TO FIGHT OR DIE AMONG THE FARTHEST STARS ... It’s 2237 . . . and the Far Stars War has begun. Isolated by the light years that lie between them and Earth’s established colonies, the pioneers on the outskirts of the galaxy suddenly face a merciless enemy—the Guerin. An alien warrior race of unsurpassed cruelty, they are bent on the total destruction of every other spacefaring race that might challenge them for dominance. Before human and allied alien authorities can react, the Guerin blast world after world into oblivion. From the terror-stricken response to the first deadly Gerin assault through desperate battles to the terrible aftermath of total war, follow the League’s Space and Marine forces as they challenge the enemy with high-tech weapons and old-fashioned courage. The shared universe of The Far Stars War, created by Bill Fawcett and David Drake, showcases ten stories produced by top military SF authors performing at their writing best. From War to Peace “Band of Brothers” by David Drake—Alien invaders have completed their first deadly attack on Earth and its colonies, and the only hope for human survival is the formation of a revolutionary alliance—the League of Man. “Trojan Hearse” by Robert Sheckley—The war is in full swing, and fleet commander Darfur must join up with a group of mutant circus freaks to save the show–and the future of the League–from total annihilation by the enemy invaders of Gerin. “Politics” by Elizabeth Moon—A full-scale assault on a Gerin–captured colony planet goes terribly wrong for the League Marines, but the disastrous landing is only the beginning of their problems. “Reunion” by Diane Duane—The Far Stars War has ended victoriously for The League of Man. But who will bring order to the alien and human chaos that remains? Plus six more thrilling tales of interstellar warfare in the year 2237 . . . An excerpt from “Politics” by Elizabeth Moon: Brightness bloomed in the zenith, and I glanced up. Something had taken a hit—another shuttle? We were supposed to have two hundred shuttle flights on this mission, coming out of five cruisers—a full-scale assault landing, straight onto a defended planet. Thunder fell out of the sky, and I added up the seconds I’d been counting. Ten thousand meters when they’d been blown—no one was going to float down from that one.

We asked Christopher Stasheff to start a war ... the result is ... THE SIEGE OF ARISTA A DESPERATE LAST-CHANCE BATTLE FOR THEIR HOMEWORLD ... The Hothri have come to Arista . . . and the Siege has begun. For almost a hundred years, the Hothri waged a war of conquest against humanity’s strongholds in deep space. Greed upon the part of the humans of the Aristan trade empire triggered the war with the aliens, and that same greed led to treachery and incompetence, to soldiers denied the resources they needed to fight. Human world after human world fell under the ruthless, destructive domination of the Hothri, until ... Forced back to their homeworld by vast fleets of Hothri warships, the leaders of the Aristan financial empires realized that they must look beyond the acquisition of wealth toward another goal—victory in a desperate, last-ditch defense against a foe that had never been defeated. Christopher Stasheff and Bill Fawcett have created this high-tech far-future war, featuring stories by some of the most imaginitive science fiction writers working at their military best. With stories by Christopher Stasheff, Bill Fawcett, Elizabeth Moon, Janet Morris, William C. Dietz, Steve Perrry, S.N. Lewitt, Robert Sheckley and Jody Lynn Nye. THEIR SHIP SLAMMED INTO THE ALIEN CRUISER . . . The soldiers could hear Master Sergeant Pepe Stuart bellow, “In!” Then Pepe himself was hurtling forward, his shoulder slamming into a Hothri’s midriff and its roar echoing around him in the pea soup the aliens called atmosphere. Pepe saw a sword-tipped barrel slashing toward his eyes, and he rolled aside, pulling the trigger of his own rifle. The Hothri’s head vanished in a splatter that Pepe didn’t stay to see, but another Hothri blasted him with a scatter gun. There was a sharp sting in his shoulder, a reek of methane in his nose, and he knew his helmet had been holed. He knocked the Hothri’s shotgun up with his rifle barrel, slammed the butt into the cricket’s helmet, reversed the weapon and pulled the trigger. The white hot fury seared through his back and everything went black . . .

It's the 2050s and Earth is divided into two enemy the UN nations – the United States, Europe, Russia and Japan – and the Confederation of States – South America, South Africa and Arabia. But they have taken their animosity into space, each claiming territories farther and farther out in the solar system, until both reach and lay claim to the wealth to be found in Jupiter’s moons. And then finally, inevitably, the Jupiter war begins.