Search Worlds Without End

In the second decade of the twenty-first century the world is struck by two catastrophes, a new mini-ice age and, nearly simultaneously, a plague to dwarf all previous experiences. Rising out of the disaster is the character known to history as “Bandit Six” an American Army officer caught up in the struggle to rebuild the world and prevent the fall of his homeland—despite the best efforts of politicians both elected and military.

The Last Centurion is a memoir of one possible future, a world that is a darkling mirror of our own. Written “blog-style,” it pulls no punches in its descriptions of junk science, bad strategy and organic farming not to mention all three at once.

Zombies are real. And we made them. Are you prepared for the zombie apocalypse? The Smith family is, with the help of a few marines.

When an airborne "zombie" plague is released, bringing civilization to a grinding halt, the Smith family, Steven, Stacey, Sophia and Faith, take to the Atlantic to avoid the chaos. The plan is to find a safe haven from the anarchy of infected humanity. What they discover, instead, is a sea composed of the tears of survivors and a passion for bringing hope.

For it is up to the Smiths and a small band of Marines to somehow create the refuge that survivors seek in a world of darkness and terror. Now with every continent a holocaust and every ship an abattoir, life is lived under a graveyard sky.

A World Cloaked in Darkness

With human civilization annihilated by a biological zombie plague, a rag-tag fleet of yachts and freighters known as Wolf Squadron scours the Atlantic, searching for survivors. Within every abandoned liner and carrier lurks a potential horde, safety can never be taken for granted, and death and turning into one of the enemy is only a moment away.

The Candle Flickers

Yet every ship and town holds the flickering hope of survivors. One and two from lifeboats, a dozen from a fishing village, a few hundred wrenched by fury and fire from a ship that once housed thousands...

Light a Flame

Now Wolf Squadron must take on another massive challenge: clear the assault carrier USS Iwo Jima of infected before the trapped Marines and sailors succumb to starvation. If Wolf Squadron can accomplish that task, an even tougher trial awaits: an apocalyptic battle to win a new dawn for humanity. The war for civilization begins as the boats of the Wolf Squadron become a beacon of hope on a Darkling Sea.

With the world consumed by a devastating plague that drives humans violently insane, what was once a band of desperate survivors bobbing on a dark Atlantic ocean has now become Wolf Squadron, the only hope for the salvation of the human race. Banding together with what remains of the U.S. Navy, Wolf Squadron, and its leader Steve Smith, not only plans to survive--he plans to retake the mainland from the infected, starting with North America.

The next step: produce a vaccine. But for do that, Wolf Squadron forces led by Smith's terrifyingly precocious daughters Sophia and Faith must venture into a sea of the infected to obtain and secure the needed materials. And if some of the rescued survivors turn out to be more than they seem, Smith just might be able to pull off his plan.

Once more, exhausted and redlining Wolf Squadron forces must throw themselves into battle, scouring the islands of the Atlantic for civilization's last hope.

With the world consumed by a devastating plague that drives humans violently insane, what was once a band of desperate survivors bobbing on a dark Atlantic ocean has now become Wolf Squadron, the only hope for the salvation of the human race. Banding together with what remains of the U.S. Navy, Wolf Squadron, and its leader Steve Smith, not only plans to survive--he plans to retake the mainland from the infected, starting with North America.

Smith's teenage daughters have become zombie hunters of unparalleled skill, both at land and on the sea, and they may hold the key to the rebirth of civilization on a devastated planet.

From his corner office on the forty-fourth floor of the Bank of the Americas tower on Wall Street, Tom Smith, global managing director for security, could see the Statue of Liberty, Battery Park--and a ravening zombie horde.

Officially, Smith was paid to preserve the lives and fortunes of employees, billionaires, and other clients. And with an implacable virus that turned the infected into ravenous zombies tearing through the city, the country, and the world, his job just got a lot harder.

Good thing Smith, late of the Australian special forces, isn't a man to give up easily. But saving civilization is going to take more than the traditional banking toolbox of lawyers, guns, and money. Smith needs infected human spinal tissue to formulate a vaccine--and he needs it by the truckload. To get it, he will have to forge a shady alliance with both the politicians of the City of New York and some of its less savory entrepreneurs.

But all of his back-alley dealing may amount to nothing if he can't stave off the fast-moving disease as it sweeps across the planet, leaving billions dead in its wake. And if he fails, his only fallback is an incomplete plan to move enough personnel to safe havens and prepare to restart civilization.

What's more, there are others who have similar plans--and believe it or not, they're even less charitable than a Wall Street investment banker. Sooner or later Smith will have to deal with them.

But first he has to survive the Fall.

