Stephen Baxter, página 2 de 4

What would happen to the world if the sun went out?New epic sci-fi from Stephen Baxter, the award-winning author whose credits include co-authorship of the Long Earth series with Terry Pratchett.By the middle of the 21st century, humanity has managed to overcome a series of catastrophic events and maintain some sense of stability. Space exploration has begun again. Science has led the way.But then one day, the sun goes out.Solar panels are useless, and the world begins to freezeEarth begins to fall out of its orbit.The end is nigh.Someone has sent us a sign.

Numéro consacré au thème de la Lune dans la littérature de science-fiction et la culture populaire.

2040-2045: In the years after the cataclysmic Yellowstone eruption there is massive economic dislocation as populations flee Datum Earth to myriad Long Earth worlds. Sally, Joshua, and Lobsang are all involved in this perilous work when, out of the blue, Sally is contacted by her long-vanished father and inventor of the original Stepper device, Willis Linsay. He tells her he is planning a fantastic voyage across the Long Mars and wants her to accompany him. But Sally soon learns that Willis has ulterior motives ... Meanwhile U. S. Navy Commander Maggie Kauffman has embarked on an incredible journey of her own, leading an expedition to the outer limits of the far Long Earth. For Joshua, the crisis he faces is much closer to home. He becomes embroiled in the plight of the Next: the super-bright post-humans who are beginning to emerge from their 'long childhood' in the community called Happy Landings, located deep in the Long Earth. Ignorance and fear are causing 'normal' human society to turn against the Next - and a dramatic showdown seems inevitable . . .

2045-2059. After the cataclysmic upheavals of Step Day and the Yellowstone eruption humanity is spreading further into the Long Earth, and society, on a battered Datum Earth and beyond, continues to evolve. Now an elderly and cantankerous AI, Lobsang lives in disguise with Agnes in an exotic, far-distant world. He's convinced they're leading a normal life in New Springfield - they even adopt a child - but it seems they have been guided there for a reason. As rumours of strange sightings and hauntings proliferate, it becomes clear that something is very awry with this particular world. Millions of steps away, Joshua is on a personal journey of discovery: learning about the father he never knew and a secret family history. But then he receives a summons from New Springfield. Lobsang now understands the enormity of what's taking place beneath the surface of his earth - a threat to all the worlds of the Long Earth. To counter this threat will require the combined efforts of humankind, machine and the super-intelligent Next. And some must make the ultimate sacrifice . . .

When Rab was a baby his mother made a decision which would change his life She feared he would be sent to work in the hellish mines of Mercury to eke out his life until he was worn out all in the name of maintaning the defense of the Solar Sytem But when her desperate attempt to flee with her 2 year old failed she took a desperate step to save him She cut off his hand Decades later Rab has been spared the physical hardships he can no longer endure and is now based on the Mask the all encompassing structure which hides the Solar Sytem from alien eyes And it is during his watch that a spaceship arrives one which has travelled for a hundred years from a long forgotten colony planet If they pierce the Mask everything humanity has created will be left open to the alien threat But this strange ship bearing an offshoot of the species may bring something else with them Hope

Transported to the Sky Steppe of Mars in the final, satisfying book in British author Baxter''s highly original Mammoth trilogy (Longtusk; Silverhair), his engaging wooly characters face an abandoned and potentially lethal terraforming experiment left there by humans (aka "the Lost"). Matriarch mammoth Silverhair''s daughter, Icebones, awakens from an unnatural slumber to find herself in a land and time far from her native Pleistocene earth. The mammoths here have no knowledge of their ancient culture, such as the teachings of their mighty progenitor, Kilukpuk. Mammoth tradition says the Sky Steppe is "the Island in the sky where... mammoths would one day find a world of their own, free from the predations and cruelty of the Lost, a world of calm and plenty" yet whatever promise Mars once held is fading now as the changes made by human engineers are reversed under the assault of the red planet''s uncompromising weather and geology. Icebones''s companions, used to depending on the Lost for everything, can''t possibly survive alone. Their only hope is to cross half the world to reach the Footfall of Kilukpuk, a rich valley full of all the sweet grass and water the mammoths need. The journey is long and treacherous, but as the beasts'' great Cycle says, "The mammoth dies, but mammoths live on." Baxter fills the tale with taut adventure and splendid settings, making it easy to suspend disbelief.

El Viajero del tiempo de H.G. Wells despierta en su casa de Richmond la mañana posterior al retorno de su primera partida al futuro. Apesadumbrado por haber dejado a Weena en manos de Morlock, decide realizar un segundo viaje al año 802.701 para rescatar a su amiga Eloi. Pero al entrar en un futuro distinto y radicalmente cambiado, el Viajero se ve irremediablemente atado a las paradojicas complejidades del desplazamiento a traves del tiempo. Acompañado por un Morlock, se encontrara consigo mismo, para ser detenido despues por un grupo de viajeros temporales procedentes de un 1938 en el cual Inglaterra lleva 24 años en guerra con Alemania... Una novela sorprendente, repleta de aventuras y especulaciones que ha pretendido, con exito, homenajear y reexaminar La maquina del tiempo de H.G. Wells.

Luz de otros días cuenta la historia de lo que sucede cuando un brillante industrial aprovecha los beneficios de la física cuántica. Así consigue que cualquier persona pueda ver lo que hace otra desde cualquier sitio en cualquier situacion. Las esquinas y paredes ya no son barreras, todo momento de la existencia por muy privado o intimo que sea queda expuesto a los demas. Esta nueva tecnologia supone la subita abolicion de la intimidad humana... para siempre. Mientras que los hombres y mujeres afrontan el trauma de la nueva situacion, esta misma tecnologia demostrara ser capaz de mirar tambien en el pasado. Nada puede prepararnos para lo que vendra despues: el descubrimiento de lo que hay de verdad y mentira a lo largo de los miles de años de historia humana tal y como la conociamos. Como consecuencia de este saber, los gobiernos son derribados, las religiones caen, las bases de la sociedad humana tiemblan desde su propia raiz. Marca un cambio fundamental en la condicion humana provocando la desesperacion, el caos, y quizas, tambien la oportunidad de trascender como raza. Luz de otros dias es un tour de force, un evento para el proximo milenio y una narracion que no olvidaras.