A CITY DIVIDED
For centuries The City of Cries—one of the most desired locales in the Skolian Imperialate—has existed by the thinnest of threads. On the dying world of Raylicon, the “haves” live in great luxury in Cries while the “have-nots” scrape by, eking out a marginal existence in the notorious Undercity beneath the desert. Major Bhaajan, formerly of the Pharaoh’s 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 Bhaaj and her Dust Knights to act as guides and bodyguards on a mission of goodwill to those who live below the surface of their parched world.
THE DOWN DEEP
But the problems of the Undercity run deeper than anyone knows. To help find peace, the Dust Knights must reach the most hidden rungs in that mysterious underground world, a place known only as the Down Deep, where the scars from centuries of distrust are greatest. There they will face an unseen enemy that may destroy the lives of everyone they know—and threaten interstellar civilization.
What will the future be like?
We think of ourselves as intelligent, but the ability to make war evolved with us from the dawn of civilization. Is violence an innate part of being human? This provocative collection explores how wars and their aftermath might progress with us into the future. From terrorism to armored death machines, from small and bitter skirmishes to vast conflicts that sweep across the stars, from the brutal to the subtle—venture with our authors into the electrifying reaches of the Mammoth Book of SF Wars.
“The Pyre of a New Day”—Catherine Asaro
“The Rhine’s World Incident”—Neal Asher
“Caught in the Crossfire”—David Drake
“Politics”—Elizabeth Moon
“The Traitor”—David Weber
And many more!
Winner of the Nebula Award, this science fiction adventure “features sound characterization, straightforward plotting, abundant world building detail, and almost as much humor” (Booklist).
As the young ruler of a destitute province burdened by obsolete technology, Kamoj Argali must marry to save her people from starvation. She has managed to make peace with her betrothal to the arrogant leader of a wealthy neighboring province. Then Havyrl Lionstar, a mysterious visitor to their land, steps in to claim Kamoj as his wife, sowing chaos in their lives.
In this science fictional retelling of a classic folk tale, Havryl appears as a beast to Kamoj’s people. But what is the truth behind his strange, erratic behavior? In dealing with the upheavals he brings to their world, Kamoj discovers that the universe is much larger than she ever understood.
This new edition contains a revised, expanded version of the essay that appeared in the original book, in which Catherine Asaro explains how she found inspiration for The Quantum Rose while earning her doctorate at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, where she studied the quantum theory of scattering processes.
This science fictional retelling of Beauty and the Beast won the 2001 Nebula Award for Best Novel and the 2001 Affaire de Coeur Award for Best Science Fiction.
Tina Pulivok is returning home one night to her Los Angeles neighborhood when she meets a man who seems lost—an understatement, as he and his Jag star fighter arrived from an alternate universe. As Tina struggles to understand Althor, this strange, handsome man with metallic-looking skin and other variations from Earth humans—they become the targets of a manhunt by police and the military, who captured Althor’s damaged starship.
From memories of her childhood in a Mayan village, to a barrio in East L.A., to a military base and a chance to reach the stars, Tina comes alive as an astute, sympathetic narrator, facing life and tough choices with courage, wit and compassion.
Lightning Strike, Book I and Lightning Strike, Book II together make a revised, updated, and expanded version of the novel Catch the Lightning.
Major Bhaajan, a former military officer with Imperial Space Command, is now a hard-bitten P.I. dealing with more baggage than any traveler through life needs. She takes clients whose woes can be personal or galaxy-shattering, and often both. Bhaaj search takes her deep into the mysterious and deadly Undercity—beneath the capital of a interstellar civilization. What she discovers could change the course of a star-spanning empire.
Survive the City of Cries
Bhaajan grew up in the Undercity, a community hidden in the ruins beneath the glittering City of Cries. Trapped between the beauty and poverty of that life, and caught by wanderlust, she enlisted in the military in her youth. Now retired, Major Bhaajan works as a private investigator, solving cases for the royal House of Majda. She has a new case to solve—why are the powerful elite in Cries disappearing? Only Bhaajan, who grew up in the Undercity, can find them—if she isn’t murdered first.
