The Draka series (dubbed The Domination in this collection) still requires a strong stomach--you'll find no shortage of blood and bullets or sex and violence here. But it's prudish to argue with Stirling's choices. A skilled writer and rigorous thinker, he's spun a compelling--not to mention plausible and well-researched--alternate history for earth: in this timeline, the Loyalists losers in the American Revolution set up shop in South Africa and then proceed to subjugate and industrialize the continent, eventually exporting their brutal system of slavery and conquest through WWI, WWII, and beyond to cover the better part of the globe. Page-turning, blood-pumping, realistic, and masterfully written combat SF, The Domination is part of the genre's canon. --Paul Hughes

The Reformer continues their Raj Whitehall series, with its intriguing schtick of the cloned consciousnesses of a military commander (Raj) and a battle computer (Center) becoming voices in the head of a would-be hero on a primitive world who is trying to coax humanity back--one planet at a time--to the level of progress it had acheived before a crippling galactic civil war. In The Reformer, Raj and Center are guiding a clever, scrappy philosopher named Adrian and his studly soldier brother Esmond, helping them introduce gunpowder and civic order (eventually) to the quasi-Roman civilization on Hafardine. Fast-paced, but not quite as meaty as earlier installments in the series, Reformer still gets the job done with believable battle scenes and knowing descriptions of early weapons and technology. --Paul Hughes

Then the United States government announces that all military and communications systems will be placed under the command of a brand-new, extremely powerful Artificial Intelligence named Skynet, effective immediately.

Racing desperately to alert their allies, the Connors discover that Wendy's sacrifice was in vain -- far from being harmless, Skynet is active, sentient, and ready to terminate the human nuisance once and for all. Engineered by the relentless AI, the apocalypse of Judgment Day turns cities into deathtraps and releases mass destruction across the globe.

In the nuclear winter that follows, our world changes forever: Cities become deathtraps of disease and famine patrolled by implacable machines, the first Hunter-Killer and T-90 Terminator units begin to exterminate their human prey, and all human life faces a desperate battle for survival against a seemingly unstoppable enemy.

But there is still one rallying cry of hope, one man who will step to the forefront of the long fight to keep humanity from extinction: John Connor.

The Domination of the Draka begins as a British possession in Africa, but soon becomes far more. Absorbing refugees after the American Revolution, and later the Civil War, the Draka become a people bred to rule with an iron fist. They permanently enslave the peoples of Africa, when they do not simply kill them.

But this does not slake the Draka thirst for power. Sweeping across the world, the Draka empire engulfs nation after nation, shackling into servitude all who are not Draka. Europe, Asia, and finally all the Earth and its colonies throughout the Solar System fall before the might of the Draka.

But empires are not faceless monoliths; they are made of individuals, complex humans with their own hopes and dreams. And so one might ask: Who are the Draka? What sort of people does the Domination rule? The Draka would have many different answers...

...and this is their story.

Be warned: Baen Books has given the series an astronomically inappropriate tagline--"Beam us up again, Scotty!" And they've likewise made the unseemly decision to set Doohan's disembodied head afloat on the cover of both this and the last book, spinning surreally above generic space battles like some mustachioed, Scottish Death Star. But despite the crass cashing in on Scotty and his mug, Doohan and the already accomplished Stirling come through with fun and competent, if straightforward, work, a jocular mix of naval intrigue, pitched ship-to-ship combat, and (surprise!) last-minute, skin-of-your-teeth problem-solving. And at the heart of the story sits the worldly-wise, sardonic wit of Commander Raeder.

If you're new to the series, you'll probably want to check out The Rising first. But if you're anxious to see whether Raeder's daring aboard the Dauntless earned him reprimand or reward, pick up Privateer. One of his commanders puts it best: "You know the reward for good work, don't you, son?" "More work, sir?" "You're learning, son." We can trust the same applies to Doohan and Stirling. --Paul Hughes