The Buck Starts Here! Think there's an unbridgeable gulf between human and alien thought Not so! There's a common tongue, all right -- and Nicholas Van Rijn speaks it fluently: TRADE. For behind the buffoonish blarney and bawdy bonhomie of the Falstaffian Van Rijn is a man who gets things done. A born wheeler-dealer who usually leaves both sides better off in the bargain. (While pocketing a hefty cut of the profits himself, of course!) With The Man Who Counts and a passel of other tales included, this is the first of three volumes set to contain the complete cycle of _Polesotechnic LeagueÓ books and stories by transcendently-gifted science fiction master (how does seven Hugos and three Nebula Awards strike you ) Poul Anderson _ and starring Nicholas Van Rijn, his most famous character of all! At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).

Nicholas van Rijn, the most flamboyant member of the Polesotechnic League of star traders, could see dark times ahead. Fellow league members were using tactics verging on outright piracy, and others were all too eager to sell starships and high-tech weapons to alien barbarians. A planet not previously known for interstellar commerce suddenly revealed a secret fleet of armed starships, and started building an empire. Even if Van Rijn and his right-hand man David Falkayn could find a way to stop this blatant aggression, the glory days of the League were over. Hereafter, for its own protection against well-armed alien marauders the Earth must maintain a strong military fleet, and one charismatic man would found an empire that would learn nothing of the lessons history taught about the fates of other empires as it began annexing other star systems, whether they wanted to join the Terran Empire or not . . . This is the third volume in the first complete edition of Poul Anderson's Technic Civilization saga, and it includes a classic novella which appears here in book form for the first time. And the next volume begins the adventures of Poul Anderson's other legendary character, Captain Sir Dominic Flandry. At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).

A KNIGHT WITHOUT ARMOR IN A SAVAGE GALAXY Captain Dominic Flandry has been knighted for his many services to the Terran Empire¾an Empire which is old, jaded, and corrupt, as Flandry well knows¾but he also knows that the Empire is better than anything that is likely to take its place. And while that _SirÓ before his name may be an added attraction to comely ladies (not that he has ever lacked for the pleasant company of the same), he expects that it will also bring him less welcome attention from envious _colleaguesÓ within the empire. What it is not likely to do is make him more of an object of interest to the alien Merseians, whose plots against the Empire he has repeatedly foiled. They already are as aware as they can be of how much simpler their plans to rule the galaxy would be if their most dangerous adversary were the late Sir Dominic Flandry. This is the sixth volume in the first complete edition of Poul Andersons Technic Civilization saga. At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). _These are stories of the classic science fiction tradition: hard science and tough characters in logically well integrated action stories.Ó ¾Jerry Pournelle _One of science fictions authentic geniuses.Ó ¾Chicago Sun-Times _The winner of seven Hugos and three Nebulas . . . one of the towering figures of modern SF and fantasy.Ó ¾Publishers Weekly _Anderson fuses elegiac prose and a sweeping vision of mans technological future as only he can. . . .Ó ¾Booklist

It is the twilight of the Terran Empire. The warriors who made it great are long gone now, and the Traders of the Polesotechnic League who made it possible are the dimly-remembered stuff of legend. Alien enemies prowl its outer precincts, and Sector Governors conspire for the Throne of Man. On Terra herself, those who occupy the labyrinthine corridors of power busy themselves with trivialities and internal politics, as outside the final darkness gathers. In this scene of terminal disarray one man stands like a giant: Dominic Flandry, Agent of the Terran Empire. In three full-length novels, he will rise from young ensign to lieutenant commander as he outthinks rivals and thwarts adversaries, blazing a trail across the galaxy in defense of an Empire which barely appreciates him and against alien enemies who appreciate him all too well. At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).

