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THE TRUE STORY OF THE BRONTË SISTERS AS ONLY TIM POWERS COULD WRITE IT.This is a ghost story. It is a story about werewolves, and things that go bump in the night. It is a story of an ill-fated land, the pathless moors of Northern England so well chronicled in Wuthering Heights. And it is the story of a real family whose destiny it is to deal with this darkly glamorous and dangerous world. When young Emily Brontë helps a wounded man she finds at the foot of an ancient pagan shrine in the remote Yorkshire moors, her life becomes contentiously entwined with his. He is Alcuin Curzon, embittered member of a sect working to eradicate the resurgent plague of lycanthropy in Europe and northern England. But Emily’s father, curate of the Haworth village church, is responsible for having unwittingly brought a demonic werewolf god to Yorkshire forty years ago—and it is taking possession of Emily’s beloved but foolish and dissolute brother. Curzon must regard Emily’s family as a dire threat. In spite of being at deadly odds, Emily and Curzon find themselves thrown together in fighting werewolves, confronting pagan gods, even saving each other from the lures of moorland demons. And in a final battle that sweeps from the haunted village of Haworth to a monstrous shrine far out on the moors, the two of them must be reluctant allies against an ancient power that seems likely to take their souls as well as their lives.

"New military science fiction from Dragon Award-winning author Richard Fox.The soldiers of the 11th Bretton Infantry knew they were being dropped into a combat zone on Dharien. But they didn't know just how bad things really were, with the entire planet about to fall to the rebel Flags. The orders from the Highest are clear: make their way to Tabuk and keep the city under the banner of the Hegemony. For Mason Tellec, it's one more combat mission-with a difference. Noah, his younger brother, is along for the ride this time, and Mason has promised his mother and father he'll keep an eye out. Noah's green, but he's got the makings of a good soldier. But the jungle of Dharien holds many dangers-something Felix Ibensen knows all too well. He's alone, lost, and trying to find his way back to Hegemony-controlled territory, the only survivor of a Flag ambush. Mason, Noah, and Felix are on a collision course, with each other and with their destinies-for the actions of the Men of Bretton may have implications that reach to the highest echelons of the Hegemony"--

"Marty Cohen and his team embarked on a cross-continental journey across North Africa with the goal of returning to their starting point. However, after passing through a mysterious portal, they find themselves in a place and time that is completely unexpected. They end up on an isolated island nation where strangers are viewed as ominous figures sent by a higher power. The people of this nation hold a prophecy that involves a team of strangers as harbingers of either death or salvation. When a massive flood threatens the island, chaos ensues, and the team faces a series of unexpected challenges. Conflicting information from various team members only adds to the confusion. As the reluctant leader of the group, Marty must make a difficult choice between saving the lives of an ancient nation and those of his team members. Ultimately, the fate of the world rests on his decision"--

"Set in the Black tide rising world created by John Ringo."

"The oceans of Earth have stirred the imagination of humankind from prehistory to the present day. What exotic lands might lie across those vast watery realms--and what strange things might lie hidden beneath them? Science fiction has explored those realms in the imagination of writers from Jules Verne to H.G. Wells to H.P. Lovecraft and present day writers. And if the oceans of this planet fire the imagination, what of possible oceans on other planets? Worlds completely covered by a planetwide sea? Underwater civilizations populated by water-breathing aliens? And more. Depth Charge drops the reader into undersea realms both Terran and alien. Leading the expedition into realms beneath the waves are expert guides such as Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Silverberg, James Blish, Jack Vance, Gray Rinehart, Brad Torgersen, and more. Make sure your air tanks are filled to capacity, and set forth to discover what wonders--and possibly terrors--are lurking in the depths"--