THROUGH THE RAGING PLAGUE

At Tom Smith's previous gig, he was the global managing director for security of an international bank. Then the zombies emerged. And New York burned. His plan to save the city long enough to find a cure for the zombie virus didn't survive a bloody scrimmage between angry cops, cunning gangsters, and rapacious officials.

Tom and a few trusted allies were able to stay one step ahead and barely escape. Now they seek refuge in the bank's prepared evacuation retreat in the Cumberland Valley of Tennessee. But between Tom's people and relative safety are hundreds of miles of clogged roads, burnt-out towns and howling mobs of infected humans who know only hunger. Plus there are gangs of the non-infected who would like nothing more than to defeat and enslave any weary travelers who happen their way.

And finally, if Tom does pull off the journey, no one is sure how they are going to restart civilization. But even for that, Tom Smith has the spark of an idea. And, as always, the beginnings of a plan. Which he is certain will change completely when the enemy strikes.

TOP NAME WRITERS ENTER THE REALM OF JOHN RINGO'S BLACK TIDE RISING ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE SERIES!

A collection of all-original stories set in the Black Tide Rising series of novels created by multiple New York Times best-selling author John Ringo Stories by John Ringo, Eric Flint, John Scalzi & Dave Klecha, Sarah A. Hoyt, Jody Lynn Nye, Michael Z. Williamson and more.

The news that humanity had been dreading for ages had come true. Zombies are real. Worst of all, we created them. The apocalypse was upon us, and every man, woman and child had to answer a simple question of themselves: "What do we do now?" For a group of neighbors in the Chicago suburbs of Northern Indiana, it was "work together or die" ...and figure out how to live on top of oil storage tanks to keep the zombies at bay. For the Biological Emergency Response Teams in New York City, it was "how long can we fight off the infected before it's too late" ...as well as having to fight other groups all out to claim a dwindling stock of supplies and safety. And for a group of cheerleaders, it was about the end of their world. And about what happens when you get a group of physically fit young women really, really angry.

Contents:

• ix - Foreword (Black Tide Rising) - essay by Gary Poole
• 1 - Never Been Kissed - short story by John Ringo
• 5 - Up on the Roof - novella by Eric Flint
• 57 - Staying Human - short story by Jody Lynn Nye
• 71 - On the Wall - short story by David Klecha and John Scalzi
• 89 - Do No Harm - short fiction by Sarah A. Hoyt
• 109 - Not in Vain - novelette by Kacey Ezell
• 135 - How Do You Solve a Problem Like Grandpa? - novelette by Michael Z. Williamson
• 159 - Battle of the BERTs - novelette by Mike Massa
• 199 - The Road to Good Intentions - novelette by Tedd Roberts
• 227 - 200 Miles to Nashville - novelette by Christopher L. Smith
• 253 - Best Laid Plans - novelette by Eric S. Brown and Jason Cordova
• 267 - The Meaning of Freedom - short story by John Ringo
• 281 - Afterword (Black Tide Rising) - essay by John Ringo

Contents:

• ix - Foreword (Voices of the Fall) - essay by Gary Poole
• 1 - Starry, Starry Night - short story by John Ringo
• 11 - Spectrum - novelette by Mike Massa
• 37 - Storming the Tower of Babel - short story by Sarah A. Hoyt
• 61 - Return to Mayberry - novelette by Rob Hampson
• 93 - It Just Might Matter in the End - novelette by Travis S. Taylor
• 121 - Inhale to the King, Baby! - short story by Michael Z. Williamson
• 137 - Ham Sandwich - novelette by Jody Lynn Nye
• 163 - The Downeasters - novelette by Brendan DuBois
• 197 - The Species As Big As the Ritz - novelette by Robert Buettner
• 225 - The Cat Hunters - novelette by Dave Freer
• 255 - Alpha Gamers - short story by Griffin Barber
• 269 - True Faith and Allegiance - novelette by Michael Gants
• 299 - The Killer Awoke - short story by John Birmingham
• 317 - About the Authors (Voices of the Fall) - essay by uncredited

Contents:

• ix - Foreword (We Shall Rise) - essay by Gary Poole
• 1 - Social Distance - novelette by Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta
• 37 - Liberation Day - short story by Brendan DuBois
• 53 - Appalachia Rex - short story by Jason Cordova
• 79 - Maligator Country - novelette by Lydia Sherrer
• 117 - Fire in the Sky - short story by Stephanie Osborn and Michael Z. Williamson
• 139 - Just Like Home - short story by Jody Lynn Nye
• 163 - Chase the Sunset - short story by Jamie Ibson
• 187 - Descent into the Underworld - short story by Brian Trent
• 215 - A Thing or Two - short story by Kacey Ezell
• 233 - Ex Fide Absurdo - short story by Brent Roeder and Christopher L. Smith
• 261 - The Best Part of Waking Up - short story by Mike Massa
• 288 - About the Editors and Authors - essay by uncredited

The world was brought to its knees by the zombie virus. But humanity has risen from the ashes and has begun to rebuild. Courageous men and women have kindled a fire of hope in the darkness. But mere survival is not enough.

