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In this issue: Troy Rising shows us exactly how dangerous humanity can be, and Unbearable brings Arthurian legendry to modern day L.A.!
Books on Sale in Bookstores September 1, 2026
Praise for the Troy Rising series:
“. . . infused with plenty of old-fashioned two-fisted can-do attitude, a heavy dose of science, and occasional bursts of dry humor . . .” —Publishers Weekly on Live Free or Die
“Ringo is back with a rousing tale of derring-do in space . . . [He] is as good as ever, giving the reader an epic space opera complete with grand vistas and large-scale numbers and keeping it humming with . . . pungent writing, snappy characters, and gallows humor.” —Booklist on Citadel
Danger, Here Be Humans!
First the Glatun came, and we learned we were not alone in the galaxy. Then the Horvath arrived, and we learned the galaxy was a dangerous place. But our alien enemies underestimated how dangerous we could be.
It’s been over fifteen years since New York Times best-selling author John Ringo’s Live Free or Die dropped us into a war we didn’t want and couldn’t win, or so it seemed. From that first volume through Citadel and The Hot Gate, he let us experience the triumph of the human spirit through our entrepreneurial creativity, native-born toughness, and sheer patriotic stubbornness. We marveled at gargantuan technological accomplishments so well imagined they seemed not only possible but inevitable, and equally larger-than-life characters that seemed just as remarkable and even more real.
Now, for the first time, John has permitted a select cadre of authors to write new stories in his Troy Rising universe. In this volume, you’ll find stories of espionage and subterfuge, daring and cleverness, courage and sacrifice, told with heart and humor and, above all, humanity, including an all-new short novel by John Ringo and stories by Adam Oyebanji, Mike Massa, Marisa Wolf, Michael Mersault, Casey Moores, Michael Gants, Karl K. Gallagher, Chris Kennedy, and Jason Cordova & Melissa Olthoff.
Get Troy Rising here.
Praise for A. Lee Martinez:
“Eccentric characters, all of whom are clever twists on stereotypes, populate a smart, rocket-fast read with a clever, twisty plot that comes to a satisfying conclusion.” —Publishers Weekly on The Automatic Detective
“Martinez (Too Many Curses) pokes at big-picture questions, like the nature of the universe and the meaning of life, with abundant, zany humor in this charming tale.” — Publishers Weekly on Monster
The Fate of the World is in His Hands.
Sorry About That.
A sword. A dragon. A lowlife.
Ortiz is a man without grand ambition or talent. He survives by being mildly useful and eminently disposable, destined to end up in a shallow grave. But on the day he’s digging that grave, he discovers a magic sword. Not just any magic sword, but the magic sword: A weapon that keeps away the apocalypse in the form of an all-devouring dragon.
He’s the last guy who should bear it, but where can a man surrounded by the worst people find a hero to rise to the challenge? And how can he give away a sword that keeps his mob boss from killing him, a dragon from stepping on him, and his girlfriend from leaving?
Trapped between the Waking and Dreaming Worlds, from shadowy streets to the golden halls of Avalon, against criminal thugs and living myths, he’ll need smarts and luck—things he’s always had in short supply—if he’s going to figure out how to claw his way up from the bottom rung of a lousy life.
And maybe keep the world from ending, if he has time.
Get Unbearable here.
September Ebooks Sale
Celebrate Troy Rising!
Details here!
September Contest
Choose your blade!
Find out how to enter this month's contest here.
August Contest Winners
Our congratulations to the winners of last month’s contest! They have won ebook copies of Shami Stovall’s One-Fifth Dragon.
- Alisa Frisch
- Cecelia Watson
- Denny Wheeler
- Dave Mac
- David Ball
- Dustin Roberson
- Frank Steele
- Miguel Moreira
- Mike Ekelund
- Nathan Glasser
- Rick Mathis
- Robert Perkins
- Ronald Wochner
- Steelwing (no name given)
Don't Touch That Dial:
Listen to or Watch
the Baen Free Radio Hour
Coming soon to the Baen Free Radio Hour:
Coming soon to the Baen Free Radio Hour: Jeremy Comeaux interviews A. Lee Martinez on his first Baen novel, Unbearable. John Ringo, Gray Rinehart and other authors of Troy Rising sit down with Sean Hazlett, then Sean Hazlett returns to discuss Horngard with Elizabeth Moon!
Listen to the Baen Free Radio Hour now.
Missed past episodes? No problem. We’ve got every episode archived for your listening pleasure. All previous episodes are also archived at Baen’s YouTube and Rumble channels. And check out the new optional video podcast format!
April Books
Free Reads
FREE FICTION
Read this month’s free fiction, “The Road That Wouldn’t Stay Drawn,” by Hridoy Kundu. Kundu’s story is the 2026 winner of the Baen Fantasy Adventure Award for short fiction.
Read, “The Road That Wouldn’t Stay Drawn" here.
FREE NONFICTION
Check out this month’s nonfiction, “The Bionic Martian,” which gives us a deep dive into the science and engineering choices behind Dr. Robert E. Hampson’s The Sands of Mars, released August 4th!