Book 2 in the internationally best-selling Honor Harrington science fiction series. First time in Trade Paperback!It’s hard to give peace a chance when the other side regards conquest as the only option and a sneak attack as the best means to that end. That’s why the Kingdom of Manticore needs allies against the Republic of Haven—and the planet Grayson is strategically situated to make a very good ally indeed. But Her Majesty’s Foreign Office overlooked a “minor cultural difference” when they chose Honor Harrington to carry the flag: women on the planet of Grayson are without rank or rights and Honor’s mere presence is an intolerable affront to every male on the planet. At first Honor doesn’t take it personally; where she comes from gender discrimination is barely a historical memory, right up there in significance with fear of the left-handed. But in time such treatment becomes taxing and she makes plans to withdraw, until Grayson’s fratricidal sister planet attacks without warning. Now, Honor must stay and prevail, not just for her honor, but for her sovereign’s—for the honor of the Queen. Praise for David Weber and the Honor Harrington series: “. . . everything you could want in a heroine. . . . Excellent . . . plenty of action.” —Science Fiction Age “Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant!” —Anne McCaffrey “Compelling combat combined with engaging characters for a great space opera adventure.” —Locus “Weber combines realistic, engaging characters with intelligent technological projection . . . Fans of this venerable space opera will rejoice . . .” —Publishers Weekly Praise for Shadow of Freedom, #15 in the Honor Harrington series: “This entry is just as exciting as Weber’s initial offering. . . . The result is a fast-paced and action-packed story that follows [our characters] as they move from reaction to command of the situation. Weber builds Shadow of Freedom to an exciting and unexpected climax.” —Daily News of Galveston Praise for Mission of Honor, #13 in the Honor Harrington series: “Weber combines realistic, engaging characters with intelligent technological projection and a deep understanding of military bureaucracy in this long-awaited Honor Harrington novel . . . Fans of this venerable space opera will rejoice to see Honor back in action.” —Publishers Weekly “This latest Honor Harrington novel brings the saga to another crucial turning point . . . Readers may feel confident that they will be Honored many more times and enjoy it every time.” —Booklist Honor Harrington Main Series: On Basilisk Station The Honor of the Queen The Short Victorious War Field of Dishonor Flag in Exile Honor Among Enemies In Enemy Hands Echoes of Honor Ashes of Victory War of Honor The Shadow of Saganami At All Costs Storm from the Shadows Mission of Honor A Rising Thunder Shadow of Freedom

"First contact with the seemingly impossible human civilization at Proxima Centauri is not going well. The Earth ships sent to render aid have not been able to reverse the contagion ravaging their population and, worse, many Proximans are now wondering if the humans from Earth are there for other, not so charitable, reasons. Can the extinction-level disaster faced at Proxima be reversed by the combined ingenuity of scientists from both worlds working together? Unsettling discoveries in the Proxima Centauri planetary system beg the questions: What if the evil gods depicted in Proxima's ancient mythologies were real and far more powerful than even the humans from Earth with their late 21st-century technologies? Worse, what if their ancient oppressors never truly left?"--

"No imperial family stuck in a little out of the way town, with no road, rail or river connection for most of the year, can be counted as important. Thus, already, with the corpses left from their rescue still being collected, Tsarina Tatiana, the First of Her Name, is striking out for better position. A battle must be fought against a seemingly overwhelming force of Bolsheviks, just to hold on to their tiny Tobolsk, in Siberia. Yekaterinburg, rich in precious metals must be taken to fund the war, with only a dozen men available to take it. The beautiful nun and imperial aunt, Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna, and her companions must be rescued from a vile fate. Also, the lines must be laid out for the various fractious anti-Bolshevik forces to unite under the Imperial Crown. Finally, the two possible successors, Maria Alexandovna and her sister, Anastasia, must be whisked to safety in the United States and the United Kingdom, where one of them will learn love not just of a man, but of his people, his country, and their way of life. Clever spying, desperate battles, subtle diplomacy, terrorism, counter-terrorism, propaganda, and romance: the campaign to defeat the Bolsheviks and rescue Holy Russia from a dark and terrible fate continues"--

"The launch sequence has been set. The engines are bucking and ready to blast out of the stable. This is it, pardnas! The final trek into the outer limits of known space, where some might find oblivion, and others, serenity. Lift off to adventure with David Boop's third space western anthology featuring bestselling authors Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, Mark L. Van Name, Chesya Burke, Kevin Ikenberry, David Mack, John Stith, and more! It's been a long journey via Gunfight on Europa Station and High Noon on Proxima Centuri B, but Boop brings the series to conclusion (for now) with a collection of ... stories focusing a Western-theme lens onto established series like the Liaden Universeª, the Four Horseman Universe, and Jon & Lobo. Returning favorite authors such as D.J. Butler and Mel Todd are joined by new favorites David Afsharirad, Lezli Robyn, Christopher L. Smith, Kelli Fitzpatrick, and M. Tod Gallowglas (who regales readers with his epic 'The Ballad of the Junk Heap Man and Mistress Bullet!')"--