The real challenge is how to keep that future alive. How to not just survive, not just rebuild, but actually thrive. To tell the universe that mankind can take whatever nature throws against us and not back down.

To stand united.

Stories by John Birmingham, Jody Lynn Nye, Jamie Ibson, Sarah A. Hoyt, Brian Trent, Dave Freer, Griffin Barber, Lydia Sherrer, Mel Todd, Christopher L. Smith, and Mike Massa.

When a ruthless political regime, led by the charismatic and ambitious Vittori Santorini, seizes control of a planet still struggling to recover from an alien invasion, Kafari Khristinova must take on her former colleagues and the Bolo she once called friend to free the world from the evil Santorini, who has also brainwashed Kafari's young daughter, Yalena.

In the future there is no want, no war, no disease nor ill-timed death. The world is a paradise--and then, in a moment, it ends. The council that controls the Net falls out and goes to war. Everywhere, people who have never known a moment of want or pain are left wondering how to survive.

But scattered across the face of the Earth are communities that have returned to the natural life of soil and small farm. In the village of Raven's Mill, Edmund Talbot, master smith and unassuming historian, finds that all the problems of the world are falling in his lap. Refugees are flooding in, bandits are roaming the woods, and his former lover and his only daughter struggle through the fallen landscape. Enemies, new and old, gather like jackals around a wounded lion.

But what the jackals do not know is that while old he may be, this lion is far from death. And hidden in the past is a mystery that has waited until this time to be revealed. You cross Edmund Talbot at your peril, for a smith is not all he once was....

The battle against those determined to rule the world-or destroy it-continues...

The fast-paced sequel to There Will be Dragons is a rollicking adventure above and below the high seas with dragons, orcas, beautiful mermaids-and the irrepressible Bast the Wood Elf, a cross between Legolas and Mae West.

Duke Edmund Talbot has been assigned a simple mission: Go to the Southern Isles and make contact with the scattered mer-folk-those who, before the worldwide collapse of technology, had altered their bodies in the shape of mythical sea-dwelling creatures. He must convince them to side with the Freedom Coalition in the battles against the fascist dictators of New Destiny. Just a simple diplomatic mission. That requires the service of a dragon-carrier and Lieutenant Herzer Herrick, the most blooded of the Blood Lords. Because New Destiny has plans of its own.

The Forces Determined to Rule the World-or Destroy it-had Won the Battle at Sea, but Edmund Talbot had a Surprise Waiting for Them on Dry Land.

In the distant future, the world was a paradise-and then, in a moment, it was ended by the first war in centuries. People who had known godlike power, to whom hunger and pain were completely unknown, desperately scrabbled to survive. As the United Free States, the bastion of freedom and center of opposition to the tyrants of New Destiny, prepared for the long-feared invasion by the Changed legions of Ropasa, Edmund Talbot realized that bureaucratic ineptitude and overconfidence was setting the USF naval forces of ships and dragons up for a disastrous defeat at sea. His fears came true, and the destruction of the fleet seemingly left the UFS open for a full scale invasion. But Talbot had new concepts and strategies ready to put into effect, along with new technical innovations from his brilliant engineer. He survived an assassination attempt and quickly assembled a formidable land force combining cavalry, longbowmen, Roman style legions, and dragons for airborne assault. The fascist forces of New Destiny thought that their war was all but concluded, and world domination within their grasp. Edmund Talbot was ready to show them just how wrong they were....

When the council that controlled the world-spanning computer Mother fell out in civil war, it plunged the world in an instant from high-tech utopia to medieval nightmare. Now Herzer Herrick and Megan Trevante have been assigned the mission to capture the spaceship that supplies the fuel for all of Earth. Given that Herzer vaguely thinks orbital decay is something having to do with teeth it should be... interesting. With all the usual combat expected in a John Ringo novel, East of the Sun and West of the Moon sheds new light on the bizarre relationship between Herzer and Megan, the politics of the new born world and fascinating details of space technology battles.

The Royal Brat is in Trouble

Roger Ramius Sergei Chiang MacClintock didn't understand.