Captain Dominic Flandry, Science Fiction’s James Bond, in a Large Volume of Blazing Science Fiction Adventure. The Fifth Volume of the Complete Technic Civilization Saga. No longer a brash, young ensign, Captain Dominic Flandry has risen in rank, but now appreciates fully that the Terran empire is old and tired, wanting to be left in peace. But the enemies it has made and the competing empire of Merseia will give it no peace. Too evenly matched for open warfare not to destroy them both, the opponents engage in subtle thrust and counter-thrust, feint and counter-feint, with Flandry in the thick of it. Though through this and his succeeding adventures he will struggle gloriously and snatch victory from the alien jaws of defeat, Flandry is yet a tragic figure: a man who knows too much history, who knows that battle, scheme and even betray as he will, in the end it will mean nothing. For with the relentlessness of physical law the Empire is falling and the Long Night is approaching. If that darkness is not to fall in his own lifetime, if the things he cares about are to be saved, he must do what he can. And anyone, human or alien, who gets in his way will most definitely regret it.

When You Trade Upon a Star! Think self-congratulating Federation lackeys are going to be the ones to boldly go where no one has gone before Think again! Now second-son of nobility David Falkayn, hot to prove his worth, leads a team of alien capitalists through deadly threat and gnarly interplanetary dilemma. The mission: to keep intergalactic trade forever free¾and always profitable! The second of three volumes of the complete cycle of "Polesotechnic League" books and stories by transcendently-gifted science fiction master (how does seven Hugos and three Nebula Awards strike you ) Poul Anderson! At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). "One of science fiction's authentic geniuses."¾Chicago Sun-Times

Sir Dominic Flandry is now an Admiral, but takes little joy in his new rank. He sees the rot in the Terran Empire on every hand and knows that the Long Night will inevitably fall upon the galaxy. His consolation is that measures he has taken while doing what he can to postpone the Empire's final collapse may shorten the coming galactic dark age and hasten the rise of a new interstellar civilization. In the meantime, he'll enjoy the comforts of a decadent civilization-and he'll always be ready for one more battle against the Empire's enemies. This concluding volume of the Technic Civilization saga, one of the milestones of modern science fiction includes two full-length novels: A Stone in Heaven - When the daughter of Flandry's mentor asks for help, he intervenes, and finds he must thwart a would-be dictator's plans to seize control of the Empire.The Game of Empire -The Merseians, alien enemies of the Empire, have put into motion an insidious plan to bring the Terran Empire down. Flandry's daughter, Diana, and her feline-like alien friend have discovered the conspiracy, but can they stop it in time? Plus three novellas and a novelette set in the time of the Long Night and the renaissance of civilization which followed it, concluding one of the grandest adventure sagas in science fiction. At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).

Their space-yacht, pursued by angry Adderkops thirsting for their blood, has run into serious engine trouble. Picking up the trail of another alien spaceship, they decide to board it and force its crew to take them home. But once aboard, its not so easy to find the crew: they're faced with cages full of bizarre, other-wordly animals: Tiger apes, Elephantoids, Gorilloids, Caterpiggles, Helmet beasts, Tentacle centaurs. One set of these extraordinary creatures must be the crew, in hiding. But which? Survival depends on finding the right answer...

The multiple-award-winning sf classic from the acclaimed author of Was. In the city of the future, humans photosynthesize, viruses educate people, organics have replaced electronics . . . and almost no one lives past 40. The outcast Milena feels alone--until she meets the genetically engineered Rolfa.

Winner of the British Fantasy Award: The ancient legend of the Danish Viking king is retold in a tale of vengeance, battles, magic, and monsters. In the court of the Anglo-Saxon king, a visiting storyteller regales the assembled nobles with the enthralling tale of her faraway land’s most revered hero: the Viking Hrolf Kraki. Born of an incestuous union into a royal family with a history of violence, jealousy, usurpation, and murder, Hrolf assembled a loyal band of the mightiest champions in the realm and expanded his small kingdom through wisdom, courage, and conquest. Unbeaten on the battlefield, his great deeds and victories became legends throughout the North as he ushered in an era of peace and prosperity. But Hrolf’s desire for vengeance was ever the warrior-king’s driving force, as he sought the truth about his father’s murder. This obsession would threaten Hrolf’s life and his rule—and ultimately bring his great kingdom to ruin. Poul Anderson, one of the acknowledged giants of twentieth-century fantasy, employs his unparalleled storytelling talents to bring Denmark’s great Viking king to life. A saga that predates the stories of King Arthur and his knights and Shakespeare’s Hamlet, while echoing the Oedipus and Beowulf myths, the Norse legend of Hrolf Kraki takes on a new and breathtaking richness in this classic novel the Guardian described as “full of thrills.”