“Augmented Reality” game TransDimensional Hunter seems too real for comfort as the world of the game merges with reality. Now, teenage game prodigy Lynn Raven will have to conquer the game—or be destroyed by it. Reality Bites—and it has Big Teeth Becoming a global celebrity overnight would make most people happy.> Not Lynn Raven.> As a teenage gaming prodigy, she’s enjoyed years of anonymity behind the virtual mask of Larry Coughlin, war-hardened vet and virtual gaming mercenary. But now Lynn has stepped out of the shadows to compete in the cutting-edge augmented reality game TransDimensional Hunter that has taken the world by storm.> And she’s winning.> But with success has come swarms of paparazzi drones, jealous teammates, and a backstabbing rival team that will use any trick in the book to ruin her.> Then there’s the game itself. At times, the “augmented” reality seems too real for Lynn’s comfort, and strange accidents keep happening. Something is going on; she just has to figure out what.> Lynn would much rather fight monsters than do paparazzi interviews, but somehow she’ll have to master both—and pass her senior year to boot. She managed to step into the real, but will the storm of reality now defeat her for good?

"Ten thousand years ago, a mysterious people known as the Icari vanished from the Spiral, leaving behind a network of portals that can instantaneously transport passengers hundreds or thousands of light-years across the stars. Gregory Roarke and his Kadolian partner Selene have been tasked with seeking out these alien artifacts and bringing them under the control of the Icarus Group. But the Group's leadership has changed, and Roarke soon finds himself at serious odds with the new director's plans. The result: a counter-plan that lands Roarke and Selene on a distant world with a broken city, a dozen portals, and a group of aliens called the Ammei who dream of using the portals to bring back their own glory days. But their ambitions will be costly, and not just for themselves. Roarke and Selene must put together the scattered clues and solve the riddle of the Ammei and their plans, while at the same time fending off the Patth and their bid to claim the city and portals for themselves. Because the Icari are gone . . . aren't they?"--

A YOUNG HERO JOURNEYS BEYOND THE EDGE OF THE KNOWN UNIVERSE IN A DESPERATE BID TO SAVE THE GALAXY FROM THE POWERS OF EVILADVENTURE BEYOND THE STARS Jayce Artan is a dock rat on a poor fringe world where he takes every job he can and prize-fights to earn enough money to get off world. When he’s hired to guide a boat crewed by an interstellar mafia, he comes face to face with an ancient power—the Veil—that was pivotal to a civil war that ended decades ago. Jayce is “Attuned” to this power and was almost killed by agents of the dead and defeated Tyrant who nearly enslaved the galaxy. He’s rescued by an Adept of the Paragon order, warrior scholars that study the power and seek to keep any from upsetting the balance that keeps all life in order. Jayce is given the chance to journey beyond the Veil and into another dimension where he can claim a stone of immense power and return it to base reality and wield it as a weapon against the Tyrant. The world beyond the Veil is nothing like what Jayce knows, and he’ll be opposed by insidious evil, self-doubt, and sabotage from the very people who are supposed to help him. While beyond the Veil, Jayce learns that a Conjunction is nigh, an event that could sunder the galaxy if evil forces succeed. Jayce must claim a Veil stone deep in the other dimension before the Tyrant’s agents can beat him to the prize.Praise for Light of the Veil / Shattered Star Legacy: “A rockstar return to downright fun storytelling in the timeless fashion of a thrilling star epic. Fox takes you right to a galaxy far, far away where smuggler pilots live by that cold blaster in their glove and a greasy, hot rod starship only they are proudest of. Everything and everybody is against a kid with nothing but a chance to take who might just be the hero a galactic civilization on the edge needs right now. Strange. Fantastic. Thrilling. Total Fun.” —Nick Cole, best-selling author of The Old Man and the Wasteland and CTRL ALT Revolt “The action grabs you from page one and never lets go. A true masterpiece written by one of the best!” —Johnathan Yanez, USA Today best-selling author of Forsaken Mercenary and Galactic Guardians series “Richly imagined and far-flung, with a gritty realism that can only come from firsthand military experience. Imagine Heinlein and Lucas meeting in a bar. This is the kind of story they’d have written—explosive, action-packed high adventure, an epic battle between good and evil, and characters you root for every step of the way. Grab a copy—you might just find your new favorite series.” —Lisa Richman, author of the Enfield Genesis series