He was young, handsome, athletic, an excellent dresser, and third in line for the Throne of Man...so why wouldn't anyone at Court trust him?

Why wouldn't even his own mother, the Empress, explain why they didn't trust him? Or why the very mention of his father's name was forbidden at Court? Or why his mother had decided to pack him off to a backwater planet aboard what was little more than a tramp freighter to represent her at a local political event better suited to a third assistant undersecretarv of state?

It probably wasn't too surprising that someone in his position should react by becoming spoiled, selfcentered and petulant. After all, what else did he have to do with his life?

But that was before a saboteur tried to blow up his transport. Then warships of the Empire of Man's worst rivals shot the crippled vessel out of space. Then Roger found himself shipwrecked on the planet Marduk, whose jungles were full of damnbeasts, killerpillars, carnivorous plants, torrential rain, and barbarian hordes with really bad dispositions. Now all Roger has to do is hike halfway around the entire planet, then capture a spaceport from the Bad Guys, somehow commandeer a starship, and then go home to Mother for explanations.

Fortunately, Roger has an ace in the hole: Bravo Company of Bronze Battalion of The Empress' Own Regiment. If anyone can get him off Marduk alive, it's the Bronze Barbarians.

Assuming that Prince Roger manages to grow up before he gets all of them killed.

A Bad Neighborhood

"Always Faithful." That was the IMC motto, and the Marines of Bravo Company, Bronze Battalion, of the Empress' Own Regiment, lived by it...even if they did occasionally wonder why they bothered. After all, Prince Roger MacClintock, Tertiary Heir to the Throne of Man, was a real piece of work. A spoiled rotten, arrogant, whiny, terminally handsome, thoroughly useless young pain in the butt.

But that was before the Royal Brat and his body guards were marooned on Marduk by an assassination attempt. Before they found themselves facing 120° heat in jungles where it rained five or six hours a day...during the dry season. Before they had to march half way around the entire planet, through damnbeasts, Capetoads, killerpillars, and atul-grak. Before they encountered treacherous local potentates, barbarian migrations, and an ocean full of sea serpents that could swallow a topsail schooner whole.

Under the right circumstances, even the most spoiled brat can grow up fast, and it turns out that under his petulant, spoiled exterior, Prince Roger is a true MacClintock, a scion of the warrior dynasty which created the Empire of Man a thousand years before. The Marines assigned to guard him have discovered a new belief in him -- and in their motto -- and they're determined that they will get him off of Marduk aIive.

Of course, the planet has other ideas...

Prince Roger MacClintock, Heir to the Throne of Man, was a spoiled rotten arrogant, thoroughly useless young pain in the butt.

But that was before the royal Brat and his Marine bodyguards had their starship sabotaged, and all were marooned on the enemy-occupied planet of Marduk. Before they had to march half way around the entire planet, through steaming jungles, damnbeasts, Capetoads, and killerpillars. Before they encountered treacherous local potentates, hostile barbarian armies numbering in the thousands, and an ocean full of creatures that are big, vicious and voracious.

Under the right circumstances, even the most spoiled brat can grow up fast. Now, Roger and his loyal troops have made it to the sea, and on the way, Roger has proven himself to be a true MacClintock and a born leader. Still, the sea has monsters big enough to swallow a ship - and across the water is an enemy spaceport, bristing with heavy artillery, against which Roger's team has only hand weapons with nearly-drained power packs. But neither Roger nor the Marines are about to give up, Marduk, do your worst!

Prince Roger MacClintock was an heir to the galaxy's Throne of Man-and a self-obsessed spoiled young brat . . . until he and the Royal Marines sent to protect him were stranded on Marduk with only their feet to get them half way around the entire planet.

So far, they've crossed a continent, crossed a sea full of ship-eating monsters, taken over an enemy spaceport, and hijacked a starship. But they're not home-free yet, because home is no longer free.

In Roger's absence, a palace coup by enemies of the MacClintock family has seized control of the Empire. His mother the Empress is a captive in the palace and even in her own body, drugged so that her will is not her own. Roger's bother, the heir to the throne, is dead. And Roger himself has been branded an outlaw and traitor. Roger and his faithful band of human marines and native alien warriors have beaten the barbarian planet Marduk, and now they must re-conquer an interstellar empire.

But they aren't about to give up, and with the help of those on the throne planet who are still loyal to the Empress they will infiltrate (under cover of a restaurant specializing in exotic Mardukan dishes, no less), they will make anyone who gets in their way (such as local mobsters who make the mistake of kidnapping Roger's fiancé) very sorry that they did, and they will not rest until the rightful ruler has been restored.

