[[[Star Wars Origami: 36 Amazing Paper-folding Projects from a Galaxy Far, Far Away….]]] by Chris Alexander. Workman, $16.95, 272pp, tp, 9780761169437. Non-fiction/art tie-in.

Every Star Wars fan dreams of swinging a lightsaber in battle, piloting an X-wing Starfighter and leading an army of clone troopers. Now you can do it all with Star Wars Origami: 36 Amazing Paper-folding Projects from a Galaxy Far, Far Away…. It’s a whole new spin on an ancient art by the Jedi Master of origami (and creator of the website starwarsorigami.com), Chris Alexander.

Here are 36 of the most iconic creatures, characters and starships from the Star Wars universe: Jabba the Hutt, Boba Fett, Yoda, R2-D2, the Millennium Falcon and more. At last, fans can make their own Death Star or stage a hand-crafted clone trooper attack, fold by fold. But what makes Star Wars Origami truly extraordinary are the 72 sheets of specially designed paper featuring original art that, once folded, bring each creation to life.

Every model is accompanied by full-color, detailed, fold-by-fold illustrations. Projects are labeled with one of four levels of difficulty on a scale from a galaxy far, far away: Youngling (easy), Padawan (medium), Jedi Knight (difficult) and Jedi Master (tricky). And between projects, Star Wars fans can test their knowledge with trivia questions, matching games and more.

New York Times bestselling author of The Strange Case of Origami Yoda Tom Angelberger provided the foreword, expressing his enthusiasm for the eagerly anticipated book. He also assures paper-folding novices and experts alike that they are in good hands with Chris Alexander, comparing him to the greatest teacher in the galaxy, Yoda.

Kids will love creating their favorite galactic characters and no Star Wars collection will be complete without these exclusive models. There’s no denying that the Force is strong with Star Wars Origami. May the folds be with you!

 

[[[Nebula Awards Showcase 2013]]] edited by Catherine Asaro. Pyr, $18.00, 428pp, tp, 9781616147839. Science fiction anthology.

The Nebula Awards Showcase volumes have been published annually since 1966, reprinting the Nebula Award-nominated and winning stories, as voted on by the members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. The editor, selected by SFWA’s anthology committee (chaired by Mike Resnick), is two-time Nebula Award winner Catherine Asaro.

This year’s volume includes the winners of the Andre Norton, Damon Knight Grand Master, Rhysling, and Solstice Awards, as well as the Nebula Award winners. It features stories, essays, poems, and excerpts by Kij Johnson, Geoff Ryman, Ken Liu, Jo Walton, Connie Willis, Delia Sherman, John Clute, C.S.E. Cooney, Amal El-Mohtar, Nancy Fulda, Carolyn Ives Gilman, David W. Goldman, Katherine Sparrow, Ferrett Steinmetz, Brad R. Torgersen, and E. Lily Yu.

 

[[[City of Bohane]]] by Kevin Barry. Graywolf, $15.00, 304pp, tp, 9781555976453. Fiction. On-sale date: 4 June 2013.

Forty or so years in the future, the once-great city of Bohane on the west coast of Ireland is on its knees, infested by vice and split along tribal lines. There are the posh parts of town, but it is in the slums and backstreets of Smoketown, the tower blocks of the North Rises, and the eerie bogs of the Big Nothin’ that the city really lives. For years it has all been under the control of Logan Hartnett, the dapper godfather of the Hartnett Fancy gang. But there’s trouble in the air. They say Hartnett’s old nemesis is back in town; his trusted henchmen are getting ambitious; and his missus wants him to give it all up and go straight. In City of Bohane, Kevin Barry fiendishly combines Celtic myth and a Caribbean beat, fado and film, graphic-novel cool and all the ripe inheritance of Irish literature to create something hilarious, strange, beautiful, and startlingly new.

 

[[[After Earth]]] adapted by Peter David, based on the screenplay by Gary Whitta and M. Night Shyamalan; story by Will Smith. Del Rey, $9.99, 416pp, pb, 9780345543202. Science fiction tie-in.

Experience the vast tapestry of After Earth in a novelization unlike any other: a thousand-year saga featuring original content from the mind of Peter David, the veteran sci-fi author who helped develop the richly imagined universe. This is the complete, never-before-seen chronicle of the extraordinary family that’s been across the galaxy and back — from humanity’s last days on Earth through the events of the epic film!

