The alien fleet orbited Penum IV and used colorful incinerating death rays on the planet rotating below. When the inhabitants of the globe were annihilated and everything left worth pillaging stowed on black-hulled plunder ships, the fleet moved on to the next inhabited human world, unopposed except by. The warship Preceptor, commanded by Pier Norlin, a junior officer on a ship with only a skeleton crew. The ship lacks proper armament, the crew is mismatched and fighting among themselves--and the mission is not sanctioned by the Empire. For Norlin, these are only small obstacles to be ignored. He is on a personal mission of revenge against the aliens until. Command of the Preceptor is given to the genetically enhanced superman, Pavel Pensky. Pensky is brilliant-and quite insane. Will his daring schemes bring victory against the aliens or deliver rainbow death to Norlin and the Preceptor's crew?

Pier Norlin and his misfit crew aboard the Empire warship Preceptor have scored the first victory over the mysterious invading Alien Death Fleet. The Fleet destroys the life on entire planets, then loots them of anything of value. Norlin has one small advantage other ships of the Empire lack: he has a captured alien energy weapon. But even this energy cannon is worthless against the waves of decadence flowing from the Emperor's Court where the magnitude of the threat is ignored. Rebellion is brewing among the frontier worlds and Norlin finds his sympathies increasingly lie with them although his pledge of honor as an officer is to maintain and defend the Empire against all enemies. Even among his own crew he finds rebellion. In spite of opposition from his superiors and the deadly power of the Alien Death Fleet, Norlin leads the Preceptor to victory after victory...until he encounters a foe he is powerless to fight. The Genetic Menace is an unstoppable force he cannot oppose.

Sir Francis Barstow has unlimited funds from the alchemist's dream--he can transmute lead into gold with a special ray confined to a Cornish coal mine. To exhaust generated fumes from the electrical equipment, he uses a strange black portal only a foot in diameter--the portal opens onto an entire new dimension, the World of Rust. Other, larger holes have appeared across the world. The Kaiser uses one to smuggle contraband from the United States into Switzerland in preparation for launching a great war, but he is opposed by a brilliant scientist unwilling to thrust the world into such devastation. To achieve his ends, the scientist explores the Rust World to scavenge technology unavailable anywhere else. Sir Francis, with the lovely French aviatrix Nicole Larouse, find themselves in conflict with the Kaiser, his subjects and those who would use the strange black portals to a different world for their own purposes. As a bonus, the short story "The Transmogrification Ray" detailing Sir Francis' alchemical researches (originally published in the anthology Steampunk'd) is included.

From a sheriff embroiled in a mystery at the Arizona Renaissance Faire, to a homesick beer-drinking alien, to an aging king and a newly risen zombie, this volume features twenty-one tales that will intrigue, humor, an send a few shivers. The author of a hundred books in the fantasy, science-fiction, mystery, and western genres, Vardeman takes you from the edge of death, to a UFO-hunted desert, to fantasy worlds rich with god-fire and mysticism. This collection is filled with some of his favorite gems, stretching from three decades past to the present.

Sail enchanted seas and cross swords with a crew of award-winning fantasy authors in the first book of the exciting new Blue Kingdoms world Within these pages, you'll find enchanted islands, angry sea gods, mysterious magic, and pirates galore in a treasure trove of tales by: Robert E. Vardeman, J. Robert King, Lorelei Shannon, Lester Smith, Marc Tassin, Kathleen Watness, James M. Ward, Paul Genesse, Brandie Tarvin, Steve Winter, Dean Leggett, Jason Mical, Kelly Swails, and Jean Rabe & Stephen D. Sullivan.

Cross swords and match wits with a crew of award-winning fantasy authors in this third book of the exciting new Blue Kingdoms world Within these pages you'll find savage seas, enchanted islands, blood-curdling magic, ravenous zombies, and buxom buccaneers galore in a treasure trove of salty tales by: Lorelei Shannon, Robert E. Vardeman, Kathleen Watness, Kelly Swails, Marc Tassin, Dean Leggett, Jason Mical, Paul Genesse, and Jean Rabe & Stephen D. Sullivan. Plus a great cover painting by renowned fantasy artist Jim Holloway

Also available as an eBook

INSPIRED BY THE GREAT NEW GAME FROM FASA

Torn from the universe by an insatiable cosmic vortex, Earth is trapped in the grotesque parody of reality called the Maelstrom-along with thousands of other planets, millions of species, billions of warring creatures...all swirling toward ultimate destruction.

THE SHATTERER OF WORLDS
In Central America, rebel forces are battling Union troops for control of Chiapas. But the guerrilla struggle becomes an interstellar war when a lethal energy sliver from the Maw crashes into the Mexican jungle...pursued by the Maelstrom's most vicious aliens. Now in the fallout, a wounded Shard is mutating into a horde of crystalline monsters, while an undead Pharon priest slaughters both Union and rebel soldiers to reinforce his zombie army. And as the fighting escalates into bloody anarchy, the deadly energies build and intensify, threatening a damnation worse than even the Maelstrom itself...HELL HEART

LEGION OF HORROR
Jose crossed himself when he saw who it was-or, rather, what it was.
Now he knew what had happened to his missing patrols. He heard a small gasp from Consuela, but he could not tear his eyes away from the shambling, decayed parodies of humanity that had lurched into view on the trail. Shreds of their uniforms hung off their twisted limbs, the wounds that had killed them clearly visible through the rags. Hoses from the dull metallic tanks on their backs circled their tortured bodies and entered their chests in several places.
"The dead have risen from the grave," he breathed.