First in the series blending alternate history, time travel, and detective thriller, from a Nebula and Hugo Award nominee. There are a million different Earths across an infinite number of timelines—and every one of them is in peril. Mark Strang became a bodyguard and private investigator when terrorists killed his family; now he spends his days protecting Pittsburgh’s helpless and abused. But while on a mission to save the life of a ten-year-old girl, Strang is inexplicably cast into an alternate reality, transported to a different time on another Earth, where America was defeated in the Second World War and now suffers under the brutal yoke of Nazi oppression. Joining up with the remnants of the Resistance in the Free Zone—and allied with such notable commanders as George Patton and John F. Kennedy—Strang is suddenly a marked man and the last hope in a desperate fight for freedom, not only on this world but on countless others. For a war unlike any other is raging across time and dimensions, threatening every possible Earth, including Strang’s own. And the enemy will not rest until the entire multiverse is in chains. In his epic and action-packed science fiction saga the Timeline Wars, John Barnes takes alternate-history SF to new heights, ingeniously reinventing and reinvigorating a genre popularized by such acclaimed authors as Harry Turtledove while joining the stellar ranks of Robert Heinlein and Joe Haldeman.

Prepare yourself for a journey through the world of Patton Oswalt, one of the most creative, insightful, and hysterical voices on the entertain­ment scene today. Widely known for his roles in the films Big Fan and Ratatouille, as well as the television hit The King of Queens, Patton Oswalt—a staple of Comedy Central—has been amusing audiences for decades. Now, with Zombie Spaceship Wasteland, he offers a fascinating look into his most unusual, and lovable, mindscape. Oswalt combines memoir with uproarious humor, from snow forts to Dungeons & Dragons to gifts from Grandma that had to be explained. He remem­bers his teen summers spent working in a movie Cineplex and his early years doing stand-up. Readers are also treated to several graphic elements, includ­ing a vampire tale for the rest of us and some greeting cards with a special touch. Then there’s the book’s centerpiece, which posits that before all young creative minds have anything to write about, they will home in on one of three story lines: zom­bies, spaceships, or wastelands. Oswalt chose wastelands, and ever since he has been mining our society’s wasteland for perversion and excess, pop culture and fatty foods, indie rock and single-malt scotch. Zombie Spaceship Wasteland is an inventive account of the evolution of Patton Oswalt’s wildly insightful worldview, sure to indulge his legion of fans and lure many new admirers to his very entertaining “wasteland.”

"Between 1995 and 1999, Patton Oswalt lived with an unshakable addiction. It wasn't drugs, alcohol or sex: it was film. After moving to L.A., Oswalt became a huge film buff (or as he calls it, a sprocket fiend), absorbing classics, cult hits, and new releases at the New Beverly Cinema. Silver screen celluloid became Patton's life schoolbook, informing his notion of acting, writing, comedy, and relationships. Set in the nascent days of L.A.'s alternative comedy scene, Oswalt's memoir chronicles his journey from fledgling stand-up comedian to self-assured sitcom actor, with the colorful New Beverly collective and a cast of now-notable young comedians supporting him all along the way"--

It is the year 2129 . . . and fame is all that matters Susan and her friends are celebutantes. Their lives are powered by media awareness, fed by engineered meals, and underscored by cynicism. Everyone has a rating; the more viewers who ID you, the better. So Susan and her almost-boyfriend Derlock cook up a surefire plan: the nine of them will visit a Mars-bound spaceship and stow away. Their survival will be a media sensation, boosting their ratings across the globe. There's only one problem: Derlock is a sociopath. Breakneck narrative, pointed cultural commentary, warm heart, accurate science, a kickass heroine, and a ticking clock . . . who could ask for more?

The war for a million Earths spreads to an alternate eighteenth century in the second book of the epic science fiction series the Timeline Wars John Barnes has reinvented alternate-history science fiction in his ingenious saga of the battle to save the multiverse from enslavement by an alien enemy who can transcend time and reality. In the second volume of his remarkable trilogy, the war moves to a new battlefield: a different colonial America still happily tied to the British crown, where miraculous machines prowl the skies. There are a million different Earths across an infinite number of timelines—and every one of them is in peril. Former Pittsburgh private investigator Mark Strang is now a fully trained and blooded Crux Ops special agent, dedicated to the fight against the alien Closers who are invading every Earth in every time. Now the eternal struggle is carrying Strang to a different 1775 Boston, home of astounding technologies, where the colonists remain fiercely loyal to their king across the ocean. Something is rotten in England, though, and Strang must ally himself with the well-respected commander George Washington, the Duke of Kentucky, to derail a terrifying Closer plot and put this world’s history back on its proper course. But the enemy has unleashed a secret weapon that could permanently shift the balance: an unstoppable agent of destruction . . . named Mark Strang.