Raige Runs in the Family

General Cypher Raige of the United Ranger Corps is only the latest in a long line of heroes. For a thousand years, ever since environmental apocalypse forced humanity’s exodus, the Raiges have been instrumental in mankind’s survival. They led the way as the survivors abandoned Earth, settled an inhabitable planet called Nova Prime, withstood an onslaught from a mysterious alien force, and carved out a new home in the farthest reaches of the galaxy.

Now Cypher has returned to his family after an extended tour of duty. For his thirteen-year-old son, Kitai, tagging along with his legendary father is the adventure of a lifetime — and a chance to salvage their relationship. But when an asteroid collides with their craft, they make a crash landing that leaves Cypher seriously — perhaps fatally — wounded.

Kitai Raige has always wanted to prove that he has what it takes to live up to his illustrious name. Now, all too soon, he gets his chance. With his father’s life on the line, Kitai must venture out into the strange, hostile terrain of a new world that seems eerily familiar: Earth.

 

[[[“Throw the book away”: Reading versus Experience in Children’s Fantasy]]] by Amie A. Doughty. McFarland, $40.00, 208pp, tp, 9780786449828. Nonfiction.

Children’s literature is an excellent way to educate children, on everything from social behavior and beliefs to attitudes toward education itself. A major aspect of children’s literature is the importance of books and reading. Books represent adult authority.

This book examines the role that books, reading and writing play in children’s fantasy fiction, from books that act as artifacts of power ([[[The Abhorsen Trilogy]]], [[[The Spiderwick Chronicles]]], [[[Harry Potter]]]) to interactive books ([[[The Neverending Story]]], [[[Malice]]], [[[Inkheart]]]) to books with character-writers ([[[Percy Jackson]]], [[[Captain Underpants]]]). The author finds that although books and reading often play a prominent role in fantasy for children, the majority of young protagonists gain self-sufficiency not by reading but specifically by moving beyond books and reading.

 

[[[Dead Man’s Deal]]] by Jocelynn Drake. Harper Voyager, $14.99, 371pp, tp, 9780062117885. Fantasy.

New York Times bestseller Jocelynn Drake’s Asylum Tales has fans in high places. Him Harrison calls the series “unique and fascinating… intriguing and wildly inventive,” while Simon R. Green commends its “whole new take on dark urban fantasy.” And J.R. Ward puts it simply: “This urban fantasy series rocks!”

In Dead Man’s Deal, Drake has proven their words to be spot-on, as the wayward warlock Gage Powell tries to find ways to stay out of the clutches of his past and protect those he loves most while those around him rise up against the iron will of the Ivory Towers.

Gage has a lot on his mind. He’s being blackmailed to work for a dark elf, one who has ensnared Gage’s long lost brother in his web, his Elven girlfriend, Trixie, is being eyed by the king of the Summer Court as a possible consort, and rebellion is brewing against the tyrannical Ivory Towers he escaped almost a decade ago. The wizards in the Towers know Gage has been using forbidden magic and they will do everything in their power — including devastating entire cities — to stop him and the uprising.

But Gage has a few tricks up his sleeve, and wants the Ivory Towers to know that he, too, will stop at nothing to protect those he loves — even if it means confronting his terrifying past.

 

[[[Portal]]] by Eric Flint and Ryk E. Spoor. (sequel to Boundary and Threshold), Baen, $25.00, 309pp, hc, 9781451638967. Science fiction.

Hell frozen over

Madeline Fathom had miraculously landed the crippled exploration ship the Nebula Storm on Europa. There she joined on that frozen moon of Jupiter the stranded crewmembers of the ill-fated EU vessel Odin.

But the Nebula Storm‘s reactor was ruined in the landing, the Odin‘s shuttle can’t make the trip back home, and the only vessel that could have made the journey to save them has just been destroyed by a renegade crewman, bad luck, and the remorseless forces of nature.

Still, Madeline, Helen Sutter, A.J. Baker, and the team haven’t given up. All they have to do is survive lethal radiation, vacuum, and ice as hard as steel while they figure out how to make Nebula Storm fly again.

Even as they prepare to make the journey home, Europa has one more discovery waiting for them… a discovery that might be the deadliest trap in the Solar System…

 

[[[Wednesdays in the Tower]]] by Jessica Day George. Bloomsbury, $16.99, 229pp, hc, 9781599906454. Children’s fantasy.

Wednesday at Castle Glower is an ordinary, ho-hum sort of day. No new hallways, no extra turrets, no sudden changes. At least according to Princess Celie, who knows the Castle better than anyone. So Celie is surprised when, one Wednesday, she happens upon a new tower, with a new room, and a giant orange egg hidden inside.

