Tom Kratman - Böcker

“Slavery is a part of Islam . . . Slavery is part of jihad, and jihad will remain as long there is Islam.” —Sheikh Saleh Al-Fawzan, author of the religious textbook At-Tawhid (“Monotheism”) and senior Saudi cleric. Demography is destiny. In the 22nd cent

A Desert Called Peace

Carnifex

First time in Paperback! Military Science Fiction by the author of ADesert Called Peace and A State Of Disobedience.

The latest in the New York Times Bestselling Posleen Warseries and the direct sequel to Yellow Eyes.

In the near-possible world of Caliphate, Europe is an Islamicstronghold and the staging ground for the Final Jihad against the Great Satan— America!

Sometimes paranoia is just a heightened state of awareness. Carrera's wonhis war, and inflicted a horrific revenge upon his enemies. But there are warsafter wars. The Tauran Union is planning an attack. The criminals of neighboringstates are already attacking, and threatening to embroil him in a war with theplanet's premier power. His only living son is under fire among the windsweptmountains of Pashtia. An enemy fleet is hunting his submarines. His organizationhas been infiltrated by spies. One of the two governments of his adoptedcountry, Balboa, is trying to destroy everything he's built and reinstitute ruleby a corrupt oligarchy. Worst of all, perhaps, he, himself, bearing a crushingburden of guilt, isn't quite the man he once was. Fortunately, the man he oncewas, was lucky enough to marry the right woman.... The Lotus Eaters is the direct sequel to A Desert Called Peaceand Carnifex.

A direct sequel to Yellow Eyes! Of the once innumerable battle clansof the Posleen only a handful survive. And that on the sufferance of a group ofdespised Indowy and Himmit. Plucked from the maelstrom on Earth, they are castout into the eternal blackness of the stars with only a slightly insane Indowyand a computer virus to guide them. What follows is a trail of tears andremembrance as the Posleen retrace the footsteps of their ancestors in a searchfor their homeworld. A search to determine if the Posleen posess the one thingno Human would give them credit for: A soul.

Number Five in the Carerra military science fiction series and the sequel toAmazon Legion! Carrera. Relentless. Machiavellian. Without compunction. Victorious. Pityhis enemies. Be thankful he is on the side of freedom from totalitariandomination. On the colony planet of Terra Nova, soldier-turned-political leaderCarrera has achieved his revenge, destroying those who killed his wife andchildren in a terrorist strike, and helping to establish a free country. ButCarrera’s fight isn't over! War with the Tauran Union is inevitable, andCarrera has been preparing his new country for this all-out conflict for years,intending to drive out the last vestige of foreign imperialism in Balboa, theTauran Union Security Force. And, he doesn't care that he's outnumberedone-hundred to one!

Books #6 in Tom Kratman's Carrera military science fictionseries.Tarawa. Iwo. Normandy. Names that shine in the military history of twoworlds, places where brave men stormed ashore and fought their way to victory nomatter the odds. But then there are other names: Marathon. Malta. Gallipoli.Balboa’s Patricio Carrera has driven the Tauran Union from his adoptedcountry, driven them out with appalling loss and worse humiliation. That’snot enough though. To finally finish his enemies, Carrera needs to draw themback for a more telling defeat. He cannot take the battle to them because,beyond some long range bombardment capability, he cannot reach them. But whenthey return, they don’t plan to come alone; they insist on having someoneelse do most of the bleeding for them. Carrera understands this. Andthat’s why he’s provoked the Zhong Guo mercilessly, infuriatingtheir ruling Empress. He needs the Zhong in the war, to buck up the Taurans tocontinue the war to its bitterest end. Now, Carrera’s enemies are about tolearn why the expression "blood-stained water" is not just a literaryallusion.

