"Welcome to Heaven, Inc., the grossly mismanaged corporation in the sky. For as long as anyone can remember, the founder and CEO (known in some circles as "God") has been phoning it in. Lately, he's been spending most of his time on the golf course. And when he does show up at work, it's not to resolve wars or end famines, but to Google himself and read what humans have been blogging about him. When God decides to retire (to pursue his lifelong dream of opening an Asian Fusion restaurant), he also decides to destroy Earth. His employees take the news in stride, except for Craig and Eliza, two underpaid angels in the lowly Department of Miracles. Unlike their boss, Craig and Eliza love their jobs - uncapping city fire hydrants on hot days, revealing lost keys in snow banks - and they refuse to accept that earth is going under. The angels manage to strike a deal with their boss. He'll call off his Armageddon, if they can solve their toughest miracle yet: getting the two most socially awkward humans on the planet to fall in love. With doomsday fast approaching, and the humans ignoring every chance for happiness thrown their way, Craig and Eliza must move heaven and earth to rescue them - and the rest of us, too." -- back cover

It's hard to find a lesser man than Apropos: a con man, a knave, a scalawag...and those are his finer points. This time, Apropos winds up a stranger in a strange land called "Chinpan," populated by those who speak a different language and live by a code of honor, neither of which Apropos can comprehend. And yet it is here that he begins to examine his life and question whether he can aspire to become more than the hard-bitten cynic he's always been. He may yet be able to find a happy ending among a gentle people who are willing to accept him, faults and all, and he acquires a teacher who may even be able to set him on a road to true enlightenment. But events conspire to pull Apropos in unexpected and dangerous directions, for his presence in Chinpan does not go unnoticed. What does the mysterious criminal organization known as the Forked Tong want with him? How do their plans tie in or conflict with the criminal Skang Kei family, and their enigmatic leader, Skang Kei Ho? What of the Mingol hordes? And what will be the fate of the Chin clan, including Double Chin, Cleft Chin, Kit Chin, and little Kit Chinette?

science fiction, fantasy

The Popular Chicks in Chainmail Series Set New Standards (and Sales Figures) for Humorous Fantasy. Here’re the First Three books in One Specially-Priced Omni-Trade Volume. Here they come, and they’re out for blood. For too long, they say, have hot blooded babes in brass bras and chain link bikinis been held up to scorn as the embodiment of male fantasy wish-fulfillment and non-fictionality. You think their swords won’t cut, their clubs won’t crush? You think they look cute ? It’s time to take sword-swinging amazons more seriously. Well, maybe not too seriously. After all, the popular Chicks in Chainmail series wasn’t known for stark drama and solemn think-pieces. In fact, they made a lot of people laugh. And now the first three books in the series are combined in one attractively-priced Omni-Trade Paperback volume. · Chicks in Chainmail (The look at the lighter side of amazons that started it all.) · Did You Say Chicks ? ( Smile when you say that, you wimpy noncombatant!) · Chicks ‘n Chained Males (Those men just can’t take care of themselves, so send in the amazons!) It’s all right to have a laugh or two. The swordswomen like a good laugh as much as the next amazon. Just don’t let them get the idea that you’re laughing at them, instead of with them—if you know what’s good for you . . . Stories of fierce female fighters by Harry Turtledove, Roger Zelazny, Elizabeth Moon, Jan and S.M. Stirling, K. D. Wentworth, Lawrence Watt-Evans and more—including Esther Friesner herself.

The weird and wacky mind of Daniel M. Pinkwater, author of The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death--and popular NPR radio celebrity--is invaded for the third time by noted SF author Lupoff, as he invites readers to come along with Melvinge of the Megaverse on his quest for the One True Mall. Sequel to Night of the Living Rat.