Gunpowder & Embers — John Ringo; Kacey Ezell; Christopher L. Smith

In the smoking ruins of our world, will the struggle for yesterday's technology spark tomorrow's global war? A new postapocalyptic novel, in which a young cowboy claims his destiny -- and tries to prevent a catastophic war -- from New York Times best-selling author John Ringo, Kacey Ezell, and Christopher L. Smith.

Thirty years ago, the world ended. Giant electrovoric ants and pterodons came through a rift in space-time, millions of humans died, and that was that. Thirty years later, humanity has rebuilt . . . to an extent. Without electricity, human ingenuity has provided some creative solutions, but most folks survive at the subsistence level, farming to keep themselves and their families fed.

Chuck Gibson never thought he'd have to leave his family's farm. The simple life of a rancher was enough for him.

A dying stranger proved him wrong. Now, he's on the road of destiny, accompanied by a mystic warrior monk, a beautiful dragon tamer, a runaway cultist, and a mysterious drunken lecher, all of them searching for the key to reclaiming humanity's future and past. Each of them carrying a single spark of hope.

But will that hope be enough to light the beacons of freedom once again? Or will they face the next century in bondage to the last century's technology?