On the colony planet of Terra Nova, soldier-turned-political leader Carrerahas achieved his revenge, destroying those who killed his wife and children in aterrorist strike, and helping to establish a free country. But Carrera’sfight is not over. War with the Tauran Union is inevitable. Carrera has beenpreparing his new country for this all-out conflict for years, intending todrive out the last vestige of foreign imperialism in Balboa, the Tauran UnionSecurity Force. He doesn't care that he's outnumbered one hundred to one. Hedoesn't care that the Taurans are one thousand times wealthier. A trueMachiavellian, Carrera is convinced that gold cannot always find good soldiers,but that good soldiers can always find gold. But then his own government calls ahalt even as the commander of the United Earth Peace Fleet, High AdmiralMarguerite Wallenstein, injects a dose of realism and spine into the TauranUnion. Any other government, giving similar orders, Carrera would overthrowwithout hesitation. But this is his own creation; he must follow these orders.But the Taurans are provoking Balboa mercilessly, and Carrera knows that sooneror later, he must fight — only now the task will be more difficult andmore bloody. No matter. When that time comes, Carerra knows he will do whateverit takes to win. He is, after all, Carrera.

Balboa’s Patricio Carrera has driven the Tauran Union from his adoptedcountry, driven them out with appalling loss and worse, humiliation.That’s not enough though. To finally finish his enemies, Carrera needs todraw them back for a more telling defeat. He cannot take the battle to thembecause, beyond some long range bombardment capability, he cannot reach them.But when they return, they don’t plan to come alone; they insist on havingsomeone else do most of the bleeding for them. Carrera understands this. Andthat’s why he’s provoked the Zhong Guo mercilessly, infuriatingtheir ruling Empress. He needs the Zhong in the war, to buck up the Taurans tocontinue the war to its bitterest end and not unending stalemate.

Carrera's held off his enemies coming by sea from the north, in the process dealing the naval and amphibious forces of the Zhong Empire a stinging defeat.  The Zhong won't soon forget the blood-stained waters and the heaped up bodies on the shores of Balb

"Send us your tired, your poor," says the inscription at the base of the great statue, "your huddled masses yearning to be free." But the future of the colony planet, Terra Nova, and its relations with Old Earth is far more a case of "boot out your tired, your poor, your dissidents and troublemakers.  Use us for a dumping ground for all your problems.  Go ahead and abandon these here." This may have been fine, too, but for the UN and its corrupt bureaucracy insisting on maintaining control and milking the new world and its settlers, willing and unwilling both, bone dry.  Contained herein are tales of the history of Mankind's future first colony, from the first failed attempt at colonization, to the rise in crime, to the rise in terrorism, to its descent into widespread civil war and rebellion...and ultimately liberation.  As with most of human history, this history is messy, with good men and women turning bad, bad men and women inadvertently doing good, and blood flowing in the streets.Stories set in Tom Kratman’s Carrera series byKasey Ezell   Mike Massa                Rob Hampson                 Chris Smith         Peter Grant                      Chris Nutall         Justin Watson                                    Monalisa Foster                Alex Macris                       Lawrence Railey   and Tom Kratman          About Tom Kratman’s Carrera series:“[I]nterplanetary warfare with. . .[a] visceral story of bravery and sacrifice . . . fans of the military SF of John Ringo and David Weber should enjoy this SF action adventure.”–Library Journal“Kratman's dystopia is a brisk page turner full of startling twists … [Kratman is] a professional military man … up to speed on military and geopolitical conceits.” –Best-selling author of America Alone Mark Steyn on Tom Kratman’s uncompromising military SF thriller, Caliphate“Kratman raises disquieting questions on what it might take to win the war on terror…realistic action sequences, strong characterizations and thoughts on the philosophy of war.” – Publishers WeeklyCarerra Series:A Desert Called Peace Carnifex The Lotus Eaters The Amazon Legion Come and Take ThemThe Rods and the AxeA Pillar of Fire by Night

GIVE ME BACK MY LEGIONS! In September of the year 9 A.D. three Roman legions are trapped in the Teutoburg Forest by tens of thousands of rebelling Germanic tribesmen under the Romano-German renegade, Arminius. In an attempt to save what can be saved, an alien starship transports one of those legions, Legio XIIX, to safety. But the aliens are rushed by events and transport the XIIXth not just in space, but through time as well. Dropped four centuries into their future, under the leadership of their first spear centurion, Marcus Caelius and the young but promising junior tribune, Gaius Pompeius, Legio XIIX must fight to survive almost from the first moments of arrival. Moreover, they must march and fight across a continent to find their way home. Because home, the Roman Empire, needs them—their discipline, their tactics, their indomitable fortitude—more desperately than it has ever needed anything . . . because New Years Eve, 406 A.D. is coming, and with it, a horde of barbarians are going to cross the frozen Rhine and, unless stopped cold, destroy the Empire.

