SHE WANTED TO QUIT BEING HER WORLD'S BEST ASSASSIN—
BUT THE ONLY WAY TO QUIT WAS TO DIE!

Look into the abyss—

For as long as Cally O'Neal could remember, she had lived in danger. While her father was off fighting the invading Posleen she had been raised by her grandfather, practically on the front-lines of a war that had erased five billion humans from the face of the earth.

The abyss looks back—

In the final stages of the war she had officially "died" and been recruited into the elite ranks of the Bane Sidhe, a group of underground warriors dedicated to breaking the stranglehold of the elf-like Darhel. A stranglehold the Darhel held on the Galactic Confederation before the war

and now were extending to their human "allies."

And you become the abyss—

For forty years she has led a life of unremittent, unrecognized, unhallowed slaughter, wearing a constant stream of disguises, sending humans who support the Darhel off to meet their Maker, with her body, mind and soul twisted and "improved" to serve the needs of her own "allies."

Now, on the most important mission of her career, at odds with her superiors, hunting a mole that could destroy her at any moment, and inexorably falling in love with the enemy, for the first time in her life she has to wonder if it's worth it. If being a dragon is the best way to fight the dragon. And if there will be a morning after for the little girl who liked to play with guns and swim with the dolphins.

Cally had been fighting for the future of the human race, but now she is in a war for survival: the survival of her soul.

Science Fiction Adventure Co-authored by a New York Times Best-Selling Author.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

John Ringo is author of the New York Times best-selling Posleen War series which so far includes A Hymn Before Battle, Gust Front, When the Devil Dances (New York Times best seller), and Hell's Faire (New York Times best seller), and is the hottest new science fiction writer since David Weber. A veteran of the 82nd Airborne, Ringo brings first-hand knowledge of military operations to his fiction. He had visited 23 countries and attended 14 schools by the time he graduated high school.

Julie Cochrane has degrees and training in chemistry, psychology and computer science, and her hobbies include pistol marksmanship, history, criminology and folk music. She puts all of her wide and varied expertise to good use in this fast-paced novel of interplanetary adventure.

TO ESCAPE PURSUIT, SHE TOOK ON ANOTHER'S IDENTITY—
AND FOUND HERSELF MARKED FOR DEATH!

Maris's work with the local underworld on the huge space station was anything but honest, but life was much more pleasant than it had been before the gang's leader had picked her up from the slums. Then her boss grabbed a visitor to the station who was asking too many questions, only to find out that she was a very important diplomat. Worse, his prisoner had apparently committed suicide by jumping through an airlock into hard vacuum.

To avoid dangerous questions from station security, he decided to let Maris's corpse be found with the diplomat's IDs; but Maris saw through his plot and used those IDs to escape to the planet the Diplomat was about to investigate. Unfortunatley she landed in a hornet's nest of corrupt officials conspiring with a local tyrant. Surrounded by people who wanted her eliminated, the only person she could trust was Gabrel, a young officer who set off with her on a cross-planet trek to get evidence that would expose the tangled web of corruption.

Maris was strongly attracted to Gabrel and the feeling seemed to be mutual. But then, he thought she was a high-ranking government agent. What would happen when he found that she was only a petty criminal on the run

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Margaret Ball is author of such popular fantasy novels as The Shadow Gate, No Earthly Sunne, and Lost in Translation, and in the science fiction field has collaborated with New York Times best-selling author Anne McCaffrey on the national best sellers PartnerShip (Baen), recently reprinted in the Baen MegaBook Brain Ships, and Acorna: The Unicorn Girl and Acorna's Quest (both Harper Prism/Eos). She has also written historical novels and romances under her own name, as well as pseudonyms (for example, Catherine Lyndell). Ball has degrees in mathematics and linguistics, and was a Fulbright Scholar, spending two years in Africa studying Swahili. She has two daughters and does quilting in her spare time.

The Vampire Who Was Once a Knight has
Defended the Helpless for Centuries—
but Now He Must Defend All Who Live!

Vampire hero Richard Dun, once called Lancelot, is back in the latest book in this exciting, critically acclaimed fantasy series by award-winning actor Nigel Bennett and award-winning writer P.N. Elrod.

An old enemy from Richard's past, Charon the Assassin, returns and is literally hell-bent on bloody revenge. He has acquired deadly new powers that are annihilating the nebulous plane of Otherside and threaten the very existence of the Realside plane. Unless balance is restored both will be destroyed.

From the sultry Yucatan forests to the chill green fields of ancient Glastonbury, Richard Dun marshals his mortal and immortal allies for a fight that will span dimensions and centuries of time. He is no stranger at battling to the death, but how can one earth-bound vampire stand up to a being able to destroy the gods themselves

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Nigel Bennett won the Gemini Award for his role as the vampire patriarch LaCroix on Forever Knight, the TV show that spawned an active and vocal network of fans who name Bennett as one of their favorite stars. The British-born thespian has appeared in many stage, television, and film productions, including The Rocky Horror Show, Hamlet, Psi Factor, Lexx, Murder at 1600, and The Skulls. Bennett attends many conventions and charity events.

