Showing results for "The Media Book" in Hard Science Fiction

High above the windswept plains of Kazakhstan, three astronauts on board a Russian Soyuz capsule begin their reentry. A strange shimmer in the atmosphere, a blinding flash of light, and the capsule vanishes in a blink as though it never existed. Daniel Rice is a government science investigator. Marie Kendrick is a NASA operations analyst. Together, they must track down the cause of the most bizarre event in the history of human spaceflight. They draw on scientific strengths as they plunge into the strange world of quantum physics.

Everyone knows that Chitzas are masters of spatial compression, routinely exploring distant places across the Milky Way in their wedge-shaped scout ships. But rumors abound of even greater accomplishments. Some say these intrepid explorers have reached beyond the galaxy. When a distress signal is received from deep space, making sense of the emergency becomes a personal matter for Daniel Rice. His wife is onboard that ship.

When an unauthorized oil rig appears offshore of Ecuador, a military team is sent to investigate. The deep-water platform has no markings, no drilling rig, and no workers—but it's surrounded by a curious bank of fog. When their helicopter closes in, it's swallowed without a trace.

Robots are building a colossal telescope on the far side of the moon, with just two people supervising its completion. After a minor incident, these scientists become aware of an obstacle in the lunar soil. It's located outside the area reserved for the hypertelescope and is therefore none of their business. But their curiosity gets the better of them. The artifact seems to have properties that completely defy physics as they know it.

Particle physics was always an unlikely path to the stars, but with the discovery that space could be compressed, the entire galaxy had come within reach. The technology was astonishing, yet nothing compared to what humans encountered 4,000 light-years from home. Now, with an invitation from a mysterious gatekeeper, the people of Earth must decide if they're ready to participate in the galactic conversation.

A world recovering from a devastating plague. A brutal enemy threatening invasion. A young man seeking to escape the shadow of his father. A ship manned by a crew of fresh academy graduates. A top-secret experimental propulsion system. A questionable alliance with a mysterious green-eyed woman. What destiny has in store for the crew of the UES Aurora is far greater than any of them could ever imagine. And this is only the beginning....

A newly repaired ship...A willing and eager crew...A host of new technologies...A long anticipated return home...The crew of the UES Aurora finally has the chance to fulfill their mission, but first they must complete a long and dangerous journey across a thousand light-years of unexplored space.

First contact with the seemingly impossible human civilization at Proxima Centauri is not going well. The Earth ships sent to render aid have not been able to reverse the contagion ravaging their population and, worse, many Proximans are now wondering if the humans from Earth are there for other, not so charitable, reasons. Can the extinction-level disaster faced at Proxima be reversed by the combined ingenuity of scientists from both worlds working together?

Science fiction masters Larry Niven (Ringworld) and Gregory Benford (Timescape) continue the thrilling adventure of a human expedition to another star system that is jeopardized by an encounter with an astonishingly immense artifact in interstellar space: a bowl-shaped structure cupping a star, with a habitable area equivalent to many millions of Earths. And which, tantalizingly, is on a direct path heading toward the same system the human ship is to colonize.

The black monolith on the moon is history—but now a near-Earth asteroid suddenly changes in an unknown and actually impossible way. Once again, a race between nations is set in motion. Will it be possible to avoid the mistakes of the first contact with the phenomenon? Or will the researchers who want to use the black monolith for their own purposes prevail—without having the slightest understanding of its true nature?

Genetic engineer Noah Parker helped domesticate dragons for use as pets and deployed them for the United States military. Now his team is tasked with designing dragons to tackle invasive species and other ecological problems. It's no easy job, especially because government approval requires the dragons have built-in failsafes to prevent them from reproducing in the wild. To Noah's surprise, the approval also requires the presence of an onsite observer—who happens to be his former rival from graduate school.

On Galapagos, Minister-General Reginald Ellison faces the daunting task of uniting nations divided by generations of animosity and suspicion. With technology and weapons inferior to the enemy's, protecting their world means sacrificing blood and bone against the relentless onslaught of steel and fire.

The black monolith has escaped destruction—for now. What no one on the moon realizes is that the artifact is holding the explorer who first touched it captive in a very special way. Will he be able to escape this trap in time? If not, the very existence of the solar system is at stake. Because the monolith has a purpose that its human discoverers would consider utterly impossible—if they knew about it.

Audacious astronauts encounter bizarre, sometimes deadly life forms, and strange, exotic, cosmic phenomena, including miniature black holes, dense fields of interstellar plasma, powerful gravity-emitters, and spectacularly massive space-based, alien-built labyrinths. Tasked with exploring this brave new, highly dangerous world, they must also deal with their own personal triumphs and conflicts.

Lords of Creation, the eagerly anticipated finale in S. M. Stirling's acclaimed Lords of Creation series, promises to be a masterful conclusion to a saga that has captivated audiences worldwide. Following the remarkable adventures in The Sky People and In the Courts of the Crimson Kings, this third installment is set to weave the intricate tales of alternate Venus and Mars into a climactic narrative.

A ship under siege. A world on the brink of civil war. A distraught people seeking a new beginning. A battle weary crew that can barely hold it together. Even a legend can use a little help from time to time. The crew of the Aurora, the Karuzari, and the Corinairans must find a way to work together, or else they may all perish.

No science fiction author was more highly regarded than Grand Master Clifford D. Simak, winner of numerous honors. One of the genre's premier literary artists, Simak explores time travel and time engines; examines the rituals and superstitions of galactic travelers who have long forgotten their ultimate purpose; and even takes fascinating detours through World War II and the wild American West in a wondrous anthology that no science fiction fan should be without.

A mathematical genius. A formula that speeds up space travel called SHORTCUT. His loving wife. When Laura Maxx disappears after an attack that leaves Jason Maxx in the hospital, his only goal is to find her and bring her back. Then he gets a message from Voyager One: Laura is alive. In space. To get her back, he’ll do whatever it takes—even taking on government agents who might try to stop him.

In this sequel to One Second Per Second, the saga continues of a broken universe where time travel is easier to achieve than to avoid. Now, the battle lines are drawn. To some, the continual rewriting of history is nihilistic insanity. To others, travel in all four dimensions—including time—is an inalienable right bestowed on humankind by the new natural order. Forces are amassing on either side of the conflict as the collapse of time itself is imminent. Surprisingly, not everyone is allowing this to bother them.

Is she a cop with a cause or a devil in disguise? Terra Kris failed when she was supposed to look the other way during an assignment. For that act and her unrepentant attitude, she has powerful people gunning for her. Now, someone has decided to use a new AI-embedding program snuck in during an emergency operation. Where she goes, they can follow. Until she figures out what is going on. Then there will be hell to pay.