A man broken in body and spirit, Cazaril returns to the noble household he once served as page and is named secretary-tutor to the beautiful, strong-willed sister of the impetuous boy who is next in line to rule. It is an assignment Cazaril dreads, for it must ultimately lead him to the place he most fears: the royal court of Cardegoss, where the powerful enemies who once placed him in chains now occupy lofty positions.But it is more than the traitorous intrigues of villains that threaten Cazaril and the Royesse Iselle here, for a sinister curse hangs like a sword over the entire blighted House of Chalion. And only by employing the darkest, most forbidden of magics can Cazaril hope to protect his royal charge -- an act that will mark him as a tool of the miraculous . . . and trap him in a lethal maze of demonic paradox.

SENSE OF WONDER is a broad, inexpensive, single-volume anthology designed to give students a sense both of literature and history; the book includes canonical works, stories written in response to those works, and essays on major themes and topics in the field. The book will facilitate a variety of different types of speculative fiction course, whether the course is focused on particular themes, on a chronological look at writers, or on the roots of contemporary SF. Beginning with early twentieth-century writers, Sense of Wonder continues up through the most acclaimed present-day writers. Stories are not treated as purely academic exercises, but contextualized, which is vital in reading a genre where most writers know each other and the relationship between writer and reader is a major factor in how stories are created.

The collection includes more than 200 stories, poems, and bibliographic essays (contributed by professors who teach science fiction and by professionals), with an emphasis on the roots of modern SF. Each story author is given a biographical introduction as well.

Follow Lois McMaster Bujold, one of the most honored authors in the field of fantasy and science fiction, to a land threatened by treacherous war and beset by demons -- as a royal dowager, released from the curse of madness and manipulated by an untrustworthy god, is plunged into a desperate struggle to preserve the endangered souls of a realm.

Barrayaran Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan has been cheating death his whole life. But when a Kibou-daini cryocorp attempts to expand its franchise into the Barrayaran Empire, Emperor Gregor dispatches his top troubleshooter Miles to check it out.

When the Cetagandan empress dies, Miles Vorkosigan and his cousin Ivan are sent to Cetaganda for her funeral as diplomatic representatives of Barrayar. Upon arrival, the two men are inexplicably attacked by a servant of the late empress. When the same servant turns up dead the next day, Miles and Ivan find themselves in the middle of a mystery. Miles tries to play detective in a strange, complicated, and deceptively alien culture, while lascivious Ivan manages to get himself involved with several noble females at the same time, a diplomatic no-no of the first order. As the plot thickens, it becomes clear that it's up to Miles to save the empire. With her usual skill, Bujold addresses timeless issues of human identity through the personal dramas of her characters.

A magnificent epic tale of devotion, possession, obsession, and strange destiny from the author of the Hugo Award-winning

Paladin of Souls

Lois McMaster Bujold

The half-mad Prince Boleso has been slain by a noblewoman he had intended to defile -- and Lord Ingrey kin Wilfcliff must transport the body to its burial place and the accused killer, the Lady Ijada, to judgment. With the death of the old Hallow King imminent and the crown in play, the road they must travel together is a dangerous one. And though he is duty-bound to deliver his prisoner to an almost certain death, Ijada may be the only one Ingrey dares trust. For a monstrous malevolence holds the haunted lord in its sway -- and a great and terrible destiny has been bestowed upon him by the gods, the damned, and the dead.

Volume three in the epic fantasy sagafrom multiple Hugo Award-winning author Lois McMaster Bujold

Young Fawn Bluefield and soldier-sorcerer Dag Redwing Hickory have survived magical dangers, but the bigotry of blood kin cannot be easily overcome. Leaving behind all that they have ever known, they set off to find fresh solutions to the perilous split between their peoples--a passage that will not be ventured alone. New companions join them on their road: Fawn's brother, Whit, escaping a hopeless future on the family farm; two novice Lakewalker patrollers fleeing the catastrophic consequences of an honest mistake; a young flatboat captain searching for her vanished father and fiance; a shrewd backwoods hunter; and a farmer boy unintentionally beguiled by Dag's growing magery. On an eventful journey to where great rivers join, the ill-assorted crew will be sorely tested and tempered as they encounter a new world of hazards both human and uncanny.

