Category: Hard sf

The Ross 248 Project

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The Ross 248 Project
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HUMANITY’S HOPE FOR A BETTER FUTURE AT A NEW STAR

A bold journey into a future where humanity and its children travel to a new star where they must overcome the unexpected challenges on the exoplanets that await them—or die trying.

Traveling to the stars will be difficult, but not, perhaps, the most difficult part. What about when we get to another star? What then? Will the planets be immediately habitable? Not likely. Will those who undertook the journey be able to easily turn around and come home if they don’t find “Earth 2.0?” Almost certainly not. Therein the lies the challenge: Finding worlds that are potentially habitable and then taking the time, perhaps centuries, to make them compatible with Earth life. They will encounter mysteries and unexpected challenges, but the human spirit will endure. Join this diverse group of science fiction writers and scientists as they take up the challenge of The Ross 248 Project.

Contributors:

USAF General Steven Kwast
Patrick Chiles
Stephanie Osborn
Brent Ziarnick
Laura Montgomery
Daniel M. Hoyt & E. Marshall Hoyt
Matthew Williams
D. J. Butler
Robert E. Hampson
Monalisa Foster
J. L. Curtis
K. S. Daniels
Les Johnson & Ken Roy

Bearing Gifts (The Stardock Trilogy)

Bearing Gifts (The Stardock Trilogy)
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When the over-driven hyperdrive on their mobile shipyard burned out, the Chhrt’ktk’t abandoned it in an inhabited system along their path, hoping it would work as a decoy to buy them more time to escape the Khreetan fleet pursuing them. They didn’t anticipate how far the pre-spacefaring species they turned over their broken-down maintenance facility to would subvert their plan.

Alex Holder, a retired engineer, just happened to be in the right place, at the right time, with the right mindset, to find himself chosen by the Chhrt’ktk’t to hand over control of their shipyard to, simply because he was the first person they found able to interface with it. The Chhrt’ktk’t could not possibly anticipate what he would do with it. And neither would anyone else.

“It’s kind of Larry Niven or, even more, Arthur Clarke.” — John Shirley

Shadows of Eternity

Shadows of Eternity
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Shadows of Eternity is legendary author Gregory Benford’s return to interstellar science fiction as a discovery within the SETI library on the moon turns out to be deadly.

Shadows of Eternity is a novel set two centuries from now. Humanity has established a SETI library on the moon to decipher and interpret the many messages from alien societies we have discovered. The most intriguing messages are from complete artificial intelligences.

Ruth, a beginner Librarian, must talk to alien minds—who have aggressive agendas of their own. She opens doors into strangeness beyond imagination—and in her quest for understanding nearly gets killed doing it.

Gregory Benford is one of science fiction’s iconic writers, having been nominated for four Hugo Awards and twelve Nebula Awards. Shadows of Eternity marks Gregory Benford’s return to the sweeping galactic science fiction that readers have been waiting for.

“A fascinating plunge into a new world. I loved the idea of the SETI Library on the moon. Chasing wormholes is also a wild ride!” —Jack McDevitt, bestselling author of Octavia Gone

The Eighth Continent: A Hard Science Fiction Thriller

The Eighth Continent: A Hard Science Fiction Thriller
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“This stellar near-future tale masterfully fuses SF thrills with an enthralling mystery.”—Kirkus Reviews

A lowly construction worker on the Moon is Earth’s only chance…

Nick Morrison’s dream was to reach for the stars, but he never imagined that his destiny would lead him to the desolate lunar surface. Recruited by a daring startup to construct a lunar launch system at the Moon’s icy south pole, Nick abandons his troubled Earthly life for a chance at something greater.

Little does he know that the company teeters on the brink of financial and legal collapse, stranding Nick and his team in the unforgiving lunar wilderness.

Isolated and unsupported from Earth, Nick’s team faces an uphill battle for survival. As if that weren’t enough, a ruthless contractor at another lunar base harbors grand designs for both the Moon and Earth, and Nick’s team stands squarely in their path.

