Major Bhaajan returns to the desolate, sand-swept world of her rough-edged childhood because her detective skills have earned her a lucrative assignment: find a runaway son of the ruling dynasty. Forays into Raylicon's Underworld, treachery, encounters with gangsters and an old flame are just some of the challenges facing Major Bhaajan in pursuit of the missing aristocrat. "The City of Cries" novella is included in the 2011 WindyCon collection of Catherine Asaro's writings called AURORA IN FOUR VOICES "Asaro's Skolian saga is ... in many ways as compelling as DUNE, if not more so." - Booklist "Readers seeking the harmonious meld of hard SF's rigor and human chemistry's heat should read Catherine Asaro's fiction." - SciFi Weekly "Asaro's portrait of interstellar intrigue, weird socio-political customs and galactic history has come to approach the neighborhood of such classics as Frank Herbert's DUNE series." on the Skolian Empire series: "One of the major series in the genre." - SF Chronicle Catherine Asaro is a Nebula Award winner for her novel The Quantum Rose, part of her popular Skolian Empire series, and the novella “The Spacetime Pool.” Her novels have three times been named the best science fiction novel of the year by Romantic Times Book Club. She has won numerous other awards, including the Analog Readers Poll award, the Homer, and the Sapphire award. She has an M.A. in physics, and a Ph.D. in chemical physics, both from Harvard, and has done research at the University of Toronto, The Max Planck Institute, and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. A former ballet and jazz dancer, she founded the Mainly Jazz Dance program at Harvard and danced on both the west and east coasts. Her previous books for Baen were Sunrise Alley, its sequel, Alpha, and two novels in her Skolian Empire series, The Ruby Dice and Diamond Star. For Diamond Star, she also cut a CD of the same name with the rock band Point Valid, which offers a soundtrack to the book. She continues to compose and perform, and appears in concert at science fiction cons. Catherine has written fourteen novels in the popular Skolian Saga—Carnelians being the latest—several fantasies, including The Charmed Sphere, and the near-future thrillers The Veiled Web and The Phoenix Code.

BOOK ONE IN A BRAND NEW SERIES by Nebula and Hugo Award Winner Catherine Asaro set in the world of her Skolian Empire universe. In the galaxy-spanning future, Major Bhaajan is a tough female P.I. who works the dangerous streets of Undercity. Major Bhaajan, a former military officer with Imperial Space Command, is now a hard-bitten P.I. with a load of baggage to deal with, and clients with woes sometimes personal, sometimes galaxy-shattering, and sometimes both. Bhaajan must sift through the shadows of dark and dangerous Undercity—the enormous capital of a vast star empire—to find answers.

Major Bhaajan achieved the impossible. Born Undercity, the slums below the City of Cries on the planet Raylicon, she broke free to become a military officer with Imperial Space Command. Now retired from military duty, she works as a private investigator on retainer to the Majda Family. Hired by The Ruby Pharaoh herself, Major Bhaajan is tasked with finding a killer. But this is no ordinary murderer. The Ruby Pharaoh witnessed a Jagernaut cut down Assembly Councilor Tap Benton—which shouldn’t have been possible. The Jagernauts are the elite of the elite soldiers in the Imperial Space Command. What’s more, the spinal node implanted in all Jagernauts should have prevented the murder. But the Ruby Pharaoh is sure of what she saw, and she has reason to believe that the Jagernaut will kill again. Now, Major Bhaajan must hunt down a killer before it is too late. To do so, she must return to the one place on Raylicon she knows best: Undercity.

