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In this issue: the FBI faces down an ancient evil, a young hero faces his greatest challenge, and a gritty PI walks the mean streets of a star empire. All that plus the winner of this year’s Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award!
   June 2017
eARCs

book cover On the Trail of a Mysterious Cult

A bizarre kidnapping case leads FBI Special Agent Jasper Wilde into the mysterious world of a strange religious cult. At the scene of the kidnapping itself, a frightening apparition is seen. Then, a hideously mutilated corpse is found nearby. Something wicked has come to the normal-seeming Chicago suburbs. Soon, open warfare erupts. And as the FBI agents race to intervene to put a stop to the horrors, they come to understand and accept that something very ancient and very evil has surfaced in the world—or, perhaps, something that is very, very alien.

Get Iron Angels eARC here.





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. 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, Michael Massa, Peter Grant, John F. Holmes, and many more.

Get Forged in Blood eARC here.


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book cover Wulf’s Saga Continues

Lord Wulf von Dunstig is in deep trouble. He is surrounded by invading enemies and kingdoms fallen into chaos. Ursel Keiler wishes she could control her errant heart as easily as she can guide the flight of an arrow to a target. She tries to escape into the woodlands she adores, only to be pulled back by a band of desperate and brave warriors who need her help. But aiding them will lead Ursel straight to Wulf von Dunstig, and to the heartache she is fleeing. Now Wulf, Ursel and their friends must find a way to unite the land of Shenandoah against a powerful Roman inquisitor. Yet there is hope even in the deepest and darkest places of the world, and all may depend upon Wulf and Ursel forging a powerful weapon drawn from the heart of a dragon—THE AMBER ARROW.

Get The Amber Arrow eARC here.





Descent into the Undercity

Major Bhaajan achieved the impossible. Born to the Undercity, she broke free from crushing poverty and crime to become a military officer. Now retired from military duty, she walks the mean streets of Undercity as a private investigator. And she is about to embark on her most challenging case yet. Summoned by no less than the Ruby Pharaoh herself, Major Bhaajan is tasked with finding a killer. But this is no ordinary murderer. The Ruby Pharaoh witnessed a Jagernaut cut down Assembly Councilor Tap Benton—which shouldn’t have been possible. The Jagernauts are the elite of the elite soldiers in the Imperial Space Command. What’s more, the spinal node implanted in all Jagernauts should have prevented the murder. But the Ruby Pharaoh is sure of what she saw, and she has reason to believe that the Jagernaut will kill again.

Get The Bronze Skies eARC here.


book cover
New Fiction and Nonfiction at Baen.com


story graphic
Long-Distance Emergency

In the future, a gaming company is accomplishing what governmental space agencies tried and failed to do: they’re slowly making Mars suitable for human habitation. But to do so they’ll need the help of a team of gamers back on planet Earth. One such gamer is Blake; his remote-controlled rover is Feldspar. But not all Martian exploration is done from the safety of an ergonomic chair in front of a computer desk back on Earth. Astronauts still make the dangerous trip to the Red Planet. And where human space flight is concerned, things can go very wrong very quickly. Now, Blake and his intrepid rover are all that stand between one astronaut and certain death in “Feldspar,” the grand prize winner of the 2017 Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award.

Read “Feldspar” by Philip Kramer here.




Longshot

On Mars, the first baby born off-Earth is due to arrive in six months. The only problem: humans aren’t suited to gestating on the high-radiation, low-gravity Red Planet. If the kid is going to be the first Martian, the hub’s doctors are going to have to administer some very advanced treatments. Treatments they don’t have. The next supply rocket from Earth will arrive too late to be of any use. But humankind didn’t colonize space by being timid. One man on Mars thinks he has the solution to getting the required medicines in time. It’s a longshot; one that will require a feat of engineering, a lot of luck, and maybe some old-fashioned magic. “Bullet Catch” is the first runner up in the 2017 Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Contest.

Read “Bullet Catch” by Stephen Lawson here.



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story graphic Strange New Worlds?

We’ve all seen it a hundred times. Our intrepid human hero sets foot on an alien world only to be greeted by bug-eyed monsters, scantily clad space vixens, or some combination of the two. Living side-by-side with aliens on strange new worlds is an entertaining notion . . . but how realistic is it? If there’s one thing our various probes and landers have taught us, it’s that the universe is a pretty inhospitable place. In this month’s new nonfiction essay, Nebula Award winner William Ledbetter explores some likely ways humankind might make a new home for ourselves out there in the vastness of outer space.

Read “Bug-Eyed Monsters Versus the World Builders” by William Ledbetter here.


Vote for The Year’s Best Military and Adventure SF Readers’ Choice Award


Baen Books is pleased to announce the third annual Year’s Best Military and Adventure Science Fiction Readers’ Choice Award. The award honors the best of the best in this grand storytelling tradition, and its winner will receive an inscribed plaque and a $500 prize. And YOU are the judge! Choose your favorite story from the contents of The Year’s Best Military and Adventure SF, Vol. 3 and reward its author for excellence.

Find out more here.


Don’t Touch that Dial: It’s the Baen Free Radio Hour

Coming soon to the Baen Free Radio Hour: J.R. Dunn discusses his collaboration with the late Robert Conroy on alternate history novel The Day After Gettysburg, and editor David Afsharirad leads a roundtable of authors talking about their stories in the third annual collection of The Year’s Best Adventure and Military SF. Missed past episodes? No problem. We’ve got every episode archived for your listening pleasure.

Listen to the Baen Free Radio Hour now.



