Frankowski, Leo

The High-Tech Knight (Adventures of Conrad Stargard, Book 2)

Somehow, Conrad Stargard, faithful Roman Catholic and stalwart Socialist of the Peoples Republic of Poland, 20th Century, had been marooned in Poland, A.D. 1231.

Somehow, Conrad found himself under investigation by the Inquisition, got himself knighted, was granted his own fief, and made a few enemies.

Somehow, he had to round up a few vassals, build himself a city, and figure out how to survive armed combat against the Champion of the Teutonic Knights, one of the Toughest Men Alive.

Then he'd have time to worry about the Mongols . . .

Conrad's Quest for Rubber (The Adventures of Conrad Stargard , No 6)

ONWARD AND OUTWARD

Conrad Stargard has come a long way since he was first transported from the twentieth century to the thirteenth. Thanks to his knack for "inventing" such astonishing things as steam engines, machine guns, radios, and riverboats, he's turned Medieval Poland into a military powerhouse--capable of repelling invasions by marauding Mongols and Teutonic troops alike.

Now, with enemies vanquished, industry booming, and peace in the land, it is time to continue Poland's remarkable technological progress. And doing so requires harvesting raw materials only Lord Conrad knows where to "discover." Thus is founded the Explorer's Corps, whose intrepid members set out to map new frontiers from the Arctic Circle to the Amazon. But can even Conrad's knowledge of the far future prepare him and his subjects for what lies just beyond the borders of their kingdom?

Lord Conrad's Lady (Adventures of Conrad Stargard/Leo Frankowski, Book 5)

VACATION IN PEACEFUL MEDIEVAL POLAND

See the ancient city of Cracow burn!

Wallow in the frightful murder of noblewomen and children at the invincible castle of East Gate!

Enjoy the attack of the crazy old ladies at Sir Miesko's manor!

Watch the regretful demise of the remaining Mongols as they drown in the cesspool at Three Walls!

Consider various offers made to Conrad Stargard by eager blondes of just-barely-marriageable age!

Notice his wife, the formidable Lady Francine, getting annoyed!

¸ Superlative lodging provided by the Pink Dragon Inns
¸ Excellent duty-free values on cloth, coal, and Mongol arms & armor
¸ One-way packages
¸ Call your intertemporal travel agency for details

The Cross-Time Engineer (Adventures of Conrad Stargard, Book 1)

THE RIGHT MAN FOR THE JOB

One moment Conrad Schwartz was a hungover hiker in the mountains of modern Poland, the next he was running for his life from an angry Teutonic knight.

At first Conrad just thought he'd stumbled across a mad hermit. But several days of ever stranger events convinced him that he had somehow been stranded in A.D 1231.

And that meant Conrad had to turn Medieval Poland into the most powerful country in the world. Otherwise the Mongols were destined to destroy it--in just ten years!

The Radiant Warrior (Adventures of Conrad Stargard, Bk 3)

NEW LIGHT ON THE PAST

Conrad Stargard, a twentieth century Pole marooned in thirteenth century Poland, had just ten years to prevent the Mongol hordes from slaughtering everyone in Poland.

So he "invented" all the modern advances--things like prefabricated housing, Playboy Clubs, steam engines, universal education, cloth factories, and belly dancing.

But wars are fought by warriors, not strong economies, and Conrad needed the very best. So he set out to create an army . . .

The Two-Space War (Baen Science Fiction)

It is six hundred years in the future and mankind has learned to move between the stars . . . by going into Two-Space, the vast realm where sentient wooden ships travel beneath canvas sails in a universe that is corrosive to technology. As they charged headlong into the galaxy, humans discovered others who were already there: The elven Sylvans who live in the vast forests of low-gravity worlds, the dwarven Dwarrowdelf who thrive deep in the mines of high-gravity worlds, and other, far more alien races. The ancient Sylvan race is enchanted by the human culture, embracing Tolkien as prophecy and taking "classic" human science fiction as a guide. Against this stellar backdrop, Lt. Thomas Melville's ship is mortally wounded in a cowardly surprise attack. With his captain killed, Melville must capture a feral, sentient enemy ship, then must fight his way across the galaxy to warn of the vast invading armada. In an odyssey of turmoil and battle he forges his ship and crew into a mighty weapon of war and earns the love of an alien princess. Now, if he can only survive the attacks of two very angry alien empires, and avoid being court martialed by his own nation of Westerness for getting them involved in a vast intergalactic war, he might live to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

The Flying Warlord (Adventures of Conrad Stargard, Book 4)

UNCERTAIN VISION

For a twentieth-century man, Conrad Stargard had done a lot in thirteenth-century Poland. In just nine years, he had "discovered" universal education, aircraft, radios, steamboats, and machine guns. More important, he had prepared Poland to defeat the bloodthirsty Mongols in 1241.

But now that the Mongol hordes had arrived, something was disturbing the flow of history. Even the Time Masters who secretly watched over Conrad couldn't predict his future, because they no longer even knew their own past . . .

The War with Earth

New Kashubia was a planet rich in heavy metals, but utterly lacking in carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. Even dirt had to be imported at great expense. The colonists, moved there from Earth against their will, lived in tunnels drilled through solid gold but still were the poorest people in the universe. Since their only resource was people, they sent draftees out as mercenaries, fighting in tanks in symbiosis with a highly intelligent computer. And Mickolai Derdowski had fought bravely and brilliantly for nearly a decade, losing many friends in the process, and risen to the rank of General-he thought. But then he found out that it was all in virtual reality. The war had been faked, no one had died, and he was still just a tank commander, not a general at all. But New Kashubia had been well paid by the planet that had hired the mercenaries for the war they had faked, severe food rationing back home was no longer necessary, and people could now afford luxuries like homes and clothing. There was just one problem. A real war was looming on the horizon and this one couldn't be settled in cyberspace. A lot of people might get really, permanently killed. Such as Mickolai. . . .

Conrad's Time Machine (Conrad)

The Fata Morgana

Oh, to be an engineer in a Leo Frankowski book--you've gotta be honest and you've gotta work hard, but not only do you get to be as brilliant and rich as an astronaut, you get to pull down more than your share of the ladies. (Hey, after all those long hours studying fluid dynamics and systems analysis, it's only fair.) Back for another light-hearted but rumination-filled romp, the beloved author of the Conrad Stargard adventures turns his attention to a legendary nautical mirage, the Fata Morgana. Frankowski supposes the illusion might actually be the mythic Western Isles, which medieval mapmakers put off the coast of France, set adrift in an earthquake to float the world's oceans for hundreds of years.

Fata Morgana's two engineer-protagonists find themselves, naturally, shipwrecked on this strange island, a curious civilization of some 12,000 people largely cut off from present-day earth. Their tech level believably answers the obvious "what-ifs," with the islanders boasting advanced genetics and textiles (including an indestructible "Super-Hemp") but primitive sciences and stunted social progress otherwise. The two sailors create quite a stir with their SCUBA gear, cans of Spam, and Star Wars videotapes--not to mention the fact that the raw materials on their yacht make them rich in this metal-starved land--and intrigue soon ensues.

A fun book to be sure, with satisfying problem-solving and original ideas, but the main character's endless musings on everything from why the government wants us wearing clothes to why a just God can't exist will either irritate or charm you. (And consider yourself warned: our chief hero actually uses the term "Women's Lib" with a straight face and is quick to point out he's not "a f***ing queer!") --Paul Hughes