Showing results by author "Eric Flint" in All Categories

Chip Connolly was a conscripted grunt in trouble. Here he was, stuck behind enemy lines with a bunch of cyber-uplifted rats and bats. Rats with human speech, but with rat values. Rats that knew what was worth fighting for: sex, food, and strong drink. True, they were holed up on a ruined wine-farm with enough brandy to swim in. Trouble was, there wasn't much food. And with shrew-metabolism the rats had to eat. He was next on the menu. The bats were no help: they were crazy revolutionaries planning to throw off the yoke of human enslavement with high explosive.

Let's do the "Time Warp" again! Another anthology of rollicking, thought-provoking tales by a star-studded array of top writers such as David Brin and Eric Flint himself - all set in Eric Flint's phenomenal Ring of Fire series.

It's been more than a year since the cruise ship Queen of the Sea was transported in time and space to the ancient Mediterranean not long after the death of Alexander the Great. Captain Lars Floden and the other "Ship People" are trying to plant the seeds of modern civilization. It's not an easy task, to put it mildly. For they have plenty of enemies, too. Cassander is using every foul means available to turn Macedonia and Greece into his own empire.

An alien pyramid has appeared on Earth, squatting in the middle of Chicago. It is growing, destroying the city as it does, and nothing seems able to stop it, not even the might of the US military. Somehow, the alien device is snatching people and for unknown reasons transporting them into worlds of mythology. Dr. Lukacs is one of the victims. Granted, he's an expert on mythology. But myths are not something he'd thought to encounter personally. Or wanted to!

Something new is brewing in the 17th century! Fans of the 1632 series have often asked “What's going on in North America?” Herbert Sakalauks has set out to let you know in his short novel The Danish Scheme. Christian IV, King of Denmark, Sir Thomas Roe, the English Ambassador to Christian's court, various elements of the extended Nasi/Abrabanel family have arranged an unusually well-funded and well led expedition to North America.

Humans - there's no understanding them, and no dealing with them either. Or even their planet. Pity the poor aliens, whose shape-changing ability should let them take over the planet Earth before the humans even know they're there - if it weren't for all that omnipresent pollution. Or consider another set of invaders, from a planet where the weather is always mild and the changing of the seasons is hardly noticeable. They land in force; their weapons more powerful than those of the primitive humans, but they've never had to deal with below-zero temperatures, flash floods, or tornadoes.

War is a serious business - or is it? Christopher Anvil turns his sardonic sense of humor loose on the subject. Hard-SF legend and Analog regular Christopher Anvil brings together mind-bending ideas and grim-but-true black humor in the face of war's utter destruction in this mega-compilation.

Here for the first time the stories and short novels of the war with the Outs are collected into a novel-length chronicle. The Outs had mental powers they could use to make humans see illusions and convince them to change sides. Obviously, they were unbeatable - until some troublesome humans found their Achilles' heel.

Russ Tabor is one of the top security specialists in the galaxy. Much against his will, he finds himself assigned to provide protection for Rupert Medawar Narayan Shenoy - "Lord Shenoy", as he likes to style himself - who is probably the human race's most brilliant savant. Shenoy has become convinced that the race of ancient aliens known as the Old Ones possessed powers unknown to any modern intelligent species.

The Thirty Years' War continues to ravage 17th-century Europe, but a new force is gathering power and influence: the United States of Europe, a new nation led by Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, and the West Virginians from the 20th century led by Mike Stearns who were hurled centuries into the past by a mysterious cosmic accident.

After the extinction asteroid does not strike Earth, the dinosaurs keep evolving - but so do the mammals. We mammals have achieved humanlike shapes, but now it's cold-blooded, magic-using reptiles against the hot-blooded, hot-tempered descendants of cats. In a heroic, Bronze Age world similar to 300, the Mrem Clans expand their rough-and-tumble territory, but now they face the Lishkash, reptilian masters of a cold-blooded empire of slave armies and magic.

A new wonder drug has the unexpected side effect of making people happy. But should people be happy all of the time? Suppose being happy required you never to disappoint anyone, no matter what they're requesting.... Then there was the energy source for every home that would free the country from its dependence on foreign oil - except that the prototype was rushed into production a bit too fast. Back on the bright side, another device not only couldn't possibly work, but didn't have any obvious uses. Then alien invaders landed and suddenly the crackpot device was the world's only hope.

A cosmic accident sets the modern town of Grantville, West Virginia, down in war-torn 17th century Europe, and a new nation is forged. Now, when United States of Europe ally King Gustavas of Sweden invades Poland, the US of E is dragged into a full-scale European war against ruthless opponents. Meanwhile Mike Stearns, wily and courageous leader of the up-time West Virginians, has been turned out of office in an election. But, like Churchill before (and after) him, Stearns is not done yet.

Eddie Cantrell, now married to the king of Denmark’s daughter, is sent by Admiral Simpson to the Caribbean to secure access to the most valuable commodity on that continent - not the gold and silver which the Spanish treasure, but the oil which up-time machines and industry need. The admiral has also provided Eddie’s small task force with the new steam-powered frigates that have just come out of the navy’s shipyards. Even with the frigates, a giant obstacle stands in his way.

It has taken almost five years for the United States of Europe to stabilize its position in 17th-century Europe. Now it turns its attention to the New World, where the English have ceded their colonial claims to France. There are vast lands and rich resources across the Atlantic for any nations powerful enough to rule and control them—and equal incentive for other nations to block their path.

The United Sovereign States of Russia struggles to set in place the traditions and legal precedents that will let it turn into a constitutional monarchy with freedom and opportunity for all its citizens. At the same time, they’re trying to balance the power of the states and the federal government.

In the sequel to Rats, Bats and Vats, the team of mentally gifted bats and rats, accompanied by their human leader, sets out to persuade an incompetent military bureaucracy that they are about to be invaded by a powerful alien conspiracy, joining forces with Fluff, the pet of one of the colony's ruling class, to save the world.

Vaughan Roberts and his two companions had been trapped on a crime-ridden, chaotic planet until they bamboozled the population with a gigantic hoax - which brought them to the attention of the Interstellar Patrol, who were looking for a few good con men, capable of ingenious improvisation and adept at playing dirty tricks on the bad guys.

Rome, 1635, and Grantville's diplomatic team, headed by Sharon Nichols, are making scant headway now it has become politically inexpedient for Pope Urban VIII to talk to them anymore. Sharon doesn't mind, she has a wedding to plan. Frank Stone has moved to Rome and is attempting to bring about the revolution one pizza at a time. Cardinal Borja is gathering votes to bring the Church's reformers to a halt in their tracks, on the orders of the King of Spain.

On the planet Hafardine, civilization must rediscover progress or collapse. Adrian, guided by disembodied electronic mentors from space, has brought gunpowder and steam power to the Kingdom of the Isles to break the stranglehold of the Empire. But he will have to avoid being killed by the suspicious king he serves, by the barbarians he must recruit, and even by his insanely vengeful brother.