portions thereof in any form. A Baen Books OriginalBaen Publishing EnterprisesP.O.Box 1403Riverdale, NY 10471www.baen.com ISBN: 0-671-87867-0 Cover art by LarryElmore First printing, February 1998Second printing, August 2001 Distributed bySimon & Schuster1230 Avenue of the AmericasNew York, NY 10020 Production byWindhaven Press, Auburn, NHPrinted in the United States of America
Dedication
Of course by rights this work must be dedicated to:Melanie Marttilawithout whose efforts the book you now hold in your hands would be called TheSequel Formerly Known As Prince or some such. However, it has come to thishumble editor, as it must to all humble editors (the three of us get together fordrinks sometimes down at Binky's Oyster Bar) that there is room in a really spiffyDedication for more than one round of thanks and acknowledgment. Therefore, inthis late hour of soft purple twilight and not enough gin, I would like to append thefollowing tribute to a woman who is perhaps this work's chief Muse and guidinglight, whether she likes it or not. Also, Binky promised the Humble Editors' Club around of free drinks if this Dedication caused the lady in question to send him anautographed photo. Ahem:Hail to thee, O Lucy Lawless,Xena actress great and flawless!Beacon by whom weall steerIn this book. Wish you were here.Thou who art a constant charmer,Thouwho wearest way cool armor,Thou who provest, day by day,Women have a lot tosayWhether sword or child in hand,Spread our message through the land!Say toevery mother's son:"We are strong, but we're still fun."Do not fear us, do not hateus,"Never, never underrate us."We are Women, aye, you betcha."Want to rile us?We won't letcha."Whether what we choose to don"From Frederick's comes orPentagon,What we wear don't signify"Diddlysquat, for by and by"You will learn (asmost men do)"We're your equals. Whoop-de-doo."So once more, thee do wehail,Lucy Lawless, and the GrailOf full-fledged equalityWhich we hope we'll live tosee. Thou who art, in syndication,Hope of all the female nation,Thou whom sponsorscourt and coddle,Thou, our daughters' chief role model,Thou who play'st no girliegamesBut kickest butt and takest names,Please accept this book, with thanksFromthy sisters in the ranks. "Bad doggerel. No biscuit!" —Dr. Samuel Johnson (attrib.)=========================================================
Did You Say "Chicks"?!
Introduction
Back for more, eh?I'm assuming you're a repeat offender, havingalready purchased and read numerous copies of Chicks in Chainmail. (Well, they domake excellent gifts for birthdays, anniversaries, and most major holidays.) You'recertainly not a repeat offendee. Despite fears and collywobbles to the contrary,Chicks in Chainmail did not generate a firestorm of feminist outrage, therebyproving the point I made in my previous introduction: We can take a joke.Well,duh.What Chicks in Chainmail did generate was a landslide of questions. These fellinto two simple, easy-to-digest categories, the first being:"How come you didn't
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