"The Solar System ain't what it used to be! In the far distant future, Saturn's rings are gone, Mercury is a gas giant, and Earth is remembered only as a unit of measure. Nearly godlike AIs reshaped the Solar System in eons past, but they too are now nothing more than a fading memory. Captain Nathaniel Kade cares for none of that. He's but a simple freelancer from the orbital ring of Neptune, struggling to make ends meet and to keep his understaffed spaceship from falling apart. All he wants is a decent, uneventful job to help put his finances back in order. What he receives instead is Vessani S'Kaari, a mysterious and beautiful cat girl who tried-and failed-to steal a ship belonging to a band of space pirates. Vessani's in over her head and is clearly more trouble than she's worth, but she also has a lead on what may be the greatest treasure trove of lost technology the Solar System has ever seen. Nathan pulls her butt out of the fire, and together they begin to assemble a team to seek out this long-lost bounty. But other interested parties have their eyes on the same prize; the Jovian Everlife has dispatched a fleet of warships with one of their elite, many-bodied agents in command, and he'd like a few words with Nathan and his new crewmember"--

THE MONSTER HUNTER MEMOIRS SERIES CONTINUES. TWO AUTHORS, WHO COMBINED HAVE OVER FOUR MILLION BOOKS IN PRINT AND 10 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERS, TEAM UP TO EXPAND LARRY CORREIA’S MONSTER HUNTER UNIVERSE! 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! Praise for Black Tide Rising series entry Under a Graveyard Sky by John Ringo: “. . . the thinking reader’s zombie novel . . . Ringo fleshes out his theme with convincing details . . . the proceedings become oddly plausible.” —Publishers Weekly “If you think the zombie apocalypse will never happen, if you’ve never been afraid of zombies, you may change your mind after reading Under a Graveyard Sky . . . Events build slowly in the book at the outset, but you can’t stop reading because it’s like watching a train wreck in slow motion: inexorable and horrible. And the zombie apocalypse in these pages is so fascinating that you can’t stop flipping pages to see what happens next.” —Bookhound Praise for John Ringo: “[Ringo’s work is] peopled with three-dimensional characters and spiced with personal drama as well as tactical finesse.” —Library Journal “. . . Explosive . . . fans . . . will appreciate Ringo’s lively narrative and flavorful characters.” —Publishers Weekly “. . . practically impossible not to read in one sitting . . . exceedingly impressive . . . executed with skill, verve, and wit.” —Booklist “Crackerjack storytelling.” —Starlog Praise for Larry Correia and the Monster Hunter International series: “[E]verything I like in fantasy: intense action scenes, evil in horrifying array, good struggling against the darkness, and most of all people—gorgeously flawed human beings faced with horrible moral choices that force them to question and change and grow.” —Jim Butcher “[A] no-holds-barred all-out page turner that is part science fiction, part horror, and an absolute blast to read.” —Bookreporter.com “If you love monsters and action, you’ll love this book. If you love guns, you’ll love this book. If you love fantasy, and especially horror fantasy, you’ll love this book.” —Knotclan.com “A gun person who likes science fiction—or, heck, anyone who likes science fiction—will enjoy [these books] . . . The plotting is excellent, and Correia makes you care about the characters . . . I read both books without putting them down except for work . . . so whaddaya waitin’ for? Go and buy some . . . for yourself and for stocking stuffers.” —Massad Ayoob “This lighthearted, testosterone-soaked sequel to 2009’s Monster Hunter International will delight fans of action horror with elaborate weaponry, hand-to-hand combat, disgusting monsters, and an endless stream of blood and body parts.” —Publishers Weekly on Monster Hunter Vendetta The Monster Hunter Memoirs series: Monster Hunter Memoirs: Grunge (with John Ringo) Monster Hunter Memoirs: Sinners (with John Ringo) Monster Hunter Memoirs: Saints (with John Ringo) Monster Hunter Memoirs: Fever (with Jason Cordova) The Monster Hunter International series by Larry Correia: Monster Hunter International Monster Hunter Vendetta Monster Hunter Alpha Monster Hunter Legion Monster Hunter Nemesis Monster Hunter Siege Monster Hunter Guardian (with Sarah A. Hoyt) Monster Hunter Bloodlines

