Avalon was thriving. The cold sleep colonists from Earth had settled on a verdant, livable world. The fast and cunning predators humans named "grendels" were under control, and the mainland outposts well established. Avalon's new mainland hydroe

Robert Heinlein called it "possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read." "The San Francisco Chronicle" declared that "as science fiction, "The Mote in God's Eye" is one of the most important novels ever published." Now Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, award winning authors of such bestsellers as "Footfall "and "The Legacy of Heorot, " return us to the Mote, and to the universe of Kevin Renner and Horace Bury, of Rod Blaine and Sally Fowler. There, 25 years have passed since humanity quarantined the mysterious aliens known as Moties within the confines of their own solar system. They have spent a quarter century analyzing and agonizing over the deadly threat posed by the only aliens mankind has ever encountered-- a race divided into distinct biological forms, each serving a different function. Master, Mediator, Engineer. Warrior. Each supremely adapted to its task, yet doomed by millions of years of evolution to an inescapable fate. For the Moties must breed-- or die. And now the fragile wall separating them and the galaxy beyond is beginning to crumble.

Some twenty years have passed since the passengers and crew of the starship Geographic established a colony on the hostile alien world of Avalon. In that time, a new generation has grown up in the peace and serenity of the island paradise of Camelot, igno

The gigantic comet had slammed into Earth, forging earthquakes a thousand times too powerful to measure on the Richter scale, tidal waves thousands of feet high. Cities were turned into oceans; oceans turned into steam. It was the beginning of a new Ice Age and the end of civilization. But for the terrified men and women chance had saved, it was also the dawn of a new struggle for survival--a struggle more dangerous and challenging than any they had ever known....@lt;br@gt;"Massively entertaining."@lt;br@gt;CLEVELAND PLAIN-DEALER

"Once upon a long, long time ago, our parents and grandparents left a place called Earth. They traveled across the stars in a ship called Geographic to find paradise." Camelot is an island paradise for some perhaps, but not for us. There dwell monsters. These huge hulking inhabitants, called Grendels, bring only death and destruction to humankind. That we survived those first battles at all is a miracle. That we came to prosper is, for those who endured those awful times, beyond comprehension. Amazingly enough, Camelot, for most, will come to be the paradise we dreamed of. But a new generation is growing up, ignorant of the Great Grendel Wars. Setting out for the mainland, these rebellious men and women are bent on exploration, ready to fight any Grendels that get in their way, indifferent to their parents' past. On the mainland called Avalon, however, there are monsters that dwarf the ones their parents fought, and as the young people will learn, monsters also dwell in the human heart. For Avalon does not give up her secrets easily, and some of those mysteries are wicked as sin, blacker than the grave.

After being thrown out the window of his luxury apartment, science fiction writer Allen Carpentier wakes to find himself at the gates of hell. Feeling he's landed in a great opportunity for a book, he attempts to follow Dante's road map. Determined to meet Satan himself, Carpentier treks through the Nine Layers of Hell led by Benito Mussolini, and encounters countless mental and physical tortures. As he struggles to escape, he's taken through new, puzzling, and outlandish versions of sin--recast for the present day.

Each an acclaimed author in his own right, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle have collaborated on some of the biggest bestsellers in science fiction history, including the No. 1 "New York Times" bestseller "Footfall, " as well as "Lucifer's Hammer, Inferno, Oath of Fealty, " and "The Mote in God's Eye." Now Niven and Pournelle have combined their award-winning talents and imaginations to produce a masterpiece of epic fantasy that rivals the works of Robert Jordan and David Eddings.

Set in the world of Niven's popular "The Magic Goes Away, " "The Burning City" transports readers to an enchanted ancient city that often bears a provocative resemblance to our own modem society. Here Yagen-Atep, the volatile and voracious god of fire, holds sway, alternately protecting and destroying the city's denizens. In Tep's Town, nothing can burn indoors and no fire can start: by accident -- except when the Burning comes upon the city. Then the people, possessed by Yagen-Atep, set their own town ablaze in a riotous orgy of destruction that often comes without warning.

Whandall Placehold has lived with the Burning all his life. Fighting his way to adulthood in the mean-but-magical streets of the city's most blighted neighborhoods, Whandall alone dreams of escaping the god's wrath to find a new and better life. But his best hope for freedom may lie with Morth of Atlantis, the enigmatic sorcerer who killed his father!

Both gritty and exotic, "The Burning City" is unique fantasy vision unlike any you have read before.

1001 Computer Words You Need to Know explains and illuminates the essential vocabulary of computers and the Internet. This comprehensive, but never condescending guide to the language of the electronic age carefully defines and explains every term with a sample sentence, and many entries have supplementary notes. In addition, the book includes a number of quick miniguides to managing your online life - dealing with Windows and Macs (and sometimes *nix), burning CDs and downloading files, word processing, spread-sheeting, connecting to the Internet (dialup, cable, DSL, wireless) surfing, IMing and emailing, taking digital photos, coping with networks, memory, and drives, and just plain coping with your computer.
The backmatter contains an extensive list of helpful websites and an essay about online language and etiquette.

The adventure begun in "Janissaries" continues.

Kidnapped from Earth as they were about to die in battle, Rick Galloway and his band of mercenaries, like the other human slaves on the planet Tran, will not be missed. Subjects of the Shalnuksi slave masters, they are forced to harvest the priceless drug surinomaz. Now, even as slaves, Earth s transplanted warriors are locked in battle against each other. But an epoch is ending. As the Demon Star sweeps toward its devastating apex, the slave masters flee the planet to await its annihilation in safety. Soon all life on the planet will cease, leaving it ripe for repopulation."