Once again, a lot of power-hungry people are going to learn a hard lesson: You do not, ever, mess with a MacClintock!

Baen now launches an exciting new science fiction adventure series by the New York Times best-selling author:

When a 60-kiloton explosion destroyed the University of Central Florida, and much of the surrounding countryside, the authorities first thought that terrorists had somehow obtained a nuclear weapon. But there was no radiation detected, and, when physicist Dr. William Weaver and Navy SEAL Command Master Chief Robert Miller were sent to investigate, they found that in the center of the destruction, where the University's physics department used to be, was an interdimensional gateway to . . . somewhere.

An experiment in subatomic physics had produced a very unexpected effect. Furthermore, other gateways were appearing all over the world - and one of them immediately began disgorging demonic visitors intent on annihilating all life on Earth and replacing it with their own. Other, apparently less hostile, aliens emerged from other gateways, and informed Weaver and Miller that the demonic invaders - the name for them that humans could most easily pronounce was the "Dreen" - were a deadly blight across the galaxy, occupying planet after planet after wiping out all native life; and now it would be Earth's turn, unless Weaver and Miller could find a way to close the gateways. If they failed, the less belligerent aliens would face the regrettable necessity of annihilating the entire Earth to save their own worlds. . . .

The sequel to Into the Looking Glass.

William Weaver, PhD. and SEAL Chief Miller are back and Bill got himself a ship! The former SSBN Nebraska has been converted, using mostly garage mechanics and baling wire, into a warp ship ready to go "out there." But as everyone knows, the people who really are going to bear the brunt are the poor Security guys, Force Recon Marines who are kept in the dark and fed manure all day. That is until they land on an alien planet, get partially wiped out and then load back up again.

Ranging in topics from the best gun to kill armored space monsters to particle physics to cosmology to health and beauty tips, Vorpal Blade is a return to the "good old days" of SF when the science problems were intractable and the beasts were ugly. The monkeys are out in the space lanes and ready to rock. As soon as they get another roll of duct tape.

In the midst of recovering from their successful if casualty prone first mission, the crew of the Alliance Space Ship Vorpal Blade are suddenly scrambled back into action. All other priorities take second place as word arrives on earth of a gate colony which has fallen to an unidentified alien assault. As the only space ship currently available to the Human-Adar Alliance, the Vorpal Blade is dispatched to find out what happened to the colony, rescue any survivors and learn the identity of the attackers.

With new complexities added to the universe started in the novel Into the Looking Glass and continued in Vorpal Blade, Manxome Foe continues the tradition of non-stop action, valorous if quirky characters and rigorous science drawn from the frontiers of current theory. The odd-ball crew of the Vorpal Blade is an unlikely savior of earth, but none dare say they quail at engaging the Manxome Foe.

It's Not Over Til The Skinny Lady Sings . . .

Working off of a piece of intelligence from our alien allies, the Vorpal Blade is dispatched to investigate rumors of an ancient and powerful civilization that may have been the creators of the “black box” that drives humanity's only space ship. Any remnant technology would be nice but what the Blade finds is much more than they bargained for. Worse, the ship is infested by an alien species of scorpion-like arachnoids that has the potential to wipe out a world. Worst of all, instead of being Astrogator, Captain William Weaver is now the XO and he is not getting along with the new commander. And the new commander does not get along with Weaver, the ship's female savant-linguist or most of the rest of the original crew. And what is that weird noise the ship makes every time it's in hard maneuvers?

Leave it to the oddball geniuses of the Blade to sort it all out. And the Dreen are not going to like the answers.

When Marine Private Oliver Chadwick Gardenier is killed in the Marine barrack bombing in Beirut, somebody who might be Saint Peter gives him a choice: Go to Heaven, which while nice might be a little boring, or return to Earth. The Boss has a mission for him and he's to look for a sign. He's a Marine: He'll choose the mission.

Unfortunately, the sign he's to look for is "57." Which, given the food services contract in Bethesda Hospital, creates some difficulty. Eventually, it appears that God's will is for Chad to join a group called "Monster Hunters International" and protect people from things that go bump in the night. From there, things trend downhill.

Monster Hunter Memoirs is the (mostly) true story of the life and times of one of MHI's most effective--and flamboyant--hunters. Pro-tips for up and coming hunters range from how to dress appropriately for jogging (low-profile body armor and multiple weapons) to how to develop contacts among the Japanese yakuza, to why it's not a good idea to make billy goat jokes to trolls.

Grunge harkens back to the Golden Days of Monster Hunting when Reagan was in office, Ray and Susan Shackleford were top hunters and Seattle sushi was authentic.

