A Call to Deception

THE BEST IN MILITARY SCIENCE FICTION SPACE OPERA FROM DAVID WEBER AND TIMOTHY ZAHN AND HONORVERSE EXPERT THOMAS POPE To weather the storm . . . The youthful Star Kingdom of Manticore is only a single, tiny star nation on the fringe of the explored galaxy. It has no Army, only a tiny Navy, and no merchant marine at all. By any interstellar measure, it is insignificant. Despite which, it has somehow acquired a very significant enemy. One which has engineered major attacks upon its territory. One which has worked long and hard to destabilize any alliances that might aid the Star Kingdom in its defense. And one which has struck from the shadows, weaving webs of secrecy and deception to conceal its identity, its resources, or even the reason behind its attacks. Yet Queen Elizabeth II and her advisors know there must be a reason, whether they know what it is or not. They are digging deep for clues . . . and they have begun getting dangerously close to answers. Their enemy knows that, and it has prepared a last ditch effort to decapitate the Star Kingdom, throw it into disarray. A last ditch effort which may claim Elizabeth’s life. But there are more players in the game then even Manticore's enemy realizes. Deception is about to meet counter-deception, fleets are about to meet fleets, and the tiny Star Kingdom of Manticore is about to open the door to future greatness. Assuming it survives.

With more than eight million copies of his books in print and 33 titles on the New York Times bestseller list, David Weber is a science fiction powerhouse. In the vastly popular Honor Harrington series, the spirit of C.S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower and Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander lives on—into the galactic future. Books in the Honor Harrington and Honorverse series have appeared on 29 bestseller lists, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and USA Today. Additional Honorverse collaborations include the spin-off miniseries Manticore Ascendant with New York Times best-selling author, Timothy Zahn; and with Eric Flint, Crown of Slaves and Cauldron of Ghosts contribute to his illustrious list of New York Times and international bestseller lists. Best known for his spirited, modern-minded space operas, Weber is also the creator of the Oath of Swords fantasy series and the Dahak saga, a science fiction and fantasy hybrid. Weber has also engaged in a steady stream of best-selling collaborations: the Starfire Series with Steve White; The Empire of Man Series with John Ringo; the Multiverse Series with Linda Evans and Joelle Presby; the Ring of Fire Series with Eric Flint; and the Gordian Division Series with Jacob Holo. David Weber makes his home in South Carolina with his wife and children. Timothy Zahn is a Hugo Award winner and the author of the New York Times #1 bestseller, Heir to the Empire, as well as the best-selling Star Wars: Thrawn series of novels. Born in Chicago, he earned a B.S. in physics from Michigan State University and an M.S. in physics from the University of Illinois. He sold his first story to Analog in 1978 and immediately attracted attention as a new writer of science fiction based on real, cutting-edge science. Baen published his popular Cobra trilogy in one volume. His other popular series include the Conqueror and Dragonback novels. With David Weber and Thomas Pope, he is the author of novels A Call to Duty, A Call to Arms, A Call to Vengeance, and A Call to Insurrection. Zahn has written more than 50 novels, including the recent Cobra Rebellion series entries Cobra Outlaw and Cobra Traitor. He is frequently a guest at comic cons and Star Wars events. Thomas Pope is a founder of BuNine, a collection of professionals assisting David Weber in defining and documenting the Honorverse. Tom served as lead editor for House of Steel and is collaborating with David Weber and Timothy Zahn on a new series set in the early days of the Manticoran Navy. He lives in Pittsburgh with his wife, two children, and a constantly growing menagerie of pets.