So long Mr. Baen!

Jim Baen, SciFi publisher extraordinare, died the day before yesterday on June 28th. It is a sad day for science fiction lovers everywhere.

I can say with out hesitation that Baen Books is without a doubt my favorite publisher. The folks at Baen consistently put out the best novels and short stories. In my opinion this is because the company has always been run by SciFi fans who are focused on providing the best books to their fellow readers.

Jim Baen is resposnsible for starting many of the superstar authors of modern SciFi, David Drake, Eric Flint, john Ringo, David Weber and others.

Another thing I have always appreciated is Baen's free e-books. Jim Baen pioneered the brilliant idea of providing free, unencrypted books in electronic format on the internet and on CD's packaged with Baen books. Even though I haven't been able to afford buying any of Baen's titles I have read a large number of them from this service.

I've loved Baen Books for years and I am sad to learn of Jim's death. I hope a worth successor is found so that Baen Books can continue to deliver excellent books and reader service.