NIGHTMARE IN THE BIG EASY

With New Orleans out of control, Chad Oliver Gardenier, one of Monster Hunter International's premier hunters, has been dispatched from Seattle to reinforce the beleaguered members of MHI'S Hoodoo Squad in their fight against the darkness.

Chad had once taken a werewolf while wearing only jogging gear. With half a dozen or more loup garou appearing every full moon, mysterious shadow demons, houdoun necromancers, fifty-foot bipedal crocodiles showing up every couple of months and more vampires than a Goth concert, New Orleans in the '80s gives a whole new perspective to the term "Hell on Earth." In fact, more monsters are popping up than crawfish at a fais do do! Chad may be able to collect enormous bounties for the monsters he kills. But there's one catch: he has to stay alive to do it!

The No-Holds-Barred Final Entry in the Monster Hunter Memoirs Series from New York Times best-selling authors Larry Correia and John Ringo.

"This is New Orleans." That mantra had rung in Chad Gadenier's ears since his first day working in the Big Easy. Everything was different in New Orleans. The food. The climate. The monsters. Even the shadowy and reprehensible MCB was different. But that's just the beginning.

The real reason New Orleans is so different is a larval Great Old One growing day by day in power and just about ready to pop. If Chad can't convince "the powers that be" to get involved not only New Orleans but the entire world is going to fall under the power of the nastiest of nasties.

Now on the outs with the US Government and in exile from his usual job of saving the world, Chad must rally the forces of light against the coming darkness. The problem is one guy with a sword and a sub-gun isn't going to solve this one.

Fortunately, Chad's made a few friends over the years. And the Fey hate Old Ones as much as God's people, and they're not about to give up this world without a fight.

If the Saints don't come marching in on this one... there won't be a Final Battle. There will be a final massacre.

Now, where'd he put that number for the ditzy fey princess... ?

The invaders are coming - the Posleen, a seemingly unstoppable horde who have conquered one star system after another, literally feeding on their conquests. Earth's dubious allies, the Darhel, have given the humans a number of highly-advanced technological devices, including a process for rejuvenating the aged, including trained and proven soldiers who otherwise would be too old to fight. Rejuvenation may give a critical edge, since to survive, the Earth must use every resource at hand. Every resource . . .

In the dark days after the initial Posleen attack, but before the primary invasion, the Chancellor of Germany faces a critical decision. Over the years, with military cutbacks, the store of experienced German military personnel had simply dwindled. After the destruction of Northern Virginia, he realized that it was necessary to tap the one group he had sworn never, ever, to recall: the few remaining survivors of the Waffen SS. Has he made a devil's bargain, or is this a chance for the reviled SS at last to fight the good fight? And, perhaps, gain redemption. . . .

Watch On the Rhine, a new chapter in the New York Times best-selling Posleen War saga, is perhaps the most unbiased, and brutal, look at the inner workings of the Waffen SS in history. Meticulously researched, it explores all that was good, and evil, about the most infamous military force in history using the backdrop of the Posleen invasion as a canvas.

Stand Against the Posleen Horde!

Earth invaded! The Posleen aggressors eating what population they don't outright vaporize! Now the aliens are closing in on a vital choke point for the humans: the Panama Canal. No canal, no food. No food--the North American resistance crumbles, and hope fades. What's worse, slimeball appeasers within the U.S. State Department (surprise!) are set to sell out the resistance to another race of would-be galactic overlords.

One problem for our enemies: when the chips are down for humans, heroes have a habit of arising: A captain of industry who whips a corrupt and inefficient Central American kleptocracy into fighting shape within weeks. A retired Panamanian woman warrior who returns to the field of battle to rally her people in a last stand to save their children. And a battleship that is literally brought to consciousness by the echoes of ancient naval tradition (and a sentient A.I.) to fight ferociously for her country -- and the captain she's come to love.

The Enemy of My Enemy...

Of the once innumerable battle clans of the Posleen only a handful survive. And that on the sufferance of a group of despised Indowy and Himmit. Plucked from the maelstrom on Earth they are cast out into the eternal blackness of the stars with only a slighltly insane Indowy and a computer virus to guide them.

What follows is a trail of tears and remembrance as the Posleen retrace the footsteps of their ancestors in a search for their homeworld. A search to determine if the Posleen posess the one thing no Human would give them credit for: A soul.

Returned to their beginnings, the question remains: Is there a new path for the Tular Posleen?

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.

A Heist of Galactic Proportions!

