Rendezvous with Rama Arthur C. Clarke
1977 276 pp
At first, only a few things are known about the celestial object that astronomers dub Rama. When a space probe confirms that it is an interstellar spacecraft, explorers and scientists prepare for mankind's first encounter with alien intelligence.
Dead Civilization Exploration Mystery Closed Ecosystem
Non-Stop Brian W. Aldiss
2020 190 pp
A "brilliant . . . classic of the field" generation ship adventure from the Golden Age of Science Fiction by the author of the Helliconia Trilogy ( Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ). Non-Stop is Grand Master of Science Fiction and Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author Brian W. Aldiss's debut novel. Written in response to Robert Heinlein's Orphans of the Sky and published in the late 1950s, it is set in a primitive world, home to tribes of inhabitants who endure their harsh and stunted lives in a maze of corridors. Though legends exist that they're actually on a ship traveling through the universe, no one really believes it. But that conviction doesn't stop a group of people from embarking on a mission to find the rumored "Forwards" section and its control room. Through a tangled, hydroponic jungle, they'll encounter telepathic animals, giants, outcasts, and mutants in an epic race to uncover the truth—and survive . . . "A breakneck ride filled with some truly disturbing and chaotic imagery . . . Aldiss' world is visceral and powerful." — Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations "Worth reading, and quite a significant contribution to the long SF history of generation ship novels." —SF Site Praise for Brian W. Aldiss "A major figure in world SF . . . Whatever else Aldiss may be, predictable he is not." — The Guardian "One of the most influential—and one of the best—SF writers Britain has ever produced." —Iain M. Banks, award-winning author of the Culture series "One of the most important SF writers of the 20th century." — Publishers Weekly
Forgotten Origins Tribal Regression Unreliable Narrator
Aurora Kim Stanley Robinson
2015 480 pp
A major new novel from one of science fiction's most powerful voices, Aurora tells the incredible story of our first voyage beyond the solar system. Brilliantly imagined and beautifully told, it is the work of a writer at the height of his powers. Our voyage from Earth began generations ago. Now, we approach our new home. AURORA.
Ecological Collapse Political Fracture Multigenerational Trauma
Seveneves (free sampler) Neal Stephenson
2015 30 pp
The astounding new novel from the master of science fiction President Barack Obama’s summer reading choice What would happen if the world were ending? When a catastrophic event renders the earth a ticking time bomb, it triggers a feverish race against the inevitable. An ambitious plan is devised to ensure the survival of humanity far beyond our atmosphere. But unforeseen dangers threaten the intrepid pioneers, until only a handful of survivors remain... Five thousand years later, their progeny – seven distinct races now three billion strong – embark on yet another audacious journey into the unknown, to an alien world utterly transformed by cataclysm and time: Earth. A writer of dazzling genius and imaginative vision, Neal Stephenson combines science, philosophy, technology, psychology, and literature in a magnificent work of speculative fiction that offers a portrait of a future that is at once extraordinary and eerily recognizable. He explores some of our biggest ideas and perplexing challenges in a breathtaking saga that is daring, engrossing, and altogether brilliant.
Survival Politics Genetic Selection Social Stratification
Paradox John Meaney
2000 569 pp
When Tom Corcorigan is given a small info-crystal by a mysterious woman just hours before she is killed, he realizes he has been given the key to understanding muspace and freedom itself, and the ability to change the future.
Temporal Manipulation Institutional Control Hidden History
Ship of Destiny Robin Hobb
2003 800 pp
The third book in a seafaring fantasy trilogy that George R. R. Martin has described as “even better than the Farseer Trilogy—I didn’t think that was possible.” As Bingtown slides toward disaster, clan matriarch Ronica Vestrit, branded a traitor, searches for a way to bring the city’s inhabitants together against a momentous threat. Meanwhile, Althea Vestrit, unaware of what has befallen Bingtown and her family, continues her perilous quest to track down and recover her liveship, the Vivacia, from the ruthless pirate Kennit. Bold though it is, Althea’s scheme may be in vain. For her beloved Vivacia will face the most terrible confrontation of all as the secret of the liveships is revealed. It is a truth so shattering, it may destroy the Vivacia and all who love her, including Althea’s nephew, whose life already hangs in the balance. Don’t miss the magic of the Liveship Traders Trilogy: SHIP OF MAGIC • MAD SHIP • SHIP OF DESTINY
Living Ships Inherited Destiny Family Legacy
The Forever Watch David Ramirez
2014 336 pp
An exciting new novel from a bold up-and-coming sci fi talent, The Forever Watch is so full of twists and surprises it's impossible to put down. All that is left of humanity is on a thousand-year journey to a new planet aboard one ship, The Noah, which is also carrying a dangerous serial killer... As a City Planner on the Noah, Hana Dempsey is a gifted psychic, economist, hacker and bureaucrat and is considered "mission critical." She is non-replaceable, important, essential, but after serving her mandatory Breeding Duty, the impregnation and birthing that all women are obligated to undergo, her life loses purpose as she privately mourns the child she will never be permitted to know. When Policeman Leonard Barrens enlists her and her hacking skills in the unofficial investigation of his mentor's violent death, Dempsey finds herself increasingly captivated by both the case and Barrens himself. According to Information Security, the missing man has simply "Retired," nothing unusual. Together they follow the trail left by the mutilated remains. Their investigation takes them through lost dataspaces and deep into the uninhabited regions of the ship, where they discover that the answer may not be as simple as a serial killer after all. What they do with that answer will determine the fate of all humanity in David Ramirez's thrilling page turner.
Surveillance State Institutional Memory Shipboard Noir
Children of Time Adrian Tchaikovsky
2015 480 pp
Humanity is overrated. The tenth anniversary edition of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s critically acclaimed Children of Time – an epic story of humanity’s battle for survival on a terraformed planet. Winner of the 30th anniversary Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Novel. Contains the short story ‘Bearable’ exclusive to this edition. Who will inherit this new Earth? The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age – a world terraformed and prepared for human life. But all is not right in this new Eden. In the long years since the planet was abandoned, the work of its architects has borne disastrous fruit. The planet is not waiting for them, pristine and unoccupied. New masters have turned it from a refuge into mankind’s worst nightmare. Now two civilizations are on a collision course, both testing the boundaries of what they will do to survive. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, who are the true heirs of this new Earth? Continue the journey with Children of Ruin , Children of Memory and Children of Strife . * * * Praise for Adrian Tchaikovsky ‘ Children of Time is a joy from start to finish. Entertaining, smart, surprising and unexpectedly human’ - Patrick Ness, author of A Monster Calls . ‘No one has an an imagination like Adrian Tchaikovsky’ – Jim Al-Khalili, presenter of BBC Radio 4's The Life Scientific ‘Tchaikovsky is the break-out star of contemporary British SF’ – The Guardian Children of Time won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Science Fiction Novel w/c 24 August 2016
Parallel Civilizations Evolutionary Time Destination Myth