Read, “The Bionic Martian" here.
September Books
Troy Rising
ed. by John Ringo & Gray Rinehart
(hardcover)
It’s been over fifteen years since New York Times best-selling author John Ringo’s Live Free or Die dropped us into a war we didn’t want and couldn’t win, or so it seemed. Now, for the first time, John has permitted a select cadre of authors to write new stories in his Troy Rising universe. In this volume, you’ll find stories of espionage and subterfuge, daring and cleverness, courage and sacrifice, told with heart and humor and, above all, humanity, including an all-new short novel by John Ringo and stories by Adam Oyebanji, Mike Massa, Marisa Wolf, Michael Mersault, Casey Moores, Michael Gants, Karl K. Gallagher, Chris Kennedy, and Jason Cordova & Melissa Olthoff.
Unbearable
A. Lee Martinez
(hardcover)
A sword. A dragon. A lowlife.
Ortiz survives by being mildly useful and eminently disposable, destined to end up in a shallow grave. But on the day he’s digging that grave, he discovers a magic sword. Not just any magic sword, but the magic sword: A weapon that keeps away the apocalypse in the form of an all-devouring dragon. He’s the last guy who should bear it, but where can a man surrounded by the worst people find a hero to rise to the challenge? And how can he give away a sword that keeps his mob boss from killing him, a dragon from stepping on him, and his girlfriend from leaving?
And maybe keep the world from ending, if he has time.
The Mills of the Gods
Tim Powers
(trade paperback)
PARIS, 1925: HARRY NOLAN is an expatriate American, making a meager living as an illustrator for a low-paying magazine, but his life is upended when he illustrates an article about the death of a god—because a centuries-old French brotherhood, the sauteurs, are determined to suppress the story. VIVI CHASTAIN is a rootless 19-year-old orphan who sustains herself by betting on horse races—aided by the spirit of the man she was in a previous life. From the narrow streets and rooftops of post-war Paris to a remote village in Spain, Nolan and Vivi contend with forces natural and supernatural, enemies living and dead, and ultimately find themselves pitted against a god—at peril of their eternal souls.
Divided Allegiance
Elizabeth Moon
(trade paperback)
Once a sheepfarmer’s daughter, now a seasoned veteran, Paksenarrion has proven herself a fighter. Years with Duke Phelan’s Company taught her weaponry, discipline, and how to react as part of a military unit. Now, though, Paks feels spurred to a solitary destiny. Against all odds she is accepted as a paladin-candidate by the fellowship of Gird. Years of study will follow, for a paladin must be versed in diplomacy and magic as well as the fighting arts. But before she is fully trained, Paks is called on her first mission: to seek out the fabled stronghold of Luap far to the west. The way is long, the dangers many—and not even the Marshal-General of Gird can say whether glory or ruin awaits.
Rebel
David Weber & Richard Fox
(mass market paperback)
The Five Hundred, the elite families who rule the Terran Federation, have grown steadily wealthier and more powerful, thanks to the war against the Terran League. War may be hard on the people who get caught in its path, but it’s very good for business. Enter Terrence Murphy, a man of honor who loves the Federation, who springs from the Five Hundred, yet knows it for what it is and is determined to speak for its victims. But the five hundred have dispatched ample force to deal with him and his handful of lunatic followers. The Five Hundred have fatally underestimated Terrence Murphy.
To Turn the Tide
S.M. Stirling
(mass market paperback)
Everyone could see the end coming. But one man could do something about it. Oh, he couldn’t avert the nuclear holocaust, but a scientist in Austria, ruthlessly using billions of research dollars for his own purposes, set up an out for himself; he created a time machine, and filled a warehouse with low-tech survival gear. A team of American grad students, led by their professor, is sent back to the late Roman Empire in the time of Marcus Aurelius. Even though they are experts on this time and place, they are about to realize that reading books and living experience are very different things. If they can survive, they hope to remake the world into a better place. But that’s a big “if.”
Baen Appearances
Griffin Barber, D.J. Butler, James L. Cambias, Bob Eggleton, Esther Friesner, Robert E. Hampson, A.C. Haskins, Walter H. Hunt, Wil McCarthy, Larry Niven, Jody Lynn Nye, Gray Rinehart, S.M. Stirling, Shami Stovall, Toni Weisskopf, Marisa Wolf, Timothy Zahn
September 3 - 7
DragonCon
Atlanta, GA
www.dragoncon.org/
Michael Z. Williamson
September 4 - 6
Indy 1500 Gun & Knife Show
Indianapolis, IN
www.indy1500.com/
Kacey Ezell
Les Johnson
Shami Stovall
John Van Stry
September 25 - 27
P-Con
Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX
www.p-con.us/
Lydia Sherrer
September 25 - 27
Cincinnati Comic Expo
Cincinnati, OH
www.cincyexpos.com/cincinnati-comic-expo-homepage
Timothy Zahn
September 25 - 27
Necronomicon
Tampa, FL
https://necrofl.org/
© 2026 Baen Publishing Enterprises