The power to read hidden thoughts. The power to bend the will against its very essence. There?s only one thing you can call it: mind rape. Now an Indowy renegade seeks to use the technology to destroy a powerful human mentat--and to bring down galactic civilization in the process. Master thief and assassin Cally O?Neal faces her most difficult and grittiest ordeal yet. For to steal a mind-control device, she must find a way to mask the burning drive within that allows her to succeed where all others fail. And, as if the stakes weren?t high enough already--the mentat with the death sentence on her head is none other than Cally?s long-lost sister!

The Posleen War Rages On -- Undercover!

Clan O'Neal Battles for the Right--And With Each Other!

The Indowy "Bane Sidhe" conspiracy has grown strong, and the cunning and resourceful Darhel--tacit rulers of the Galactic Federation--have decided that the time has come to wipe that threat from the stars forever. What the Darhel don't know is that humans have joined the rebellion--led by thief and assassin extraordinaire, Cally O'Neal. Now Cally is set to destroy a web of alien deceit millennia in the making. Only one obstacle lies in her path: the renowned warrior who stood tall and saved Earth from utter destruction during its first invasion by alien hordes--a legend who also happens to be Cally's father!

With friends like these...

With the Earth in the path of the rapacious Posleen, the peaceful and friendly races of the Galactic Federation offer their resources to help the backward Terrans -- for a price. Humanity now has three worlds to defend.

As Earth's armies rush into battle and special operations units scout alien worlds, the humans begin to learn a valuable lesson: You can protect yourself from your enemies, but may the Lord save you from your allies.

The aliens had arrived with gifts, warnings, and an offer we couldn't refuse...

Our choice was simple: we could be cannon fodder, or we could be...fodder. We could send our forces to fight and die (as only humans can) against a ravening horde that was literally feeding on its interstellar conquests -- or remain as we were -- virtually weaponless and third in line for brunch.

We chose to fight.

Thanks to alien technology and sheer guts, the Terrans on two worlds fought the Posleen to a standstill. Thank God there was a moment to catch our breath, a moment, however brief, of peace --

Now, for the survivors of the Barwhon and Diess Expeditionary Forces, it was a chance to get some distance from the blood and misery of battle against the Posleen centaurs. A blessed chance to forget the screams of the dying in purple swamps and massacres under searing alien suns.

For earth it was an opportunity to flesh out their force of raw recruits with combat-seasoned veterans. Political, military and scientific blundering had left the Terran forces in shambles -- and with the Posleen invasion only months away, these shell-shocked survivors might be the only people capable of saving the Earth from devastation.

If the veterans had time to lick their wounds.

Because the Posleen don't read schedules.

After five years of battling invaders, human civilization prepares a strike to drive the aliens from the Earth. But the Clan-Lord of the Sten has learned from the defeats humans have dealt him, and has his own plan. When he squares off against Major O'Neal, the only winner will be Satan himself.

With the defenses of the Southern Appalachians sundered, the only thing standing between the ravening Posleen hordes and the soft interior of the Cumberland Plateau are the veterans of 555th Mobile Infantry. Dropped into Rabun Pass, with a couple of million Posleen behind them and fourteen million to the front, the only question is which will run out first: power, bullets or bodies.

But they have a hole card: far to the north the shattered SheVa Nine is undergoing a facelift. Rising from its smoking ashes is a new weapon of war, armed with the most advanced weaponry Terra has ever produced, capable of facing both the Posleen hordes and their redoubtable space-cruisers. Capable of dealing out hell as only SheVa Nine can.

If Mike O'Neal and the other members of the 555th are going to survive, it will come down to how much Posleen butt Bun-bun can kick. Prepare to eat antimatter, Posleen-boy.

Beneath A Banner Burned...

In an instant the world changed for Lieutenant General Michael O'Neal. His beloved Corps of the last remaining ACS destroyed beneath the guns of the Fleet, his staff shot before his eyes, arrested on the charge of war crimes, he faces a short, one-sided, trial, a trip to the Fleet Penal Facility and a bullet to the back of the head while trying to 'escape.'

The Boundaries Blur

General Tam Wesley faces trying one of the most beloved heroes in Federation, not to mention a friend of decades, on trumped up charges. He alternative is having the last corps of humans that haven't sold their souls to the Darhel be taken apart like a chicken.

Then he finds out the bad news...

The Chaos Has Returned

With a new invasion from a previously unknown race threatening the Federation capital, Darhel Tir Dal Ron faces his ultimate nightmare: He is going to have to reinstate the one man human soldiers trust, a man with the power and knowledge to destroy the Darhel oligarchy forever. And instead convince him, against all logic, to save the Darhel.

Somebody is going to die. General Michael O'Neal, Supreme Commander, Federation Forces, just has to pick who.

Special: distinguished by some unusual quality...

