The Baen Big Book of Monsters

Book excerpt: SIZE MATTERS From the dragons of legend to Jack the Giant Killers colleague to King Kong and Godzilla, people have found the idea of giant creatures both scary and fascinating. Why so many should find accounts of a critter big enough to gulp down a puny human like an insignificantly small hor doeuvre or step on said human and leave a grease spot might be explained by the psychologists, but such yarns are undeniable fun, and heres a book crammed full of things that you cant outrun because they take_bigsteps, by writers with equally large reputations, including: David Drake, best-selling author of the Hammers Slammers and RCN series, describes the far future plight of an unusual descendant of present-day humans, whos being pursued by the descendants of another species, which are much larger than they were in our time. Robert Bloch, winner of the Hugo award and the lifetime achievement award of the World Fantasy Convention, and author of the classic horror novel_Psycho, introduces an unusual orphan and aspiring thespian who was much more than he seemed and was destined to play the biggest role of anyones lifetime. Philip Wylie, co-author of the SF classic,_When Worlds Collide_and other imaginative works, tells of the arrival of a very,_very_tall giant on Earth and what happened next, in a sharp-edged satiric tale. Murray Leinster, known as the Dean of Science Fiction Writers, spins a yarn of a stranded starship whose crew must get replacement parts from an abandoned outpost in order to take off again¾if they can reach the outpost through the swarming gigantic insect life of the planet. H.P. Lovecraft,_renowned master of horror, is on board with a story of a star-spawned thing which was not only huge, but invisible as well. Plus all-new stories by_New York Times_best-selling author Larry Correia, and_award-winning authors Sarah A. Hoyt and Wen Spencer. And much more. At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). About some of the contributors: _[David Drake is] a superb storyteller.Ó ¾Library Journal _[Robert] Bloch has become a virtual fixture on the popular culture landscape.Ó ¾Publishers Weekly _Dont plan on getting anything else done if you start a Wen Spencer novel; they are exceedingly hard to put down!Ó ¾Catherine Asaro, Nebula Award winning author _[Sarah A. Hoyts science fiction is] exciting and appealing . . . so fast-paced . . . the reader will reach escape velocity.Ó ¾Kevin J. Anderson _[H.P. Lovecraft was] the twentieth centurys greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale.Ó ¾Stephen King