Celie doesn’t know what to do, and neither does her brother Bran, the new Royal Wizard. But the Castle knows. As staircases spring up and doorways disappear, the Castle’s plan becomes clear: Celie is to care for the egg and whatever creature it hatches! Of course, she hadn’t bargained for a pet, and this one will prove tricky, once Celie and her siblings realize what else the Castle is hiding….

Jessica Day George’s breakout novel becomes a beloved new series as Princess Celie, her royal siblings, and Castle Glower all return in this action-packed adventure.

 

[[[The Star Beast]]] by Robert A. Heinlein. Baen, $7.99, 309pp, pb, 9781451638912. Science fiction.

Love me, love my pet.

Lummox has been the pet of the Stuart family for generations. With eight legs, a thick hide and huge (and growing) size, Lummox is nobody’s idea of man’s best friend. Nevertheless, John Stuart XI, descendant of the starman who originally brought Lummox back to Earth, loves him. But when Lummox eats a neighbor’s car and begins to grow again, the Feds decide enough is enough.

John isn’t about to let the authorities take his pet away and, with his best friend Betty, determines to save Lummox even if it takes leaving the life he’s known forever. Things aren’t going to be that simple, however, because there’s more to Lummox than either John or the authorities realize — and the very survival of the Earth may depend on how the planet treats a mere “pet.”

An all time science fiction coming-of-age classic from seven-time Hugo winner and Dean of Science Fiction, Robert A. Heinlein.

 

[[[A Study in Silks]]] by Emma Jane Holloway. Del Rey, $7.99, 550pp, pb, 9780345537188. Fantasy. On-sale date: 24 September 2013.

Evelina Cooper, the niece of the great Sherlock Holmes, is poised to enjoy her first Season in London Society. But there’s a murderer to deal with — not to mention missing automatons, a sorcerer, and a talking mouse.

In a Victorian era ruled by a council of ruthless steam barons, mechanical power is the real monarch and sorcery the demon enemy of the Empire. Nevertheless, the most coveted weapon is magic that can run machines — something Evelina has secretly mastered. But rather than making her fortune, her special talents could mean death of an eternity as a guest of Her Majesty’s secret laboratories. What’s a polite young lady to do but mind her manners and pray she’s never found out?

But then there’s that murder. As Sherlock Holmes’s niece, Evelina should be able to find the answers, but she has a lot to learn. And the first decision she has to make is whether to trust the handsome, clever rake who makes her breath come faster, or the dashing trick rider who would dare anything for her if she would only just ask.

 

[[[Blood Price]]] by Tanya Huff. DAW, $15.00, 288pp, tp, 9780756408404. Fantasy.

When Blood Price was published in 1991, it signaled the start of what would eventually become one of the most popular genres in the field — modern urban fantasy. Blood Price introduces readers to Vicki Nelson — a private investigator who was previously a homicide detective; Henry Fitzroy — the illegitimate son of Henry VIII, who became a vampire during his father’s reign, and has been earning a comfortable living as a writer of bodice rippers; and Mike Celluci — a Toronto homicide detective who was Vicki’s partner on the squad. Together the three of them will face everything the supernatural can thrown at them, while at the same time they navigate the dangers of their ever-changing interpersonal relationships.

Vicki Nelson witnessed the first attack by the force of dark magic that would soon wreak its reign of terror on Toronto. As death followed unspeakable death, Vicki became enmeshed in an investigation that would see her renew her stormy relationship with her former police partner Mike, even as she teamed up with Henry Fitzroy in a desperate attempt to track the source of the attacks. For Henry had knowledge of realms beyond the mortal acquired over the centuries he’d spent mastering his own insatiable need — the life-from-death cravings of a vampire….

 

[[[Children of Fire]]] by Drew Karpyshyn. Del Rey, $26.00, 512pp, hc, 9780345542236. Fantasy. On-sale date: 27 August 2013.

Drew Karpyshyn has made his mark with imaginative, action-packed work on several acclaimed videogames, including Mass Effect and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, as well as in a succession of New York Times bestselling tie-in novels. Now Karpyshyn introduces a brilliantly innovative epic fantasy of perilous quests, tormented heroes, and darkest sorcery—a thrilling adventure that vaults him into the company of such authors as Terry Goodkind, Brandon Sanderson, and Peter V. Brett.

