in on President Abraham Lincoln. Standing in his way is Major Steve Thorne, a thoughtful lawyer-turned-soldier fighting for the Union and his own self-respect, and Cassandra Baird, a young woman whose courage is only surpassed by her determination to teach emancipated slaves to read and write, and so ensure their freedom. Opposing them is Colonel Corey Wade, a brave Confederate officer who is just as determined to fight to the death for his honor and that of his state. And, in the end, the fate of a nation may come down to a freed slave named Hadrian, a man with an iron resolve never to return to bondage. The time has come to strike a blow for liberty—or go down swinging! At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). About Germanica: “Conroy captures the intricacies of WWII with an eye for historical nuance, and he crafts a believable alternate ending to the war. . . . [T]he story is buoyed by Conroy’s effective snapshot of the era.”—Publishers Weekly “[A] gripping alternate World War II saga . . .”—Library Journal About Rising Sun: “Conroy extrapolates a new and militarily plausible direction for WWII . . . A thrilling adventure.”—Booklist About Himmler’s War: “[Conroy] adds a personal touch to alternate history by describing events through the eyes of fictional characters serving on the front lines. VERDICT: Historical accuracy in the midst of creative speculation makes this piece of alternate history believable.”—Library Journal Robert Conroy was the author of a run of hugely popular alternate history novels, including Himmler’s War, Rising Sun, 1920: America's Great War, Liberty: 1784, 1864: Custer in Chains, and Germanica for Baen Books. His 1942, which is set within a Japanese conquest of Hawaii, won the prestigious Sidewise Award for alternate histories. Conroy lived for many years in southeastern Michigan. J.R. Dunn is the author of time travel novels This Side of Judgment, Days of Cain—widely hailed as one of the most powerful time travel novels to deal with the Holocaust—and Full Tide of Night. He was the long-time associate editor ofThe International Military Encyclopedia and is now an editor at The American Thinker. His nonfiction appears regularly on Baen.com

Alien Sex: 19 Tales by the Masters of Science Fiction and Dark Fantasy


Ellen DatlowBruce McAllister - 1990
    Some of the genre's greatest writers contemplate the planet-moving encounters between humans and aliens while pondering the eternal question--what kind of relationship are humans really looking for?

The Creatures of Man


Howard L. Myers - 2003
    But even if the lost home world can be found, there may be no place for humans on it anymore. The once-lowly creatures who are now the sole inhabitants, and which mankind dominated in ages past, have been raised to a high level of intelligence and the future they plan is not one with any room for the former rulers of the planet. This future saga is here assembled for the first time, as well as several bonus short novels in a huge volume of highly original space adventure.

The Right to Arm Bears


Gordon R. Dickson - 2000
    Therefore making friends with the Dilbians and establishing a human presence there is of the utmost importance, which may be a problem, since the bearlike Dilbians stand some nine feet tall, and have a high regard for physical prowess. They're not impressed by human technology, either. A real man, er, bear doesn't need machines to do his work for him.But Dilbians "are" impressed by sharp thinking, and some have expressed a grudging admiration for the logical (and usually sneaky) mental maneuvers that the human "shorties" have used to get themselves out of desperate jams. Just maybe that old human craftiness will win over the Dilbians to the human side. If not, we lose a nexus, and the Dilbians will learn just how unbearable Hemnoids can be....

The Man-Kzin Wars


Larry Niven - 1988
    But the Kzinti learned the hard way that the reason humanity had given up war was that they were so very, very good at it. Thus began the Man-Kzin Wars.Contents:1 · Introduction · Larry Niven · in * 5 · The Warriors · Larry Niven · ss If Feb ’66 27 · Iron [Part 1 of 2] · Poul Anderson · n. Far Frontiers Vol. VII, ed. Jerry Pournelle & Jim Baen, Baen, 1986 116 · Iron [Part 2 of 2] · Poul Anderson · n. New Destinies, Vol. 1, ed. Jim Baen, Baen, 1987 179 · Cathouse · Dean Ing · na New Destinies, Vol. III, ed. Jim Baen, Baen, 1988

TNT: Telzey Amberdon & Trigger Argee Together


James H. Schmitz - 2000
    Trigger Argee is a crack shot, with reflexes that make lightning look lethargic, and also a top agent of the galaxy's Federation of the Hub. Separately, they have been making life miserable for human criminals, unfriendly aliens, and nefarious members of all species. But when a danger to the entire Hub civilization brought these two together, the galaxy would never be the same!

There Will Be Dragons


John Ringo - 2003
    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.