A NEW NOVEL IN THE ICARUS SERIES FROM NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF THE ADMIRAL THRAWN STAR WARS NOVELS TIMOTHY ZAHNFor years Gregory Roarke and his Kadolian partner Selene worked as crocketts, combing through the atmospheres of uninhabited worlds for places that might be colonized or hold valuable resources. Now, they quietly work for the Icarus Group, a top-secret government organization hunting for portals created by a long-vanished alien race, portals that can teleport a person hundreds or thousands of light-years in the blink of an eye. Roarke and Selene are searching one such possibility when they find that someone appears to be stalking them. They evade their pursuers and return to find that a man named Easton Dent has been searching the Spiral’s databases for the names Gregory Roarke and Icarus. Roarke reluctantly agrees to meet with him. But that first contact is cut short, and hours later Roarke is arrested and accused of Dent’s murder. More importantly to Roarke’s Icarus Group overseers, that brief meeting also confirms that Dent was in recent contact with a portal. But the alien Patth are also searching for such portals, and they are also on the trail. It’s now a race . . . and the Patth have resources and ruthlessness far beyond anything Roarke and Selene can match.

BOOK TWO IN THE BEST-SELLING MONSTER HUNTER INTERNATIONAL SERIES, IN TRADE PAPERBACK!Owen Zastava Pitt, accountant turned professional monster hunter, managed to stop the nefarious Old One’s invasion plans last year, but as a result made an enemy out of one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Now an evil death cult known as the Church of the Temporary Mortal Condition wants to capture Owen in order to gain the favor of the great Old Ones. The Condition is led by a fanatical necromancer known as the Shadow Man. The government wants to capture the Shadow Man and has assigned the enigmatic Agent Franks to be Owen’s full-time bodyguard, which is a polite way of saying that Owen is monster bait. With supernatural assassins targeting his family, a spy in their midst, and horrific beasties lurking around every corner, Owen and the staff of Monster Hunter International don’t need to go hunting, because this time the monsters are hunting them. Fortunately, this bait is armed and very dangerous. The Monster Hunter International series by Larry Correia: Monster Hunter International Monster Hunter Vendetta Monster Hunter Alpha Monster Hunter Legion Monster Hunter Nemesis Monster Hunter Siege Monster Hunter Guardian (with Sarah A. Hoyt) Monster Hunter Bloodlines The Monster Hunter Memoirs series: Monster Hunter Memoirs: Grunge (with John Ringo) Monster Hunter Memoirs: Sinner (with John Ringo) Monster Hunter Memoirs: Saints (with John Ringo) Monster Hunter Memoirs: Fever (with Jason Cordova)

"Plan B is now in effect! Wanted fugitives Val Con yos'Phelium and Miri Robertson have jumped from the frying pan directly into the fire, hotly pursued by friends, family, and the nefarious Department of the Interior. While the duo make the risky dash for Lytaxin, seeking safety among Miri's kin, the Department is moving on Val Con's family, Clan Korval, intending to subvert or destroy it. Understanding their danger, Korval's first speaker invokes Plan B, ordering Clan members to scatter to prearranged safe-places. Meanwhile, Miri and Val Con discover that Lytaxin may not be the safe harbor they had supposed...and that Miri's retirement from the mercenaries may have been premature"--

"Men, machines, and tomorrow's battlefields ... War is planned violence ... or, at least, it starts out that way. And even if plans go awry, the violence is indispensable. Today's soldiers have far more firepower on a per-man basis than the doughboys of a century ago, and there is no reason to believe that this trend will not extend into the future. Imagine a revival of suits of armor, but with structural strength undreamed of by medieval knights, and powered by built-in motors, giving each soldier the invulnerability of a tank, but even more mobility, and mechanical muscle strong enough to carry light artillery, rocket launchers, laser cannon, and weapons not even on the drawing boards yet. Add on the ability to fly, or at least jump for a kilometer at a time, using rocket boosters, or even powerful leg motors, or a combination of both. The stuff that superheroes are made of, hanging in every fighting man or woman's closet, ready to wear. If it's possible, history teaches us, it will be done. But don't expect a nation or planet possessing such battalions of super-powered soldiers to not worry about attack by an enemy ... there's no reason why the enemy won't have its own armored infantry. Keep the midnight oil burning and the R&D rolling. In the meantime, here's a sneak peek by expert dreamers putting the battle-hardened reader at the sharp end of tomorrow"--

"It's the end of the world as we know it. Everyone could see it coming--but one man could do something about it. Oh, he couldn't avert the nuclear holocaust, but a scientist in Austria, ruthlessly using billions of research dollars for his own purposes, set himself up an out: he created a time machine, and filled a warehouse with low-tech survival gear. Too bad he didn't get to use it himself. Instead, a team of American grad students, led by their professor, is sent back to the late Roman Empire. Even though they are experts in this time and place, they are about to realize that books and actual experience are very different things. If they can survive, they hope to remake the world into a better place. But that's a big 'if'"--