When Patricio Carrera’s family was murdered by Salafist terrorists aided and abetted by the fleet of alien Earth, the only restraint on his ruthlessness and ambition was also removed. Now, after decades of war and preparation for war in his adopted homeland of Balboa, the last of the Tauran Union Expeditionary Force collapses and is herded into prison camps and ships, where their re-education commences.An Islamic rebellion explodes inside the Tauran Union, bringing the governments and the bureaucracies to their knees . . . except when they’re hauled up by their necks on lampposts. In neighboring Santa Josefina, the Taurans’ Task Force Jesuit is pinned into one small corner of the country, helplessly awaiting destruction. At sea, the Balboan classis and the remaining fleet of the Zhong Hegemony battle for the supply lines that keep the invading Zhong Army in Balboa alive, while the legions, now rid of the Taurans, redeploy against the Zhong, vengeance and massacre in their hearts and minds. And finally, Hamilcar Carrera, Patricio’s young son, stands poised on the bridge of a clandestine assault transport, ready to obliterate the last enemy base on his planet, even as a small ship is poised to remove the alien interstellar fleet overhead.About the Carrera series:“[I]nterplanetary warfare with . . . [a] visceral story of bravery and sacrifice . . . fans of the military SF of John Ringo and David Weber should enjoy this SF action adventure.”—Library Journal“Kratman's dystopia is a brisk page turner full of startling twists . . . [Kratman is] a professional military man . . . up to speed on military and geopolitical conceits.”—Best-selling author of America Alone Mark Steyn on Tom Kratman’s uncompromising military SF thriller Caliphate“Kratman raises disquieting questions on what it might take to win the war on terror . . . realistic action sequences, strong characterizations, and thoughts on the philosophy of war.”—Publishers Weekly About Tom Kratman:"[Baen publisher] Toni [Weisskopf] and I disagree about everything except about how good his books are."—John BirminghamCarrera Series:A Desert Called Peace Carnifex The Lotus Eaters The Amazon Legion Come and Take ThemThe Rods and the AxeA Pillar of Fire by NightDays of Burning, Days of Wrath

Mankind's history is bound up in the fabric of fate, a strong cloth, tough and closely woven.  It is the beginning of 1918, the last year of the greatest war in human history, to date.  All the belligerents stagger on their feet.  Starvation is an ever present reality, while disease waits in the wings.  In Russia, no longer a belligerent but, instead, rapidly descending into civil war and chaos, a lone family - Father, Mother, four beautiful young girls, and a brave but sickly boy - await their own fate, shivering and hungry in the dark, hoping and praying for salvation. Their relatives in England have turned their backs.  The guards set over them do little but torment them.  They look Heavenward, but God doesn't answer.  They know they're a threat to the new regime, a threat that will, in time, be eliminated.But even the strongest fabric has flaws.  An escaped prisoner of war, caught, injured, and punished, but still highly capable, might be one.  An airship, returned and at loose ends after a failed mission to Africa might be another.  A German general, taking a wrong turn on his nightly walk and suddenly coming face to face with the reality of the monster rising in the east, would be a third.Follow, then, as the general gives the orders, the prisoner of war raises the men from among his fellows, and the airship launches itself forward, to contest fate, to tear the fabric of time, and to effect The Romanov Rescue.  About the Carrera series:“[I]nterplanetary warfare with . . . [a] visceral story of bravery and sacrifice . . . fans of the military SF of John Ringo and David Weber should enjoy this SF action adventure.”—Library Journal“Kratman's dystopia is a brisk page turner full of startling twists . . . [Kratman is] a professional military man . . . up to speed on military and geopolitical conceits.”—Best-selling author of America Alone Mark Steyn on Tom Kratman’s uncompromising military SF thriller Caliphate“Kratman raises disquieting questions on what it might take to win the war on terror . . . realistic action sequences, strong characterizations, and thoughts on the philosophy of war.”—Publishers Weekly About Tom Kratman:“[Baen publisher] Toni [Weisskopf] and I disagree about everything except about how good his books are.”—John Birmingham

