WE HAVE A JOB FOR YOU ...

Just a routine day in lunar orbit. That's all Lieutenant Commander Colin Maclntyre, USN, expected. Only a simple training mission to test a new survey instrument intended for the first manned American-Russian interstellar flight.

What he got was just a bit different.

First, there was the fact that Earth didn't actually have a Moon.

Then there was the three thousand-kilometer diameter alien starship pretending it was the Moon. And the millennia-old cybernetic intelligence that shanghaied him to serve as its crew.

Colin might have been forgiven for thinking that those were enough surprises for any one man, but there were a few other small problems.

Like the deadly mutiny which had been raging longer than the human race had existed on Earth ... and still wasn't over.

Or like the millions of other starships, crewed by genocidal aliens dedicated to the extermination of all possible competing life forms, which just happened to be headed straight towards Earth.

Or like the interstellar empire whose aid offered humanity's only hope for survival... except for the minor fact that its last emperor and all of his subjects had died forty-five thousand years ago.

Add in the occasional homicidal terrorist, religious fanatics convinced that the only good Maclntyre was a dead Maclntyre, a bic-weapon capable of killing every living thing on any planet, a super-bomb which could take out whole worlds, a starship drive which could destroy complete solar systems, and the need to organize the entire planet Earth— and all of its warring, mutually murderous factions—for a probably hopeless last-ditch defense, and Colin was convinced that things were just about as bad as they could possibly get.

Until he found out whose job it had just become to fix all those problems, of course....

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Undeniably the science fiction phenomenon of the decade, New York Times bestselling author David Weber is often compared to C.S. Forester (the celebrated creator of Captain Horatio Hornblower) and is the recipient of critical praise worthy of Heinlein or 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 printing after printing after printing. His novels range from epic fantasy (Oath of Swords, The War God's Own) to breathtaking space opera (Path of the Fury, Empire from the Ashes] to military science fiction with in-depth characterization (the celebrated and awesomely popular Honor Harrington series, War of Honor 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). Readers call Weber similar things, but mostly they call the Baen offices several times a week demanding more from their main man. Weber and his wife Sharon live in South Carolina.

ALL HAIL THE CONQUEROR!

With the aid of a sentient battle computer from before the collapse of interstellar civilization, Raj Whitehall has come close to reuniting the entire planet of Bellevue. Because of his victories and because of the way he won them, Raj is loved by the people—and his army would follow him to Hell. Even those closest to him, his band of sworn companions and his wickedly subtle but utterly loyal wife, hold him in awe.

And that's the problem. For though Raj battles only in the name of his emperor and has proven his loyalty again and again, still the half-mad jealousy and fear of Barholm Clerett is about to give Raj no choice but to revolt or face death by torture. Raj Whitehall, Hammer of the Barbarians, Sword of the Spirit of Man, has always been ready to bear any burden, pay any price for final victory.

Now his fate is on him.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

S.M. Stirling instantly became known as a talented new writer of military SF for his highly acclaimed, widely-read "Draka" series, which began with Marching Through Georgia. His collaborative novel with Anne McCaffrey, The City Who Fought, was a national bestseller. In addition to his popular General series, written in collaboration with David Drake, he has also collaborated with Jerry Pournelle on both the best-selling Man-Kzin Wars series and the Falkenberg's Legion series, recently collected in one volume as The Prince. His alternate history series which began with Island in the Sea of Time has also been very popular. He lives with his wife in Santa Fe, NM.

Vietnam veteran, former lawyer, former bus driver, and now bestselling author, David Drake tells a military story like no other. His readers recognize that he can take them where no one else can, with gut-wrenching description that puts them face-to-face with the enemy, and in the midst of the action right on the battlefield. He helped create the audience for mercenary military science fiction with his best-selling "Hammer's Slammers" books. Drake graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Iowa, majoring in history (with honors) and Latin. His stint at Duke University Law School was interrupted for two years by the U.S. Army, where he served as an enlisted interrogator with the 11th Armored Cavalry in Vietnam and Cambodia. Drake has a wife, a son, and various pets.

THE RING'S THE THING ...

•  Thing was a young girl who hid beneath a mask. Her companions included a crow, a toad, a goldfish, and a kitten. Never had a more unlikely band of unheroic heroes set off on a difficult and dangerous quest. But Thing had a ring with unusual powers. . . .
• Summer was an orphan who only wanted to find a husband and settle down. But first she had to help out a blind knight with amnesia and a winged pig. But how to get those two, as well as a raggle-tail assortment of other creatures in distress, to the far-distant place where they belonged Summer owned almost nothing—except a certain magic ring. ...
• Summer was cast adrift in London by the untimely death of her parents. Then an uncle left her a legacy that would lift her up from poverty—if she took a dragon's egg into uncharted Asia. The task was daunting and time was short, but her late uncle had also left her a very remarkable ring. ...

Three very unusual heroines in widely separated eras, each wearing for a time a ring made from a unicorn's horn, a ring with extraordinary powers. . . .

"People who think they hate fantasies are going to like this one."
—USA Today

"Endearing characters. . . . Brown's incredible journey is a find."
—Publishers Weekly

"Compelling ... a rare treat for fantasy lovers."
—Library Journal

"Don't miss this brilliantly conceived, superbly crafted, and eminently beguiling fantasy foray."
—Romantic Times

NO NIGHT LASTS FOREVER ...

Centuries after the civilized world destroyed itself in a dimly-remembered final war, a few rebels courageously searched through the shattered cities/ trying to regain old knowledge.

One was Fors-driven from his clan for the crime of being a mutant. Though his people had long searched the remnants of the old world to regain the knowledge and skills of their ancestors, the land to the north was forbidden. Having nothing to lose, Pars and his feline companion set out to the north, little realizing what a staggering discovery they would make.

Elsewhere/ Sander also searched-for the Before People who were said to have survived the great devastation. Then he encountered Fanyl, engaged in her own quest for the knowledge of the Before People. And soon they would find themselves threatened by an ancient evil which destroyed not just lives, but minds as well....

Publisher's Note: Darkness and Dawn has been previously published in parts as Star Man's Son and No Night Without Stars. This is their first combined publication.

"The sky's no limit to Andre Norton's imagination ... a superb storyteller."
—The New York Times

"Extraordinary!" —Washington Post "Imaginative and exciting."
—San Francisco Chronicle

"Gripping adventure that will keep the reader on the edge of his seat until the final page."
—Seattle Times

"First rate entertainment. . . you should not miss it!"
—Fantasy & Science Fiction

THE ULTIMATE WEAPON

In an America becoming repressive in the face of world tensions, Bradley Clifford, a young mathematical physicist, has been virtually drafted from academia to contribute to defense priorities. But his dedication is to bring about the unification of all fields and forces and reconcile the quantum and cosmological worlds.

Defying the political authorities Clifford walks out to work independently with a small team of gifted people who achieve experimental demonstrations of the synthesis and control of gravity. But these discoveries also have enormous potential for defense and intelligence gathering application, and it is only a matter of time before the work that Clifford and his colleagues have devoted themselves to is placed under government control.

The only way he will be able to continue now is on their terms, and he and his reluctant team are recruited to the task of creating a super-weapon capability that would give undoubted world-domination to its possessors. But the result that Clifford actually delivers is totally unanticipated.

GOOD AND EVIL...

"[Simply Human is] highly entertaining and full of action ... a divertingly strange future, one that should appeal equally to fans of sf and fantasy adventure." —Locus