Circumstances: a piece of evidence that indicates the probability or improbability of an event...

Barbara Everette, homemaker living in a small town in Mississippi, had the perfect life. Perfect husband, perfect children, perfect house, perfect Christian Faith. She cooked and cleaned perfectly and managed all of the chores of the modern suburbanite, toting the kids, running the PTA, teaching kung-fu in the local dojo... perfectly. But perfection has a price and the day came when Barbara snapped. She simply had to have "one weekend off." God had to grant her that much. It said no where that she was a slave. Waving goodbye to her hapless, entirely undomestic husband, she set out on the quest for a weekend of peace and maybe some authentic Cajun food.

Detective Sergeant Kelly Lockhart, New Orleans Homicide, had a perfect record on his latest case: not a single suspect. And there should be at least five or six, given the DNA traces on the many bodies. Furthermore, his sole really outstanding clue, a mysterious fish scale, had disappeared into the recesses of the FBI Crime Lab. But the old fortune-teller was sending him into the bayou, down in the land of authentic Cajun food, on the track of a mysterious pimp with the admonition to "watch for the Princess." Or die. Barbara and Kelly were heading to a rendezvous that might be fate and might reveal the hand of God. There was more cooking in the swamps than jambalaya. Unknown to either, the mystery of the Bayou Ripper had Special Circumstances.

Soccer mom and demon fighter Barbara Everette has a problem. It seems Janea, Barbara's assistant and The Foundation for Love and Universal Faith's best operative, has been thrown into a coma by some very nasty magic she's stirred up. Barbara must track down the perpetrators and break the spell or Janea's soul will be forever lost on the astral plane. Oh, and if she can't break the spell, zombies will destroy all mankind.

Meanwhile, Janea, a stripper and High Priestess of Freya when she isn't fighting demons, must contend with a spiritual journey of her own. It's a journey into Janea's acceptance of herself in all her dimensions (and what dimensions they are!). Where to locate one's true inner essence? At a science fiction convention, of course. But when rescuers pursue Janea into her vision of a geeky alternate reality, we find this is one science fiction convention where the Guest of Honor could turn out to be Death Himself.

Finally, the Christian soccer mom and the Norse priestess stripper face their greatest challenge ever when an ancient Old One rears Her ugly face, and the Mother of Darkness walks among us. Since this is one Mother who is quite immune to any conventional power, including nuclear weapons, it seems humanity's only hope is God. The question being: Is God willing to save humanity?

First Contact Was Friendly

When aliens trundled a gate to other worlds into the Solar System, the world reacted with awe, hope and fear. When the first aliens to come through, the Glatun, turned out to be peaceful traders, the world breathed a sigh of relief.

Who Controls the Orbitals, Controls the World

When the Horvath came through, they announced their ownership of us by dropping rocks on three cities and gutting them. Since then, they've held Terra as their own personal fiefdom. With their control of the orbitals, there's no way to win and Earth's governments have accepted the status quo.

Live Free or Die

To free the world from the grip of the Horvath is going to take an unlikely hero. A hero unwilling to back down to alien or human governments, unwilling to live in slavery and with enough hubris, if not stature, to think he can win.

Fortunately, there's Tyler Vernon. And he has bigger plans than just getting rid of the Horvath.

Troy Rising is a book in three parts-Live Free or Die being the first part-detailing the freeing of Earth from alien conquerors, the first steps into space using off-world technologies and the creation of Troy, a thousand trillion ton battlestation designed to secure the Solar System.

Of all the hosts of Eurotas the Troias were the most fell. For they were born of Winter.

Between the Solar Array Pumped Laser and Troy, the two trillion ton nickel-iron battlestation created by eccentric billionaire Tyler Vernon, Earth has managed to recapture the Sol system from their Horvath conquerors and begin entering the galactic millieu.

But when the Rangora Empire rapidly crushes humanity's only ally it becomes clear the war is just beginning. At the heart of nickel iron and starlight are the people, Marines, Navy and civilians, who make Troy a living, breathing, engine of war. Survivors of apocalypse, they know the cost of failure.

If this Troy falls, no one will be left to write the epic.

Citadel continues the saga begun in Live Free or Die, following the paths of several characters during the first years of The Spiral Arm Wars culminating in the First Battle of E Eridani.

The fight to free the Earth from alien domination began in Live Free or Die, and continued in Citadel. Now Tyler Vernon, and his troops aboard the gigantic battle station Troy, face a desperate battle with the forces of galactic tyranny. And the very survival of the Earth and its people is not all that is at stake. The galaxy itself must choose to live free or die—and if the tyrants win this battle, darkness will fall across the galaxy for millennia to come.