Mankind's history is bound up in the fabric of fate, a strong cloth, tough and closely woven.  It is the beginning of 1918, the last year of the greatest war in human history to date. All the belligerents stagger on their feet. Starvation is an ever-present reality, while disease waits in the wings. In Russia, no longer a belligerent but, instead, rapidly descending into civil war and chaos, a lone family—father, mother, four beautiful young girls, and a brave but sickly boy—await their own fate, shivering and hungry in the dark, hoping and praying for salvation. Their relatives in England have turned their backs. The guards set over them do little but torment them. They look Heavenward, but God doesn’t answer. They know they’re a threat to the new regime, a threat that will, in time, be eliminated.But even the strongest fabric has flaws. An escaped prisoner of war, caught, injured, and punished, but still highly capable, might be one. An airship, returned and at loose ends after a failed mission to Africa, might be another. A German general, taking a wrong turn on his nightly walk and suddenly coming face-to-face with the reality of the monster rising in the east, would be a third.Follow, then, as the general gives the orders, the prisoner of war raises the men from among his fellows, and the airship launches itself forward to contest fate, to tear the fabric of time, and to effect The Romanov Rescue.“. . . this alternate history employs vibrant steampunk vibes and aptly captures the uncertainties of the tumultuous era, as well as the courageous desperation of the world-weary men and women involved. Fans of detailed and technical military fiction will enjoy this, as well as those who appreciate real historical figures as characters.” —Library JournalAbout The Romanov Rescue:"This alternate history employs vibrant steampunk vibes and aptly captures the uncertainties of the tumultuous era, as well as the courageous desperation of the world-weary men and women involved. Fans of detailed and technical military fiction will enjoy this, as well as those who appreciate real historical figures as characters."—Library JournalAbout the Carrera series:“[I]nterplanetary warfare with . . . [a] visceral story of bravery and sacrifice . . . fans of the military SF of John Ringo and David Weber should enjoy this SF action adventure.”—Library Journal“Kratman's dystopia is a brisk page turner full of startling twists . . . [Kratman is] a professional military man . . . up to speed on military and geopolitical conceits.”—Best-selling author of America Alone Mark Steyn on Tom Kratman’s uncompromising military SF thriller Caliphate“Kratman raises disquieting questions on what it might take to win the war on terror . . . realistic action sequences, strong characterizations, and thoughts on the philosophy of war.”—Publishers Weekly About Tom Kratman:“[Baen publisher] Toni [Weisskopf] and I disagree about everything except about how good his books are.”—John Birmingham

1462: an alien who feasts on the suffering of sentient beings dines off the agonies of Vlad the Impaler’s twenty-thousand victims near Targoviste, Romania.1688: a woman is framed for witchcraft and hanged by the neck in Boston.1965: a toy store that never seems to run out of special toys is suspected of being the location of a temporal portal, the same one used by the agony-feeding alien.2022: a grandfather, showing his young grandchildren what remains of the Boston of his youth, is shown that portal by his granddaughters.And they’re off! Off through the gate that grants wishes, off to deal with time travel, off to break and enter, off to endure the pain of seeing afresh loved ones long since departed in their own time. They’re off to deal with hardened, murderous criminals and with equally murderous aliens.And all of that is set around the time of Christmas joy, in old, fine hotels, with presents, fresh loves, Handel’s Messiah, a department store’s enchanted village, old delicacies, modern weapons, lasers . . . and a very special calico cat.