Prince Roger MacClintock was an heir to the galaxy's Throne of Man-and a self-obsessed spoiled young brat . . . until he and the Royal Marines sent to protect him were stranded on Marduk with only their feet to get them half way around the entire planet. So far, they've traversed a continent, crossed a sea full of ship-eating monsters, taken over an enemy spaceport, and hijacked a starship. But they're not home-free yet, because home is no longer free. In Roger's absence, a palace coup by enemies of the MacClintock family has seized control of the Empire. His mother the Empress is a captive in the palace and even in her own body, drugged so that her will is not her own. Roger's bother, the heir to the throne, is dead. And Roger himself has been branded an outlaw and traitor. Roger and his faithful band of human marines and native alien warriors have beaten the barbarian planet Marduk. Now they must re-conquer an interstellar empire. But they aren't about to give up, and with the help of those on the throne planet who are still loyal to the Empress they will infiltrate (under cover of a restaurant specializing in exotic Mardukan dishes, no less), they will make anyone who gets in their way (such as local mobsters who make the mistake of kidnapping Roger's fiancé) very sorry that they did, and they will not rest until the rightful ruler has been restored. Once again, a lot of power-hungry people are going to learn a hard lesson: You do not, ever, mess with a MacClintock!

From Booklist

Prince Roger MacClintock is coming home with, besides the handful of survivors of the Bronze Battalion company he led across Marduk, a substantial number of four-armed Mardukans. First, however, he has to get help, in the form of a ship, from a planet inhabited by two different alien races. Then he has to convince the Sixth Fleet of the Empire of Man that, even though he is disguised down to the genetic level, he is really who he says he is, and that he wasn't responsible for the putsch against his mother, the empress. Winning Sergeant Nimashet Despreaux to become his empress-mate is almost a bagatelle in comparison. Furthermore, a whole new set of problems arrives when he and his hardy band hit Earth and begin operations under the cover of a Mardukan restaurant. Real villains the earl of New Madrid and the prince of Kellerman are only part of his worries, and offsetting organized crime are loyalists like Sergeant Major Catrone. Roland Green
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About the Author

David Weber is author of the New York Times best-selling Honor Harrington series as well as Path of the Fury, Mutineers' Moon and The Armageddon Inheritance and other popular novels. With Steve White, he is the author of Insurrection, Crusade, In Death Ground, and the New York Times best seller The Shiva Option, all novels based on his Starfire SF strategy game. His latest novel is Wind Rider's Oath (Baen).

John Ringo is author of the New York Times best-selling series so far comprising A Hymn Before Battle, Gust Front, When the Devil Dances, and Hell's Faire, and co-author with David Weber of March Upcountry, March to the Sea and March to the Stars, the first two books in this series. His latest novel is The Rozaje Files, third in his new techno-thriller series for Baen.