Long ago the gods chose a great hero to act as their agent in the mortal world and to stand against the demonic spawn of Chaos. The gods gifted their champion, Daemron, with three magical Talismans: a sword, a ring, and a crown. But the awesome power at his command corrupted Daemron, turning him from savior to destroyer. Filled with pride, he dared to challenge the gods themselves. Siding with the Chaos spawn, Daemron waged a titanic battle against the Immortals. In the end, Daemron was defeated, the Talismans were lost, and Chaos was sealed off behind the Legacy—a magical barrier the gods sacrificed themselves to create.

Now the Legacy is fading. On the other side, the banished Daemron stirs. And across the scattered corners of the land, four children are born of suffering and strife, each touched by one aspect of Daemron himself—wizard, warrior, prophet, king.

Bound by a connection deeper than blood, the Children of Fire will either restore the Legacy or bring it crashing down, freeing Daemron to wreak his vengeance upon the mortal world.

 

[[[Steadfast]]] by Mercedes Lackey. (an Elemental Masters novel), DAW, $25.95, 298pp, hc, 9780756408015. Fantasy.

Nationally bestselling author Mercedes Lackey returns to her beloved Elemental Masters series with Steadfast.

Lionel Hawkins is a magician whose act is only partially sleight of hand. The rest is real magic. He’s an Elemental Magician with the power to persuade the Elemental of Air to help him create amazing allusions. It doesn’t take long before his assistant, acrobat Katie Langford, notices that he’s no ordinary magician — and for Lionel to discover that she’s no ordinary acrobat, but rather an untrained and unawakened Fire Magician. She’s also on the run from her murderous and vengeful brute of a husband. But can she harness her magic in time to stop her husband from achieving his deadly goal?

 

[[[World Divided]]] by Mercedes Lackey with Cody Martin, Dennis Lee, and Veronica Giguere. (Book Two of the Secret World Chronicle), Baen, $7.99, 610pp, pb, 9781451638844. Science fiction.

Super-humans against alien super-science

After an Earth-scarring apocalyptic battle, the meta-humans have turned back a massive invasion of super-science powered Nazi war machines — and at least driven whoever is in ultimate control of them to pause and regroup. Now meta-hero organizations Echo and sometime ally Russian CCCP must go on the offense and battle back.

Task one: to hunt down the secret puppet masters behind the Nazi robot invasion, the Thule Society. To do so, the heroes of Echo, led by Bulwark and Red Djinni, face the guardians of a hidden trove of Nazi armor. Meanwhile, a sadistic genius super villain arises who is determined to defeat both heroes and Thulians alike — a villain who just may have the wealth and cunning to pull it off.

It’s “go time” once again for the meta-heroes, including fire-bender John Murdock, techno-witch Vicki Nagy, healer Belladona Blue, super-quick Mercurye, chameleon Red Djinni — and for their ghostly ally, The Seraphym. Somehow they must unite in the fight against the evil and slavery that is fast descending upon the entire universe!

 

[[[Girls Transforming: Invisibility and Age-Shifting in Children’s Fantasy Fiction Since the 1970s]]] by Sanna Lehtonen. McFarland, $40.00, 232pp, tp, 9780786461363. Nonfiction.

This book explores representations of girlhood and young womanhood in recent English language children’s fantasy by focusing on two fantastic body transformation types: invisibility and age-shifting. Drawing on recent feminist and queer theory, the study discusses the tropes of invisibility and age-shifting as narrative devices representing gender experiences. The transformations offer various perspectives on a girl’s changing body and identity and provide links between real-life and fantastic discourses of gender, power, invisibility and aging.

The main focus is on English-language fantastic literature that considers these tropes at length.

Novels discussed are from both critically acclaimed authors and the less well known. Most of the novels depicting invisible or age-shifting girls are neither thoroughly conventional nor radically subversive but present a range of styles. In terms of gender, children’s fantasy novels can be more complex than they are often interpreted to be.

 

[[[Ghost Spin]]] by Chris Moriarty. Spectra, $16.00, 560pp, tp, 9780553384949. Science fiction.

Award-winning author Chris Moriarty returns to a dazzling cyber-noir far future in the gritty, high-stakes thriller where the only rule is “Evolve… or die.”

The Age of Man is ending. The UN’s sprawling interstellar empire is failing as its quantum teleportation network collapses, turning once-viable colonies into doomed island outposts. Humanity’s only hope of survival is the Drift: a mysterious region of space where faster-than-light travel — or something far stranger — seems possible. As mercenaries and pirates flock to the Drift, the cold war between the human-led UN and the clone-dominated Syndicates heats up. Whoever controls the Drift will chart the future course of human evolution — and no one wants to be left behind in a universe where the price of failure is extinction.