P.N. Elrod, a name synonymous with vampires, has written over twenty novels, including the I, Strahd novels from TSR and the award-winning Vampire Files series from Ace, the acclaimed Barrett series from Benbella Books and her Quincey Morris and Adventures of Myhr books with Baen. She has coedited three anthologies, including the best-selling Stepping Through the Stargate with writer Roxanne L. Conrad, and is presently working on more toothy titles.

FOUR COMPLETE NOVELS IN ONE
OF THE MOST POPULAR ADVENTURE
SERIES IN SCIENCE FICTION
—ALL IN ONE HUGE MEGABOOK

For countless millennia the dreadful Berserker® fleets have ranged across the galaxy in a relentless war against all things living. Their equally relentless opponent has been the human race, with its heritage and instinct of battle, facing the enemy of all life.

Here are four battles in the war between humans and the powerful death machines.

• Berserker's Planet: A lone rebel, armed only with medieval weaponry, hasn't a chance against a mighty Berserker—or does he

• The Berserker Throne: An exiled prince plans to use a Berserker and return to power—but can a mere human really control a Berserker

• Brother Assassin: The Berserkers reach back through time to change history and only one man has a prayer of stopping them.

• Berserker Man: This time, the killer machines may succeed in eradicating humanity from the galaxy—unless they can be stopped by a child who is half man and half machine.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Fred Saberhagen is the top-selling author of many popular science fiction and fantasy series. His Berserkers® have menaced the universe for over 40 years. His "Swords" and "Lost Swords" stories have caught the imagination of many fantasy readers. Equally intriguing are Fred's exploits in the area of historical fantasy where figures such as Hitler and Lincoln, Daedalus and the pharaohs, populate his alternate worlds. On the border of history and fantasy Fred has created a unique picture of an old favorite, Dracula. More recent is the "Book of the Gods" series, a new telling of the ancient myths. Many of his works also appear in tape and e-book format. Before abandoning himself to imagination, he served in the US Air Force, worked as a civilian electronics technician, and wrote and edited articles on science and technology for the Encyclopedia Britannica. Born and raised in Chicago, he now lives and works with his wife, Joan Spicci, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

BEYOND THE FARTHEST STAR . . .

Two complete novels, and four shorter works by the master of science fiction adventure.

• A Trace of Memory: A drifter named Legion is hired by a millionaire who claims to be centuries old, but has nearly complete amnesia, able only to remember that something is hunting for him. Legion gets more than he bargained for when he finds himself and his employer on a prehistoric starship hurtling into the unknown.

• Planet Run: Laumer joins forces with SF legend Gordon R. Dickson in a novel of two ancient heroes who are going to risk their lives for the chance to solve the mystery of an unexplored planet.

• Plus four more yarns of exciting interstellar action and adventure

Praise for Keith Laumer:

"Spare, clean prose style and muscular storytelling technique . . . when the final word is read, the reader comes away with both a sense of completion and a desire for the tale to go on . . . forever, if possible." —David Weber

"You're about to have fun." —David Drake

"Laumer is a master . . ." —Seattle Times

"Tautly written and endless suspense . . . excellent. . . ." —VOYA

THE HILLS ARE ALIVE—WITH MUTANTS AND MAGIC.!

Evil men and evil magic are poised to prey on the people of the hamlets and hollows of Appalachia: witches, demons, and criminals of more than one century. But the mountain folk have defenders, too, as strange and varied as the dangers that threaten them:

David Drake's unforgettable OLD NATHAN the Wizard, a backwoodsman who talks to animals and who'll fight the Devil himself if he must.

Henry Kuttner's grimly hilarious HOGBEN FAMILY, some of whom aren't entirely human—and others who're entirely inhuman.

Eric Flint and Ryk E. Spoor's SLADES, whose uneasy coexistence with underground spirits is about to end in an earthquake that'll wipe humanity off the surface of four states.

Magic, mutants, and mountaineers mixing in adventures that range from eerie to side-splittingly funny:

MOUNTAIN MAGIC

"[David Drake] has developed a following . . . just short of cult proportions." —Rave Reviews

"[Eric Flint is] an SF author of particular note, one who can entertain and edify in equal, and major, measure." —Publishers Weekly

"I consider the work of Henry Kuttner to be the finest science fantasy ever written." —Marion Zimmer Bradley

AN APOLOGY

Unfortunately the Kuttner estate does not allow publication of electronic versions of his works. So we had to remove all of the Kuttner stories from the WebScriptions version. In their place we've added Manly Wade Wellman's John the Balladeer stories. Certainly they fit the books theme of Mountain Magic.