Sequel to national bestseller, Nebula Award finalist, and Compton Crook Award winner "Fire with Fire. "Science fiction adventure on a grand scale.
When reluctant interstellar diplomat and intelligence operative Caine Riordan returns from humanity's first encounter with alien races, sudden war clouds burst. With Earth's fleet shattered by a sneak attack and its survivors fighting for their lives, Caine must rely upon both his first contact and weaponry skills to contend with the non-humanoid enemy. And when the technologically-superior attackers sweep aside the solar system's last defenses, and traitorous corporations invite the invaders to land 'security forces, ' humanity fights back with its best weapons: cunning, inventiveness, and guts.
But as Earth hurtles towards a final trial by fire that is certain to scar its collective memory, Caine discovers that there may also be large and disturbing gaps in that memory. Clues point to a much earlier inter-species apocalypse, buried in humanity's own prehistory. Which raises a terrifying possibility: what if the aliens' invasion of Earth is not one of conquest, but preemption? And what if their harrowing memories of a long-past cataclysmic war makes them willing to do anything to keep it from reigniting?
Even if that means exterminating the human race.
About Compton Crook award winner for best first novel, "Fire with Fire:
""Chuck Gannon is one of those marvelous finds--someone as comfortable with characters as he is with technology, and equally adept at providing those characters with problems to solve. Imaginative, fun, and not afraid to step on the occasional toe or gore the occasional sacred cow, his stories do not disappoint."--David Weber
"If we meet strong aliens out there, will we suffer the fate of the Aztecs and Incas, or find the agility to survive? Gannon fizzes with ideas about the dangerous politics of first contact."--David Brin
"The plot is intriguing and then some. Well-developed and self-consistent; intelligent readers are going to like it."--Jerry Pournelle
" T]he intersecting plot threads, action and well-conceived science kept those pages turning."--"SF Crowsnest"
About Starfire series hit, "Extremis," coauthored by Charles E. Gannon:
"Vivid. . . Battle sequences mingle with thought-provoking exegesis . . ."-"Publishers Weekly"
"It's a grand, fun series of battles and campaigns, worthy of anything Dale Brown or Larry Bond ever wrote." -"Analog"
About Charles E. Gannon:
" A] strong writer of] . . . military SF. . . much] action going on in his work, with a lot of physics behind it. There is a real sense of the urgency of war and the sacrifices it demands." -"Locus"

This provocative and unique work reveals the remarkably influential role of futuristic literature on contemporary political power in America. Tracing this phenomenon from its roots in Victorian Britain, Rumors of War and Infernal Machines offers a fascinating exploration of how fictional speculations on emergent or imaginary military technologies profoundly influence the political agendas and actions of modern superpower states. Gannon convincingly demonstrates that military fiction anticipated and even influenced the evolution of the tank, the development of the airplane, and also the bitter political battles within Britain's War Office and the Admiralty. In the United States, future-fictions and Cold-War thrillers were an officially acknowledged factor in the Pentagon's research and development agendas, and often gave rise_and shape_to the nation's strategic development of technologies as diverse as automation, atomic weaponry, aerospace vehicles, and the Strategic Defense Initiative ('Star Wars'). His book reveals a striking relationship between the increasing political influence of speculative military fiction and the parallel rise of superpower states and their technocentric ideologies. With its detailed political, historical, and literary analysis of U.S. and British fascination with hi-tech warfare, this lively and revealing study will appeal to students, literary and cultural scholars, military and history enthusiasts, and general readers.

THIRD EDITION, WITH NEW MATERIAL. COMPTON CROOK AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL. NEBULA AWARD FINALIST. National Bestseller in trade paperback. An agent for a spy organization uncovers an alien alliance in nearby interstellar space--an alliance that will soon involve humanity in politics and war on a galactic scale. 2105, September: Intelligence Analyst Caine Riordan uncovers a conspiracy on Earth's Moon--a history-changing clandestine project--and ends up involuntarily cryocelled for his troubles. Twelve years later, Riordan awakens to a changed world. Humanity has achieved faster-than-light travel and is pioneering nearby star systems. And now, Riordan is compelled to become an inadvertent agent of conspiracy himself. Riordan's mission: travel to a newly settled world and investigate whether a primitive local species was once sentient--enough so to have built a lost civilization. However, arriving on site in the Delta Pavonis system, Caine discovers that the job he's been given is anything but secret or safe. With assassins and saboteurs dogging his every step, it's clear that someone doesn't want his mission to succeed. In the end, it takes the broad-based insights of an intelligence analyst and a matching instinct for intrigue to ferret out the truth: that humanity is neither alone in the cosmos nor safe. Earth is revealed to be the lynchpin planet in an impending struggle for interstellar dominance, a struggle into which it is being irresistibly dragged. Discovering new dangers at every turn, Riordan must now convince the powers-that-be that the only way for humanity to survive as a free species is to face the perils directly--and to fight fire with fire. WINNER OF THE COMPTON CROOK AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL

Caine Riordan has faced many crises in his unintended career as diplomat, soldier, and first contact specialist, but none more challenging than the one he faces now. He and twelve of his crew are adrift in uncharted space, so far beyond Earth that the s

SOLDIERS LOST IN TIME, 152 LIGHT-YEARS FROM HOME, WITH A DAUNTING TASK FOR SURVIVAL Taken from their planet and their century, they are not just the Lost Soldiers: they are Murphy's Lawless. Major Rodger Y. Murphy should have died when his helicopter crashed off the coast of Mogadishu in 1993. Instead, he woke up in 2125, 152 light-years from home. Murphy and 100 other "Lost Soldiers" have been retrieved and awakened by two officers of the Consolidated Terran Republic: Trevor Corcoran and Richard Downing. Promising to return, Corcoran and Downing leave the twentieth-century castaways with a daunting objective: establish a base of operations on the main world of R'Bak using local allies they have yet to recruit and enemy equipment they have yet to seize. They haven't been back yet. But the company of misfits and ne'er-do-wells who've taken the nickname Murphy's Lawless rise to the challenge! Praise for the Terran Republic series featuring Caine Riordan: Praise for Caine's Mutiny: "This is military Science Fiction the way it's supposed to be written. . . . All in all, a highly satisfying tale of the Terran Republic that moves the story forward and setting us up for the next chapter, which promises to be interesting at worst and explosive at best." --SFcrowsnest Praise for Raising Caine: "Raising Caine unveils a lot of thought-provoking ideas, but ultimately this is a space opera adventure. There are space battles, daring emergency landings, desperate quests, hand-to-hand combat, and double-and-triple crosses. It's an engrossing read. You owe it to yourself to read the two previous books in order. Then enjoy Raising Caine. It's an intergalactic thrill-ride." --Fantasy and Science Fiction Book and Audiobook Reviews "This is science-fiction adventure on a grand scale." --Kirkus "Gannon's harrowing . . . military space opera (following Trial by Fire) builds well on his established setting . . . Gannon's signature attention to developing realistic alien worlds makes this installment satisfying." --Publishers Weekly "[A]n incredibly active book . . . as our protagonists are confronted by the beautiful, terrible, and sometimes lethal variety of the universe and its inhabitants. . . . A whole mess of fun . . . that manages to be scientifically accurate while refraining from excessive wonkiness. Those who value meticulous worldbuilding . . . will certainly have their needs met." --BN Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog Praise for Nebula-nominated Trial by Fire: "I seriously enjoyed Trial by Fire. This one's a tidal wave--can't put it down. An excellent book." --Jack McDevitt "Gannon's whiz-bang second Tales of the Terran Republic interstellar adventure delivers on the promise of the first (Fire with Fire) . . . The charm of Caine's harrowing adventure lies in Gannon's attention to detail, which keeps the layers of political intrigue and military action from getting too dense. The dozens of key characters, multiple theaters of operations, and various alien cultures all receive the appropriate amount of attention. The satisfying resolution is enhanced by the promise of more excitement to come in this fascinating far-future universe." --Publishers Weekly, starred review "[D]efinitely one to appeal to the adventure fans. Riordan is a smart hero, up against enormous obstacles and surrounded by enemies. Author Gannon does a good job of managing action and tension to keep the story moving, and the details of the worlds Riordan visits are interesting in their own right." --Analog ". . . offers the type of hard science-fiction those familiar with the John Campbell era of Analog Science Fiction will remember. Gannon throws his readers into an action-packed adventure. A sequel to Fire With Fire, it is a nonstop tale filled with military science-fiction action." --The Galveston County Daily News Praise for Compton Crook Award-winner for best first novel Fire with Fire: "Chuck Gannon is one of those marvelous finds--someone as comfortable with characters as he is with technology, and equally adept at providing those characters with problems to solve. Imaginative, fun, and not afraid to step on the occasional toe or gore the occasional sacred cow, his stories do not disappoint." --David Weber "If we meet strong aliens out there, will we suffer the fate of the Aztecs and Incas, or find the agility to survive? Gannon fizzes with ideas about the dangerous politics of first contact." --David Brin "The plot is intriguing and then some. Well-developed and self-consistent; intelligent readers are going to like it." --Jerry Pournelle ". . . the intersecting plot threads, action and well-conceived science kept those pages turning." --SFcrowsnest