An epic fantasyof devotion, destiny, and perilous magic, from one of the mosthonored writers in the field--multiple Hugo Award-winning author Lois McMaster Bujold

Troubled young Fawn Bluefield seeks a life beyond her family's farm. But on the way to the city, she encounters a patrol of Lakewalkers, nomadic soldier-sorcerers from the northern woodlands. Feared necromancers armed with mysterious knives made of human bone, they wage a secret on-going war against the scourge of the "malices," immortal entities that draw the life out of their victims, enslaving human and animal alike. It is Dag--a Lakewalker patroller weighed down by past sorrows and present responsibilities--who must come to Fawn's aid when she is taken captive by a malice. They prevail at a devastating cost--unexpectedly binding their fates together as they embark upon a remarkable journey into danger and delight, prejudice and partnership . . .and perhaps even love.

1. Lois McMaster Bujold is one of the most popular writers in science fiction and the Vorkosigan saga is one of the best-selling space opera series of all time.
2. Her books for Baen total nearly one and a half million books in print.
3. Four of her novels have made the "New York Times" extended best seller list.
4. She has won six Hugo Awards and two Nebula Awards. Only Robert A. Heinlein has won as many Hugo Awards for Best Novel.
5. Features a new introduction by Bujold.
6. Advertising in Locus
7. Four-color flyer for the Vorkosigan series featuring new covers
8. Contains teaser for "The Vorkosigan Companion"
"Two complete novels and a short novel in one large volume"
"Falling Free"--The Nebula Award-winning novel. Leo Graf was just your typical efficient engineer: mind your own business and do the job. But all that changed on his assignment to the Cay Habitat, where children had been bio-engineered to have four arms (and no legs) to function in zero gravity. Now that they're no longer needed, a heartless mega corporation is getting rid of them before they eat into the profit margin. Leo Graf adopted 1000 quaddies--now he had to teach them to be free.
"Labyrinth"--When Miles Vorkosigan is captured while on a secret mission to a lawless world, his only hope of escape is an unlikely pair of allies: a quaddie and a teenage werewolf.
"Diplomatic Immunity--" Miles Vorkosigan and his wife were heading home for the births of their first children, but a major diplomatic disaster is looming at Graf Station, colonized by the descendants of the original quaddies, and duty calls. Unfortunately, diplomatic immunity doesn't carry over to immunity from a very nasty biological weapon. The downside of being a troubleshooter comes when trouble starts shooting back. . . .

The exciting follow-up to Brothers in Arms. Miles Vorkosigan is in trouble. His brother, a cloned stranger formed from tissue stolen from Miles when he was a child, wants to murder and replace him. Unfortunately, Mark has learned that without Miles, he is . . . nothing.

While being a space-faring empire, Barrayar still harbors deep-rooted prejudices and superstitions, including those against "mutants." *** When a Dendarii hill-woman comes before Aral Vorkosigan seeking justice for the murder of her infant baby who has been killed because of her physical defects, the Barrayaran Lord sends his son Miles to a remote mountain village to discover the truth and carry out Imperial justice and at the same time attack these long-held barbaric beliefs. *** And who better than Miles Vorkosigan, who has himself struggled with these prejudices all his life because of his own physical deformities. *** The Mountains of Mourning is a stand-alone novella that takes place (chronologically) between the events relayed in The Warrior's Apprentice and The Vor Game. It won both the Hugo and the Nebula awards the year it was published, as well as an SF Chronicles Award for best Novella.

Volume two in the epic fantasy sagaof love and peril, courage and fate, from one of the mosthonored writers in the field--multiple Hugo Award-winning author Lois McMaster Bujold

Ill-chance brought young Fawn Bluefield together with Dag Redwing Hickory, the seasoned soldier-sorcerer, but it was love and loyalty that joined their fates. While their unorthodox marriage has been grudgingly accepted by the clever farmgirl's people, Dag's Lakewalker kin are less tolerant, greeting their union with derision, suspicion, and prejudice. The specterof permanent exile looms above the couple--until a final decision on their lot is diverted by a sudden, viciously magical malice attack on a neighboring hinterland. Sworn to duty, Dag must answer the call, leaving his new bride behind. But what awaits him and his patrol could have serious and unimagined consequences for farmers and Lakewalkers alike, forever altering the lovers, their families, and their world.

Lois McMaster Bujold has won the Hugo award four times, and the Nebula award twice. This is her second epic fantasy and the sequel to Curse of Chalion. The Golden General's curse has been lifted from the royal family and Cazaril can now rest easy and enjoy his new life with his bride Betriz. However, life for Ista, the Dowager Royina has not improved. With the death of her mother, the Provincara, and with her surviving child Iselle now ruling Chalion from the Capital Cardegross, she is left without purpose. Her brother's family still think she's mad and aim to keep her locked up safely to avoid embarrasment, but she craves freedom and escape and begins to plan how this may become reality.