When the AI called Cohen ventures into the Drift, he dies — allegedly by his own hand — and his consciousness is scattered across the cosmos. Some of his ghosts are still self-aware. Some are insane. And one of them hides a secret worth killing for. Enter Major Catherine Li, Cohen’s human (well, partly human) lover, who embarks on a desperate search to solve the mystery of Cohen’s death — and put him back together. But Li isn’t the only one interested in Cohen’s ghosts. Astrid Avery, a by-the-book UN navy captain, is on the hunt. So is William Llewellyn, a pirate who has one of the ghosts in his head, which is slowly eating him alive. Even the ghosts have their own agendas. And lurking behind them all is a pitiless enemy who will stop at nothing to make sure the dead don’t walk again.

 

[[[Children of the Gates]]] by Andre Norton. Baen, $13.00, 376pp, tp, 9781451638899. Science fiction.

Through the gates and into adventure

Here Abide Monsters: On a world where parallel and alternate universes intersect, Celtic faery folk, modern humans and inhabitants of a distant future share the planet’s surface, along with aliens in saucer-shaped ships who are capturing and enslaving new arrivals who fall through the gates from our Earth. One group of new arrivals meets a protector, a man who calls himself the Herald. He promises safety — but the price he requires may be too high to pay.

Yurth Burden: Two races share Zacar — the plains dwelling Raski and mountain dwelling Yurth, who have mental powers which make them feared and hated by the Raski. Terrible wars periodically break out between the two peoples along the borders of their realms. Then a young Yurth woman goes on her coming of age vision quest and is stalked by a young Raski warrior. The two blood enemies will reluctantly find they need each other to survive — and together they discover a secret that will unbalance their world and may change Zacar forever.

Two popular Andre Norton science fiction adventure novels in one omnibus volume.

 

[[[Blood of Tyrants]]] by Naomi Novik. (Temeraire, Book 8), Del Rey, $26.00, 448pp, hc, 9780345522894. Fantasy. On-sale date: 13 August 2013.

Naomi Novik’s beloved Temeraire series, a brilliant combination of fantasy and history that reimagines the Napoleonic wars as fought with the aid of intelligent dragons, is a twenty-first-century classic. From the first volume, His Majesty’s Dragon, readers have been entranced by the globe-spanning adventures of the resolute Capt. William Laurence and his brave but impulsive dragon, Temeraire. Now, in Blood of Tyrants, the penultimate volume of the series, Novik is at the very height of her powers as she brings her story to its widest, most colorful canvas yet.

Shipwrecked and cast ashore in Japan with no memory of Temeraire or his own experiences as an English aviator, Laurence finds himself tangled in deadly political intrigues that threaten not only his own life but England’s already precarious position in the Far East. Age-old enmities and suspicions have turned the entire region into a powder keg ready to erupt at the slightest spark—a spark that Laurence and Temeraire may unwittingly provide, leaving Britain faced with new enemies just when they most desperately need allies instead.

For to the west, another, wider conflagration looms. Napoleon has turned on his former ally, the emperor Alexander of Russia, and is even now leading the largest army the world has ever seen to add that country to his list of conquests. It is there, outside the gates of Moscow, that a reunited Laurence and Temeraire—along with some unexpected allies and old friends—will face their ultimate challenge . . . and learn whether or not there are stronger ties than memory.

 

[[[Pegasus: The Flame of Olympus]]] by Kate O’Hearn. Aladdin, $16.99, 385pp, hc, 9781442444096. Children’s fantasy.

When Pegasus crashes onto the roof of Emily’s Manhattan apartment, her life changes forever. Emily is thrust into the center of a fierce battle between the Roman gods and a terrifying race of multiarmed stone warriors called the Nirads. She must join forces with a thief named Paelen, the goddess Diana, and a boy named Joel to return Pegasus to Olypmus and rescue the gods from certain death.

Along the way, they will fight monsters, run from a government agency that is prepared to dissect Pegasus, and even fly above the Manhattan skyline…. It is all part of the quest to save Olympus before the Olympic flame burns out.

 

[[[Pegasus: Olympus at War]]] by Kate O’Hearn. Aladdin, $16.99, 389pp, hc, 9781442444126. Children’s fantasy.