"THE GODDESS OF WAR RIDES, HERALDED BY STORM FURIES The oni have invaded Pittsburgh on Elfhome. And, so far, it looks like they are winning. All this is according to prophecy. But the prophecy is big on symbols and light on specifics. Tinker and her allies are doing the best they can to defend the city and the civilians caught in the crossfire of a war between elves that's been brewing for centuries. But the enemy has no hesitation whatsoever in involving innocents. All the pieces in this deadly game are in place-and everyone trusts Tinker will save them. All she needs is a plan. And then the lights go out, and the storm begins to rage. . . "--

Traveling to the stars will be difficult, but not, perhaps, the most difficult part. What about when we get to another star? What then? Will the planets be immediately habitable? Not likely. Will those who undertook the journey be able to easily turn around and come home if they don't find "Earth 2.0?" Almost certainly not. Therein the lies the challenge: Finding worlds that are potentially habitable and then taking the time, perhaps centuries, to make them compatible with Earth life. They will encounter mysteries and unexpected challenges, but the human spirit will endure. Join this diverse group of science fiction writers and scientists as they take up the challenge of The Ross 248 Project.

"It's been nearly a century since Thomas Rimor last battled Yvag knights. In that time his wife and daughter have grown old and died, and he has discovered that he ages not at all. The elven world believes him long dead. In his grief, he has retreated to the depths of Sherwood and Barnsdale Forests and become a hermit, lost in his memories, his grief. But when a dying outlaw arrives on his doorstep with items stolen from an Yvag skinwalker, it sets in motion events that thrust Thomas back into the world and force him into combat with Queen Nicnevin's soldiers once again, including this time his late sister's changeling daughter and the Queen's own grotesque offspring, Bragrender. As Thomas takes on two sheriffs of Nottingham and a horde of Yvag raiders, he enlists the aid of outlaws Little John and Will Scathelocke, and the Keeper of Sherwood Forest herself, Isabella Birkin, who sets him on a path back to humanity. To keep his true identity hidden from the Yvags, he creates an alter-ego named Robyn Hoode, whose exploits, unbeknown to Thomas, are about to become the stuff of legend"--

"A CITY DIVIDED For centuries Selei City-the capital of the Imperialate and one of the most desired locales in all of the Skolian Empire-has been held together by the thinnest of threads. While the "haves" live in great luxury, the "have-nots" scrape by, eking out what existence they can in the Undercity. Major Bhaajan, formerly of the Imperial Army, knows both worlds. Born into the Undercity, she nevertheless has made a name for herself in the Imperialate. And now, she has the chance to help her people. HOPE FOR RECONCILIATION For the first time, a member of the Royal class wants to extend an olive branch to the Undercity. Hoping to build bridges, Colonel Lavinda Majda recruits Major Bhaajan and her Dust Knights to act as guides and bodyguards as she makes her way into the Undercity on a mission of goodwill. THE DOWN DEEP But the problems of the Undercity run deeper than Major Bhaajan or Lavinda know. If there is to be lasting peace, the Dust Knights must reach the very lowest rungs of society, known only as the Down Deep, where the scars from years of enmity and distrust are greatest. There they will face an unseen enemy that may destroy the lives of all citizens of Selei City-and threatens the fragile peace forever"--

"Gregory Roarke-former bounty hunter, former Trailblazer, current agent for the ultra-secret Icarus Group-has received a new assignment: locate a suspected but as-yet undiscovered teleportation portal on the backwater colony world of Alainn. The rival Patth are also searching for the device, and have considerably more resources at their disposal. Fortunately, Roarke has Selene and her incredibly sensitive Kadolian sense of smell. On paper, it should be a straightforward enough job. But that was before there was a murder in the small town of Bilswift . . . and another one . . . and the discovery that the Patth are already on the scene and have narrowed the search to a heavily forested area in the hills and mountains east of town. Most disturbing of all is the discovery that one of Selene's people, a Kadolian teenaged boy named Tirano, is working at one of Bilswift's fish markets. A boy who may have lost his parents before his proper socialization was completed. A boy who may be connected to both the murders and the Patth. A boy who may be the potentially dangerous wild card that the Kadolians call changelings"--