Elvish Conspiracies Afoot! Heroine, Arise!

Trouble, trouble, the plots do bubble! King Henry VIII has finally joined his unmerry wives in the afterlife, and the Unseleighe Sidhe, the Dark Elves, are bent on subverting the English throne and bringing back the sorrow, horror and despair of the Middle Ages. After all, that's what made the bad old days so much fun — for them!

Enlightenment's hope A mere fourteen-year-old girl. A bright and adaptable fourteen-year-old to be sure, but still—what chance has such a young thing against the Unseleighe Sidhe's tangled web of treachery and depravity

A pretty good one. You see, the girl's name is Elizabeth, and that fiery red hair is no lie. Whether immortal lord or malicious mortal, young Elizabeth Tudor's enemies cross her at their peril!

Two hugely-popular master storytellers of historical fantasy brew up an elvish conspiracy for the ages in this exciting sequel to This Sceptr'd Isle and Ill Met By Moonlight.

"[Mercedes] Lackey. . . produces elegant, compelling fantasy."
—Publishers Weekly on best-selling High Priestess of Fantasy, Mercedes Lackey.

"[K]nowledgeable readers. . .will enjoy the interplay between elven intervention and historical fact."
—Publishers Weekly on Mercedes Lackey and Roberta Gellis's This Sceptr'd Isle.

Eighteen years have passed since the first manned mission to Earth arrived from Venus. With the first colonists already establishing themselves across the bright, sunny world of clear blue skies and wonderlands of towering mountains and ice deserts, Kyal Reen arrives to join the Venusian scientific and archeological teams that are working to reconstruct the story of the mysterious and enigmatic extinct Terran race that once flourished there. Studies of Terran geology, scientific works, and ancient records show that Earth's early peoples witnessed terrifying cataclysmic cosmic events in skies very different from those seen today. In his travels among the Terran ruins, Kyal meets a biologist called Lorili, who is attempting to explain certain baffling similarities between some Terran and Venusian life forms that are irreconcilable with the established fact that Venus is a far younger planet than Earth. Formerly aligned with the "Progressive" activists back on Venus, Lorili admires the qualities of tenacity and determination written through Terran history. She constructs a theory of Venusians being descended from Terran ancestors. However, even allowing for the greatly exaggerated time scales that Terran science assigned to the processes of biological and planetary evolution, further research shows that there could have been no overlap. The Terrans were extinct long before life emerged on Venus. But there is a different, unexpected answer to the riddle. Lorili and Kyal will have to fight for their theory and their lives.

About the Author

James P. Hogan is a science fiction writer in the grand tradition, combining informed and accurate speculation from the cutting edge of science and technology with suspenseful story-telling and living, breathing characters. His first novel was greeted by Isaac Asimov with the rave, "Pure science fiction . . . Arthur Clarke, move over!" and his subsequent work quickly consolidated his reputation as a major SF author. He has written nearly twenty novels including Cradle of Saturn and Bug Park (both Baen), the Giants series (Del Rey), the New York Times bestsellers The Proteus Operation and Endgame Enigma, and the Prometheus Award Winner The Multiplex Man.

A huge volume of edge-of-the-seat science fiction adventure, including:

* The Long Twilight: Grayle and Falconer met in relentless combat with no quarter in prehistoric ages past, their endless battle now remembered only as dark myths and legends. Now their long battle is nearing its climax-and the final battleground is an uncontrolled experimental power plant that threatens the Earth itself!

* Night of Delusions: A detective is hired by men claiming to be government agents and given an assignment that may lead to his being hailed as the savior of the nation-or executed for treason. His mysterious clients also give him devices to use in the assignment, devices which seem to be far beyond anything human technology is capable of. And as he doggedly pursues the case, he finds that the very fabric of reality seems to be changing around him, even to the point that he himself seems never to have existed!

* Plus three short novels of equally stunning concepts and breathtaking action.

About the Author

Keith Laumer was a Captain in the US Air Force and later an officer in the Diplomatic Corps, serving all over the world, giving him a solid background both for his fast-moving adventure stories and his satirical comedies of Retief, the galaxy's only two-fisted diplomat. He was known as one of the top writers of SF adventure.

Keith Laumer's Celebrated Saga of the Bolos Continues in this New Novel by The New York Times Best-Selling Author of the Honor Harrington Series.

Captain Maneka Trevor was the sole human survivor of the Dinochrome Brigade's 39th Battalion . . . but she hadn't wanted to be one.

The Bolo known as "Lazarus" — Unit 28/G-179-LAZ — was the 39th's sole surviving Bolo . . . but he hadn't been hers.

The doctors and the Bolo techs have put them both back together again, yet there are wounds no doctor or technician can heal.

And now Maneka and Lazarus must serve together once again, in a war whose stakes are literally the survival or extermination of the human race. They are all that stand between a desperate, secret colony of humanity and destruction: a Bolo commander torn by survivor's guilt and a Bolo whose very existence reminds her of all she has lost.

The odds against them are heavy, the stakes are huge, and surrender is not an option. The Dinochrome Brigade is used to that, but can Maneka and Lazarus survive their own shared past to defend the present

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Author of nine New York Times best sellers, with over five million books in print, David Weber is the science fiction phenomenon of the decade. He 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 novels range from epic fantasy (Oath of Swords, The War God's Own, Wind Rider's Oath) to breathtaking space opera (Path of the Fury, Empire from the Ashes) to military science fiction with in-depth characterization (the celebrated and nationally best-selling Honor Harrington series, the upcoming At All Costs 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, his wife Sharon, and their three children live in South Carolina.

ABOUT THE CREATOR

Keith Laumer, creator of the Bolo, was renowned both for his fast-paced adventure stories, and for his comical stories of Retief, the galaxy's only two-fisted diplomat. One of science fiction's most popular authors, his novels and story collections have been constantly in print for nearly four decades. A Captain in the US Air Force and later an officer in the Diplomatic Corps, Laumer served all over the world, giving him a solid background both for his fast-moving action stories, including his Bolo series, and his satirical Retief adventures. He died in 1993.

Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill are the biggest names in the urban fantasy subgenre-where elves, banshees, trolls, and even stranger creatures walk modern city streets, their presence, and even their existence unsuspected by the human inhabitants. Now these two present a volume of all new urban fantasy, with a stellar lineup of the best new fantasy writers, such as Roberta Gellis, Dave Freer and Eric Flint, Diana Paxton, and more-including two new stories and an afterword by Mercedes Lackey herself, as well as a story by Rosemary Edghill. This is an indispensable volume for fans of urban fantasy in general, and the thousands of fans of Mercedes Lackey in particular.

About the Authors

Mercedes Lackey is known for several bestselling fantasy series, including the Heralds of Valdemar and Bardic Voices series, work that ranges from historical fantasy to grittily realistic urban fantasy set in the modern world. In only a decade she has made her mark as one of the brightest stars of fantasy. She lives in Oklahoma where she can be found prying the talons of birds of prey she is attempting to nurse back to health out of her hands.

Rosemary Edghill, after holding the usual array of Weird Writer jobs, including freelance graphic designer and vampire killer, has settled down to a career as a full-time writer, publishing popular urban fantasies as well as novels in genres ranging from romance to mystery. Her latest book for Baen is The Warslayer.