MAJOR BHAAJAN RETURNS. Book three in the Skolian Empire Major Bhaajan series by Catherine Asaro. SURVIVE THE CITY OF CRIES Bhaajan grew up in the Undercity, a community hidden in the ruins buried beneath the glittering City of Cries. Caught between the astonishing beauty and crushing poverty of that life, and full by wanderlust, she enlisted in the military. Now retired, Major Bhaajan is a private investigator who solves cases for the House of Majda, a royal family centered in Cries. The powerful elite of the City of Cries are disappearing, and only Bhaajan, who grew up in the Undercity, can find them—if she isn’t murdered first. About the Major Bhaajan series: “. . . riveting... The world is rich and vivid, with two distinct cultures in the Undercity and the aboveground City of Cries. This exciting novel stands alone for anyone who enjoys science fiction adventure.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Asaro plants herself firmly into that grand SF tradition of future history franchises favored by luminaries like Heinlein, Asimov, Herbert, Anderson, Dickson, Niven, Cherryh, and Baxter . . . They don't write em like that anymore! Except Asaro does, with . . . up-to-the-minute savvy!"—Locus "Baahjan, who starts out keeping an emotional distance from the people in the Undercity soon grows to think of them as her community once more. Asaro . . . returns to the Skolian empire's early history to tell Bhaajan's story."—Booklist "Asaro delivers a tale rich with the embedded history of her world and bright with technical marvels. Her characters are engaging and intriguing and there is even a bit of romance. What really touched my heart was Bhaaj's interaction with the children of the aqueducts. I spent the last fifty pages of the book sniffling into a tissue."—SFcrowsnest "I'm hooked, both on her writing and her Skolian universe. This book had everything I wanted: strong characters, a new and unique world, and a plot that isn't as simple as it first appears."—TerryTalk About the Skolian Saga: “Entertaining mix of hard SF and romance.”—Publishers Weekly “Asaro’s Skolian saga is now nearly as long and in many ways as compelling as Dune, if not more so, featuring a multitude of stronger female characters.”—Booklist “Rapid pacing and gripping suspense.”—Publishers Weekly

NEW IN THE MAJOR BHAAJAN SERIES: A TOUGH FEMALE PI NOVEL WITH NOIR OVERTONES AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF INTERSTELLAR POLITICS Selei City is the capital of the Imperialate and one of the most desired locales in all of the Skolian Empire. But its thin veneer of civilization is cracked when a series of brutal crimes implicates those in political power in a vast conspiracy. Three prominent scientists have lost their lives to a serial killer—and notes at the scenes of the crimes lead to a connection to the Royalist political party. Major Bhaajan, former military officer turned private detective, is called back to Selei City to solve the crime. Bhaaj and her crew of Undercity Dust Knights plunge into the Byzantine world of Imperial politics—a jigsaw world where none of the pieces seem to fit. As the assassination plot becomes more and more convoluted, Bhaaj is kidnapped, threatened with death, and must fight for her life against the growing number of people threatened by her investigation. Bhaaj has faced all this and more, but now she must deal with something far deadlier—interstellar politics. About The Vanished Seas: “Catherine Asaro continues exploring the underbelly of her baroque, decadent Skolian Empire with this latest adventure of Major Bhaajan, private eye to the highest nobility... It’s a story full of intrigue, mystery, and action. Along with Asaro’s trademark deeply human characters and intricate politics comes a noir-flavored plot that drips with menace and secrets. Major Bhaajan is a compelling character, smart and sympathetic, and both the squalid Undercity and the decadent City of Cries are engrossing. Those who are familiar with the Skolian Empire will find much to like here. For those who aren’t, the Major Bhaajan books make a fine jumping-on point to this vast and convoluted universe.”—Analog About the Major Bhaajan series: “. . . riveting... The world is rich and vivid, with two distinct cultures in the Undercity and the aboveground City of Cries. This exciting novel stands alone for anyone who enjoys science fiction adventure.”—Publishers Weekly starred review “Asaro plants herself firmly into that grand SF tradition of future history franchises favored by luminaries like Heinlein, Asimov, Herbert, Anderson, Dickson, Niven, Cherryh, and Baxter . . . They don't write em like that anymore! Except Asaro does, with . . . up-to-the-minute savvy!”—Locus “Baahjan, who starts out keeping an emotional distance from the people in the Undercity soon grows to think of them as her community once more. Asaro . . . returns to the Skolian empire's early history to tell Bhaajan's story.”—Booklist “Asaro delivers a tale rich with the embedded history of her world and bright with technical marvels. Her characters are engaging and intriguing and there is even a bit of romance. What really touched my heart was Bhaaj's interaction with the children of the aqueducts. I spent the last fifty pages of the book sniffling into a tissue.”—SFcrowsnest “I‘m hooked, both on her writing and her Skolian universe. This book had everything I wanted: strong characters, a new and unique world, and a plot that isn't as simple as it first appears.”—TerryTalk About the Skolian Saga: “Entertaining mix of hard SF and romance.”—Publishers Weekly “Asaro’s Skolian saga is now nearly as long and in many ways as compelling as Dune, if not more so, featuring a multitude of stronger female characters.”—Booklist “Rapid pacing and gripping suspense.”—Publishers Weekly