There is no fate (of worlds) but what we make ourselves

[Edward M. Lerner]

Hello, Edward M. Lerner reader!

I'm pleased to announce the release -- my last for a while! -- of FATE
OF WORLDS: Return from the Ringworld.

It's not often that one book concludes *two* popular series, but this
novel does. (Which two? Larry Niven’s bestselling Ringworld series,
and Larry’s and my companion novels, the Fleet of Worlds series
collaborations. For info about any of the earlier Fleet of Worlds
series titles, head over to blog.edwardmlerner.com and click on a
cover. For background on the Ringworld novels, start with this
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringworld.)

What should you know about FATE? Mostly that there’s no hyperbole
whatever to the publisher’s cover tease, “Explosive Finale.” Because
*big* issues are at stake …

===

For decades, the spacefaring species of Known Space have battled over
the largest artifact -- and grandest prize -- in the galaxy: the all-
but-limitless resources and technology of the Ringworld. But without
warning the Ringworld has vanished, leaving behind three rival war
fleets.

*Something* must justify the blood and treasure that have been spent.
If the fallen civilization of the Ringworld can no longer be despoiled
of its secrets, the Puppeteers will be forced to surrender theirs.
Everyone knows that the Puppeteers are cowards.

But the crises converging upon the trillion Puppeteers of the Fleet of
Worlds go far beyond even the onrushing armadas:

Adventurer Louis Wu and the exiled Puppeteer leader known only as
Hindmost, marooned together for more than a decade, managed to escape
from the Ringworld before it disappeared. And throughout those years,
as he studied Ringworld technology, Hindmost has plotted to reclaim
his power …

Ol't'ro, the Gw'oth ensemble mind -- and, for a century, the Fleet of
World's unsuspected puppet master -- is deviously brilliant. And,
increasingly unbalanced ...

Proteus, the artificial intelligence on which -- in desperation -- the
Puppeteers rely to manage their defenses, is outgrowing its
programming. And the supposed constraints on its initiative ...

Sigmund Ausfaller, paranoid and disgraced hero of the lost human
colony of New Terra, knows that *something* threatens his adopted home
world. And that it must be stopped ...

Achilles, the megalomaniac Puppeteer, twice banished -- and twice
rehabilitated -- sees the Fleet of World's existential crisis as a new
opportunity to reclaim supreme power. Whatever the risks ...

One way or another, the fabled race of Puppeteers may have come to the
end of their days.

===

Reviews have begun to appear, among which an early favorite of mine is
this, from Library Journal:

"... Brings to a stunning close a multivolume saga that has captured
the imaginations of a multitude of readers … a story that will attract
attention from series fans as well as readers of hard sf."

If you're at all curious, check out this high-res copy of the
seriously cool cover:

http://jacketupload.macmillanusa.com/jackets/high_res/jpgs/9780765331007.jpg

and this excerpt:

http://www.tor.com/stories/2012/07/fate-of-worlds-return-from-the-ringworld

Thanks,

- Ed

===

FATE OF WORLDS: Return from the Ringworld
Larry Niven and Edward M. Lerner
Tor Books
Released August 21, 2012
ISBN 978-0765331007 (Hardback)
Also in many ebook and audio formats

===
Edward M. Lerner
edwardmlerner.com
blog.edwardmlerner.com