In the second installment of the Pegasus series, Emily, newly recognized as the Flame, is living in Jupiter’s palace on Mt. Olympus. Her friends, Joel, Paelen, and — of course — Pegasus, are there as well. The only person missing is Emily’s father, who is still being held prisoner by the CRU back in the human world. Emily wants to go find him, but Jupiter won’t allow her to leave. However, Emily does have access to a winged horse…

Determined to rescue her father, Emily, her friends, and her sort-of crush, Cupid, make plans to sneak away from Olympus and back to New York. Old grudges are unearthed, new enemies are discovered, and Emily and her friends become entangled in a conflict more dangerous than they ever anticipated.

A modern day heroine with a classic twist, the trilogy continues as Emily works to save Olympus!

 

[[[The Modern Literary Werewolf: A Critical Study of the Mutable Motif]]] by Brent A. Stypczynski. McFarland, $40.00, 228pp, tp, 9780786469659. Nonfiction.

From at least as far back as the Epic of Gilgamesh, mankind has shown a fascination with physical transformation — especially that of humans into animals. Tales of such dramatic changes appear in every culture throughout history. They have been featured in the Western world in the work of Ovid, Petronius, Marie de France, Saint Augustine, Jack Williamson, Charles de Lint, Charlaine Harris, Terry Pratchett, and J.K. Rowling.

This book approaches werewolves as representations of a proposed shape-shifter archetype, examining, with reference to earlier sources, how and why the archetype has been employed in modern literature. Although the archetype is in a state of flux by its very definition, many common threads are linked throughout the literary landscape even as modern authors add, modify, and reinvent characteristics and meanings. This is especially true in the work of the authors examined in this book, many of whom have struck a chord with a wide range of readers and non-readers around the world.

 

[[[War over Lemuria: Richard Shaver, Ray Palmer and the Strangest Chapter of 1940s Science Fiction]]] by Richard Toronto. McFarland, $45.00, 264pp, tp, 9780786473076. Nonfiction.

Life magazine described the Shaver Mystery as “the most celebrated rumpus that rocked the science fiction world.” Its creators said it was a “new wave in science fiction.” Critics called it “dangerous nonsense” and labeled its fans the lunatic fringe. Whatever else the Shave Mystery was, it became a worldwide sensation between 1945 and 1948, one of the greatest controversies to hit the science fiction genre. Today these stories of the remnants of a sinister ancient civilization living in caverns under the Earth are an all but forgotten sidebar to the historical record.

The Shaver Mystery began as a series of science fiction yarns in Amazing Stories nearly 70 years ago. The men behind it, Ray Palmer and Richard Shaver, were derided and seldom understood by a fandom that did its best to sweep them under the carpet of history. Though Ray Palmer was one of the earliest and biggest names in SF fandom, credited with many firsts in his field, his fannish brethren have roundly ignored him, thanks to the Shaver Mystery. What is the truth behind these men and their “mystery”? This is the question writers and editors that promoted the Shaver Mystery try to answer as they reveal the behind-the-scenes story of the phenomenon known as “Shaverism.”

 

[[[Transgalactic]]] by A.E. Van Vogt. Baen, $7.99, 607pp, pb, 9781451638929. Science fiction.

War Across the Stars

Global war had smashed civilization — or so the legends told — but the highly advanced machines still functioned, and a priestlike caste of “scientists” kept secret the knowledge of how to repair and operate them, though they had no real understanding of the principles on which they operated. Earth was a strange mix of the modern and the medieval, with spaceships transporting soldiers armed with swords and arrows to colonies on other planets to wage war.

Then came the mutant Clane, who would have been put to death at birth had he not been born into the ruling class. Though his body was twisted, his mind was brilliant, and he had not only recovered the lost science behind the ancient machines, but the truth behind the downfall of civilization. An interstellar war had obliterated civilization on both Earth and an enemy alien world, and the invaders had rebuilt their civilization and would soon return in force….

For the first time, the entire Clane saga is complete in one volume, plus another novel of interstellar conflict, Mission to the Stars, and two novelettes in the war against the Rull series.

 

[[[House of Steel: The Honorverse Companion]]] by David Weber with BuNine. Baen, $15.00, 565pp, tp, 9781451638936. Science fiction.

The ultimate guide to the many worlds of Honor Harrington

Enjoy an all-new David Weber short novel, I Will Build a House of Steel, set in the early days of the Manticoran Star Kingdom, then dig into a treasure trove of facts about the Honorverse, including the history of the Star Kingdom, descriptions of key planets, details of technology, illustrations, and more — from the BuNine research group and overseen by David Weber himself.