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The Excalibur Alternative


HE WHO LIVES BY THE SWORD . . .

The races which ruled the Galactic Federation knew they were vastly superior to the inferior species restricted to the narrow confines of their own star systems by the crudity of their technology . . . and they had every intention of keeping things that way.
It was a neat little scam, a rigged game in which only the House could win, which the Federation had played for over a hundred thousand years, and no one had ever managed to challenge it.

Yet all good things come to an end, and the Galactics made one mistake. It didn't seem all that terrible at first, only a single merchant guild which bought itself a Roman legion to use as enslaved sepoys on the primitive worlds where they weren't permitted to use their own weapons to force trading concessions. But the Romans were too good at what they did, and a desperate competing guild decided that the only way it could continue to compete was if it had Romans of its own.

Unfortunately, Roman legions were no longer available, so the competing guild had to settle for something else: English longbowmen on their way to the Battle of Crecy.

Roman legions make dangerous pets . . . but English longbowmen are even worse.

It may take a century or so, but the Galactics are about to discover what happens when the sword finally comes out of the stone.

Publisher's Note: This novel is based on a much shorter version published in David Drake's Foreign Legions.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The science fiction phenomenon of the decade, David Weber is often compared to C.S. Forester (the celebrated creator of Captain Horatio Hornblower, on whom Weber's own Honor Harrington is largely based) and is the recipient of the sort of critical praise once reserved for a Heinlein or an Asimov. His hordes of voracious fans clamor for more and more Weber. Fortunately for them, Weber keeps steadily producing book after book with first printings that sell out almost immediately, then go back into continuous reprint. His novels range from epic fantasy (Oath of Swords, The War God's Own) to breathtaking space opera (Path of the Fury, The Armageddon Inheritance) to military science fiction with in-depth characterization (the celebrated and awesomely popular Honor Harrington series, the New York Times bestselling Ashes of Victory being the latest installment). Reviewers call Weber "highly entertaining" (Booklist), "outstanding . . . superb . . . excellent" (Wilson Library Bulletin), "remarkable" (Kliatt), "the best" (Dragon), "worth shouting about" (Philadelphia Weekly Press), "great" (Locus), and "the best writer around today" (FosFax). Weber is married and lives in South Carolina where (his fans will be happy to hear) he is working on the next Honor Harrington novel.

Cover art by Patrick Turner


ORDER Hardcover

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

First printing, January 2002

Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN: 0-671-31860-8

Copyright © 2002 by David Weber. A shorter version of this novel was published as "Sir George and the Dragon" in Foreign Legions, edited by David Drake, © 2001.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.

A Baen Books Original
Baen Publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, NY 10471
http://www.baen.com

Production by Windhaven Press
Auburn, NH

Electronic version by WebWrights
http://www.webwrights.com


For Bobbie and Sharon, my two favorite ladies.

BAEN BOOKS by DAVID WEBER

Honor Harrington:
On Basilisk Station
The Honor of the Queen
The Short Victorious War
Field of Dishonor
Flag in Exile
Honor Among Enemies
In Enemy Hands
Echoes of Honor
Ashes of Victory

edited by David Weber:
More than Honor
Worlds of Honor
Changer of Worlds

Mutineers' Moon
The Armageddon Inheritance
Heirs of Empire

Path of the Fury

The Apocalypse Troll

The Excalibur Alternative

Oath of Swords
The War God's Own

with Steve White:
Insurrection
Crusade
In Death Ground
The Shiva Option (forthcoming)

with John Ringo:
March Upcountry
March to the Sea

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