General George S. Patton. His tongue was as sharp as the cavalry saber he once wielded, and his fury as explosive as the shells he’d ordered launched from his tank divisions. Despite his profane, posturing manner, and the sheer enthusiasm for conflict that made both his peers and the public uncomfortable, Patton’s very presence commanded respect. Had his superiors given him free rein, the U.S. Army could have claimed victory in Berlin as early as November of 1944. General Erwin Rommel. His battlefield manner was authoritative, his courage proven in the trenches of World War I when he was awarded the Blue Max. He was a front line soldier who led by example from the turrets of his Panzers. Appointed to command Adolf Hitler’s personal security detail, Rommel had nothing for contempt for the atrocities perpetrated by the Reich. His role in the Führer’s assassination attempt led to his downfall. Except for a brief confrontation in North Africa, these two legendary titans never met in combat. Patton and Rommel is the first single-volume study to deal with the parallel lives of two generals who earned not only the loyalty and admiration of their own men, but the respect of their enemies, and the enmity of the leaders they swore to obey. From the origins of their military prowess, forged on the battlefields of World War I, to their rise through the ranks, to their inevitable clashes with political authority, military historian Dennis Showalter presents a riveting portrait of two men whose battle strategies changed the face of warfare and continue to be studied in military academies around the globe.

Science fiction-roman.

Blending alternate history, time travel, and detective thriller, the “able and impressive” Nebula and Hugo Award nominee gives us Nazis, Tories, and togas (The Washington Post). An attack by time-hopping terrorists turns Mark Strang’s life upside down, and the Pittsburgh art historian discovers his calling as a bodyguard for hire. Strap yourself in for a ride through alternate timelines in this action-packed series that combines sci-fi, time travel, alien invasion, and high-tech adventure. Patton’s Spaceship: When he learns the aliens behind the terrorists who destroyed his old life are trying to take control of timelines and subject them to totalitarian rule, Mark Strang will journey to a not-too-distant past to stop them—and get revenge. But he lands in a timeline where America lost World War II. He can help the resistance with his knowledge of future technology, but is he permanently trapped in a Nazi-controlled past? Washington’s Dirigible: With the inhuman Closers still threatening timelines, Strang joins forces with their enemies, the ATN. He and time agent Chrysamen ja N’wook travel to an alternate colonial America to locate a missing operative and find that the colonies are on friendly terms with England and George Washington reigns as Duke of Kentucky. But he has one real enemy here—himself. Caesar’s Bicycle: On assignment in ancient Rome, Mark Strang discovers the Closers have infiltrated the timeline and Julius Caesar is under their influence. Even as the Closers rewrite history to tip the scales in their favor, Strang is reluctant to assassinate an important government figure. But as he delays, his life—and those of his companions—hang in the balance, and they face a gruesome demise.

Joshua Ali Quare wakes in 2109 at the age of 140 in a strong youthful body with no memory of his past, to find he is at the center of a vast and deadly conspiracy. The only clues to his identity are the records he has left--messages from the man he once was... As Quare journeys through his past, he discovers he has been a key figure in the history of a turbulent, violent century--soldier, criminal, assassin, spy. A century filled with killing plagues and warring cults, ruthless corporations and dying nations. A century where treachery is often the only way to survive. Now someone is looking for him. Someone from his past. And Quare must learn the terrifying secret of his history before it unleashed devastating consequences for the future of the human race. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

In the middle of the Pacific, a gigantic hurricane accidentally triggered by nuclear explosions spawns dozens more in its wake. A world linked by a virtual-reality network experiences the devastation first hand, witnessing the death of civilization as we know it and the violent birth of an emerging global consciousness. Vast in scope, yet intimate in personal detail, Mother of Storms is a visionary fusion of cutting-edge cyberspace fiction and heart-stopping storytelling in the grand tradition, filled with passion, tragedy, and the triumph of the human spirit. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.