Baen Ebook Releases


Iron Angels - HALF
Eric Flint & Alistair Kimble


When war erupts between two warring cults, FBI special agents Jasper Wilde and Temple Black must put a stop to the horrors. Something wicked has come to the east Indiana suburbs. And it is very evil—and very, very alien.

Forged in Blood - HALF
ed. by Michael Z. Williamson


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. Featuring all-new stories by Michael Z. Williamson, Larry Correia, Tom Kratman, Tony Daniel, and many more.



The Amber Arrow
- HALF
Tony Daniel

Wulf’s saga continues. Wulfgang von Dunstig faces his greatest challenge yet. He must fight back against an enemy seeking to make sure the fledgling land-dragon of Shenandoah dies stillborn. For if this comes to pass, the freedom of his home will be wiped away forever.

The Bronze Skies - HALF
Catherine Asaro

Major Bhaajan achieved the impossible. Born to the Undercity, she broke free from crushing poverty and crime to become a military officer. Now retired from military duty, she walks the mean streets of Undercity as a private investigator. And she is about to embark on her most challenging case yet.

Alliance of Equals
Sharon Lee & Steve Miller

Clan Korval needs to reestablish itself as one of the top trading clans in known space. But that’s not their only problem. Onboard the Korval ship Dutiful Passage is Padi yos'Galan, the master trader’s heir, and she’s keeping a secret that threatens her very existence.

On to the Asteroid
Travis S. Taylor & Les Johnson

Maneuvering an asteroid close the Earth in order to mine its riches is tricky, and soon “close” becomes “too close.” Planetary destruction is about to become a grim reality unless the burgeoning space industry can stop the asteroid.

Get the September ebooks bundle here

*This Baen Ebooks subscription bundle will dissolve on September 4, 2017. After that date, these books will be available for individual sale only.*


Fairwood Press

Other Arms Reach Out to Me
Michael Bishop

This collection gathers together Michael Bishop's mainstream stories set in Georgia or featuring characters from Georgia. It opens with a homage, both poignant and funny, to Flannery O’Connor, and closes with his daringly satirical Nebula Award-nominated novelette “Rattlesnakes and Men.”

Wordfire Press

Obstacles
Ryan English

To reclaim his stolen fortune, Androkles must pursue a thief deep into barbarian territory. He will encounter cunning bandits, ravening beasts, and worse. Even the gods seem set against him. But when he rescues a pair of starving orphans, he is faced with a question that might have deeper consequences than he realizes, and it’s not just his life on the line . . .



Thistle Inferno
Aaron Michael Ritchey

The Juniper Wars series continues. The Weller Sisters, on the run from a power-mad billionaire, are sent fleeing back into the post-apocalyptic wasteland they call home. They have the fate of the world in their hands, but they might not live long enough to deliver it into friendly hands. And a mysterious city of men stands between them and freedom.



Zomnibus
Kevin J. Anderson

It’s a zombie invasion of hilarious cases from Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I.  Contains the complete first Shamble novel, Death Warmed Over, and all the individual cases contained in the collection Working Stiff.


Get the June Wordfire Press Bundle here

Thomas T. Thomas

The House at the Crossroads
Thomas T. Thomas

Thrill-seekers from the late eighth millennium, Anja Varden and Rolf Pohl, sign up with a secretive research organization to carry the seed of a time-travel portal across medieval Europe from Rome to London. In doing so, they will establish a new node in the organization’s planned network of access points into humanity’s ancient history. It’s do or die: either they cross the continent, set the seed, and return by the quantum pathways the device will open—or perish.

Yard Dog Press

Fire & Ice
Selina Rosen

Mickey Derringer is having a hell of a year. A year filled with loss, personal tragedy, physical trauma, and constant change. It’s also a year of personal triumphs, growth, and enlightenment. All while she’s trying to catch the worst serial killer the city has ever known. A murderer whose modus operandi reopens old wounds and rekindles her worst nightmares.


Hammer Town
Selina Rosen

Conner, “The Hammer,” McVee has a score to settle and enough spare parts in her body to build a small car. Tarent Powers destroyed her life, but even her enhanced abilities and her job as a police agent couldn’t get her close enough to the corporate mob boss to bring him down. Now the key to his unraveling has fallen into her lap. Can she do what’s necessary to make him pay even if it means destroying the life of an innocent young woman?


Reruns
Selina Rosen

Terry North had once been on the Hollywood A-list playing a crime-fighting super hero on one of the highest rated shows on television. But the show was canceled, and for years she has spent most of her time watching old videos of Dark Avenger. But Terry’s life takes a radical turn when an old friend from the past offers her an opportunity to live out her dream—and a remarkable new costume.


How I Spent the Apocalypse
Selina Rosen

Katy longs to tell the world “I told you so.” The apocalypse she’s warning everyone about is here. Now, she’s set up to become the new king of the world and everything should be perfect. But Katy is soon to find out that the end of the world isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Yes, the apocalypse can be funny—if you’re ten feet underground with 50 years of supplies.

MVMedia

Nyumbani Tales
Charles R. Saunders

Charles Saunders is the creator of the first Black Sword and Sorcery hero Imaro and founder of the sub-genre of Sword and Soul. In Nyumbani Tales, Charles has gathered previously published stories that expand the world of Nyumbani beyond the exciting exploits of his hero, filling in the details of this unique world with the triumphs, failures, loves and losses of the people that inhabit its amazing borders.



Don’t forget to check out the Baen new book releases here. Enter the May Contest here. And for upcoming appearances by Baen authors and editors, check here.

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