H. Beam Piper is one of science fiction's most enigmatic writers. In 1946 Piper appeared seemingly from out of nowhere, already at the top of his form. He published a number of memorable short stories in the premier science fiction magazine of the time, Astounding Science Fiction, under legendary editor John W. Campbell. Piper quickly became friends with many of the top writers of the day, including Lester Del Rey, Fletcher Pratt, Robert Heinlein and L. Sprague de Camp. Piper also successfully made the turn from promising short story writer to major novelist, authoring Four-Day Planet, Cosmic Computer, Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen and Little Fuzzy, which was nominated for a Hugo award. Even those who counted Piper among their friends knew very little about the man or his life as a railroad yard bull in Altoona, Pennsylvania. This biography illuminates H. Beam Piper, both the writer and the man, and answers lingering questions about his death. Appendices include a number of Piper's personal papers, a complete bibliography of Piper's works, and an essay on Piper's Terro-Human Future History series.

THE MERLIN GAMBIT by John F. Carr & Dietmar Wehr opens five years after the events in H. Beam Piper's classic novel, The Cosmic Computer. The planet Poictesme is in the middle of an economic boom and Conn Maxwell is both happily married and a new father. The Maxwell Plan is working even better than expected. Tri-System Interstellar spaceships are moving Poictesme's products throughout the Terran Federation and it looks like the bad times are finally over. However, storm clouds are gathering on the horizon. Space piracy has suddenly struck out of nowhere, but the pirates are only attacking Tri-System Interstellar freighters. It appears that someone is playing a deadly chess game with Merlin and the Merlin-12 Group. These new events cause Conn Maxwell to wonder if the Federation High Command built more than one super-computer. Is it possible that a Merlin double is working against them? In an attempt to uncover their mysterious opponent, Conn makes a trip to Terra to find the answers they so desperately need. Meanwhile, an unexpected series of discoveries made on Koshchei suddenly jeopardizes not only the Maxwell plan, but very heart of the Federation. This unexpected wild-card could change the balance of power throughout humanities' sphere of worlds, leading to the era of interstellar warfare that the Merlin-12 Group has worked so hard to prevent.

RAINBOW RUN is a novel of the far future, detailing a world where the normal rules have been turned over, and upside down. When one of its denizens awakens from a stupor, he discovers he's in the Rainbow Room, a triangular room filled with pitfalls where the first misstep will be the last. He quickly discovers that his memory has been stripped away, and he's left with no knowledge of himself or the world he finds himself inhabiting. With the help of Errox, a mysterious and malevolent stranger, who names him Rathe, he manages to escape the Color Wheel, only to discover that the danger outside in the urbodes is omnipresent and difficult to evade. Everywhere Rathe turns, everyone he meets is only interested in using him for their own advancement in the war of shades. In a world where the color of your wristlock determines your fate, Rathe is a lost soul desperately trying to learn the rules of a game that has no rules. Meanwhile, Rathe is on a quest to find out his true identity and why he was brainwiped. The answers are everywhere and nowhere. Most of the people he meets are so busy playing the Color Game they have little or awareness of the larger world they inhabit. In this world, only those wearing the rainbow wristlocks have universal access and immortality. Not only does he have to figure out who he is, but how to survive in the midst of growing chaos....