The Gentle Seduction


Marc Stiegler - 1989
    The transformation of humanity through nanotechnology has begun, and Marc Stiegler’s tales, most of which appeared in Analog Science Fiction Magazine, take us to a dangerous, wonder-filled future that may await us, ready or not. For Stiegler, technology is the “gentle seducer” that eases us from mere denizens of planet Earth to Masters of the Universe.

R is for Rocket


Ray Bradbury - 1962
    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.

The Compleat McAndrew


Charles Sheffield - 2000
    Jeanie first met McAndrew on a routine run to Titan and quickly learned he was a genius of the caliber of Newton or Einstein. When McAndrew invented a space drive that let frail humans survive hundreds of gravities of acceleration, he disappeared while testing it, and Jeanie had to find him, using a trail of cryptic messages he had left behind.That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship, in spite of the gray hairs that Jeanie began accumulating as a result of McAndrew's impractical nature and his talent for getting himself into trouble with much more practical villains, such as... A mass-murderer of several million people A highly-placed government official whose life McAndrew saved, but in an embarrassing way, and who consequently wants to kill both him and Jeanie The ruler of a slower-than-light spaceship that left Earth a long time ago, giving it time to develop some very strange customs by the time McAndrew and Jeanie visited it.And there are still more adventures of this spacegoing odd couple in The Compleat McAndrew.Publisher's Note: Part of this book was previously published as One Man's Universe.

Chain of Command


Frank Chadwick - 2017
    Lieutenant Sam Bitka finds himself commanding a starship against an alien enemy who always seems one step ahead of him.Lieutenant Sam Bitka, U.S. Naval Reserve, is getting used to civilian life when he is called back to active duty. Tensions between Earth and the alien Varoki are on the rise, and Sam is assiged as tactical officer aboard the deep space destroyer USS Puebla. Dispatched to the distant world of K'tok to protect human colonists, he wants nothing more than to serve out his active duty time and get back to his civilian life. But when the Varoki launch a crippling surprise attack against the Earth coalition fleet, Sam finds himself suddenly in command of the USS Puebla, a job he is far from certain he can discharge successfully. What’s more, mounting evidence points to a much larger and more sinister alien plan. Now, Sam must deal with faltering leadership in the human task force and an alien enemy who always seems one step ahead of them. Time for Sam to step up and rise to the challenge of command.Praise for Chain of Command:  “Chadwick’s heavy hitter succeeds at teeth-gritting action scenes, deep psychological portraits of diverse characters and societies, and abundant puzzles and mysteries. All . . . mixed in seamlessly with the vivid tragedies of war and balanced with dark humor.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)"...strong characterization and the briskness of the plot should please. Fans of military sf and of Chadwick, in particular, should give it a look."—Booklist"Chain of Command is very smartly put together… Chadwick gets the details right, whether he's talking about the effects of prolonged weightlessness or the intricacies of geo and interstellar politics and economics… a solid piece of Mil-SF writing that pulls from many historical sources and manages to convey a lot of what the Surface Navy is like…. it isn't the steel hulls that make the navy tough, it's the sailors that crew them."—SFRevue  About Come the Revolution: “[A]dventure, family secrets and humor. . . . The plot is as hard as the science Chadwick uses. . . . [E]ngages readers. First-rate science fiction; it moves at a fast pace throughout.”—Daily News of Galveston County "Chadwick offers an exciting military SF story set on the Varoki home planet of Hazz’Akato in his follow up to How Dark the World Becomes...Chadwick, a leading designer of military and science-fiction board- and role-playing games, knows his way around a battlefield...eccentric  cohorts are entertaining, and a few surprises guarantee that readers will be seeing more of this series."—Booklist "This sequel to How Dark the World Becomes is a fast-paced, action-packed sf adventure. Readers new to Chadwick’s series will be able to start here without too much trouble; essential background information is given, and the author leaps straight into an original story set two years after the previous entry.”—Library JournalAbout How Dark the World Becomes: “How Dark the World Becomes is a crackling debut novel that speaks of great things to come! It's whip-smart, lightning-fast and character-driven—in short it has everything required to be totally satisfying. Highly recommended." —Jonathan Maberry, New York Times best-selling author of Assassin’s Code “. . . [a] far off, hard scrabble intergalactic underworld . . . fast-paced intergalactic adventure full of far-flung alien intrigue.”—Astroguyz " . . . thrilling space adventure . . . I was reminded of Jack McDevitt's Alex Benedict novels and Mark L. Van Name's Jon & Lobo adventures."—SFCrowsnest

Battlestations


David DrakeMercedes Lackey - 1992
    and the overstressed crew prepares for a direct assault by a deadly insectoid race. But the pressures of combat and close quarters have taken their toll, threatening to turn the crew to the enemy's prime advantage.