Now, they must band together to thwart the impending conquest of two worlds in this riveting science fiction survival thriller. Nebula Award-Nominated author Rhett C. Bruno and New York Times bestselling author Felix R. Savage deliver an epic tale perfect for fans of “The Martian,” “Artemis,” and “For All Mankind.”

Join Nick and his team in a heart-pounding adventure across the lunar landscape, where the fate of humanity hangs in the balance and the eighth continent becomes the battleground for an unforgettable struggle.

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Chaos Terrain

Chaos Terrain
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NASA and the United States Space Force collaborated to send a crew of intrepid American scientists and astronauts to brave the dangers of extended space travel on the USS Proteus, the first United States Ship in space. Their mission is to establish a research station on the chaotic terrain of the Jovian moon, Europa, to answer the question once and for
all. Is there life on celestial bodies other than earth?

The possibility of instant death from the dangers of space travel, lingering death by radiation exposure, or a myriad of mysterious phenomena occurring in the ocean depths below the lunar surface are the least of their problems when a foreign government is actively working to sabotage their success.

The Powers of the Earth – Aristillus(with praise from John Carmack !)

The Powers of the Earth – Aristillus(with praise of John Carmack !)
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PROMETHEUS AWARD WINNER “BEST NOVEL” 2018

Earth in 2064 is politically corrupt and in economic decline. The Long Depression has dragged on for 56 years, and the Bureau of Sustainable Research is hard at work making sure that no new technologies disrupt the planned economy. Ten years ago a band of malcontents, dreamers, and libertarian radicals bolted privately-developed anti-gravity drives onto rusty sea-going cargo ships, loaded them to the gills with 20th-century tunnel-boring machines and earthmoving equipment, and set sail – for the Moon.

There, they built their retreat. A lunar underground border-town, fit to rival Ayn Rand’s ‘Galt’s Gulch’, with American capitalists, Mexican hydroponic farmers, and Vietnamese space-suit mechanics – this is the city of Aristillus.

There’s a problem, though: the economic decline of Earth under a command-and-control economy is causing trouble for the political powers-that-be in Washington DC and elsewhere. To shore up their positions they need slap down the lunar expats and seize the gold they’ve been mining. The conflicts start small, but rapidly escalate.

There are zero-gravity gun fights in rusted ocean going ships flying through space, containers full of bulldozers hurtling through the vacuum, nuclear explosions, armies of tele-operated combat UAVs, guerrilla fighting in urban environments, and an astoundingly visual climax.

The Powers of the Earth is the first book in The Aristillus series – a pair of science fiction novels about anarchocapitalism, economics, open source software, corporate finance, social media, antigravity, lunar colonization, genetically modified dogs, strong AI…and really, really big guns.

John Carmack, founder id Software, lead programmer of Doom, QuakeThis is a wonderful, sprawling, action-packed story with interesting characters, complicated conflicts, and realistic treatment of what a small colony faces when confronted by a hostile planet of nine billion slaves. Think of this as Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress done better.   I devoured these books and give them my highest recommendation.

John Walker, founder of AutoDeskYou’ve achieved something I’ve been hoping for decades someone would pull off – a book that is at once an affectionate tribute to and criticism/response to “The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress”.The Aristillus books are very strong.

Theft of Fire: Orbital Space #1 by Devon Eriksen

Theft of Fire: Orbital Space #1 by Devon Eriksen
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At the frozen edge of the solar system lies a hidden treasure which could spell their fortune or their destruction—but only if they survive each other first.

Marcus Warnoc has a little problem. His asteroid mining ship—his inheritance, his livelihood, and his home—has been hijacked by a pint-sized corporate heiress with enough blackmail material to sink him for good, a secret mission she won’t tell him about, and enough courage to get them both killed. She may have him dead to rights, but if he doesn’t turn the tables on this spoiled Martian snob, he’ll be dead, period. He’s not giving up without a fight.

He has a plan.

Miranda Foxgrove has the opportunity of a lifetime almost within her grasp if she can reach it. Her stolen spacecraft came with a stubborn, resourceful captain who refuses to cooperate—but he’s one of the few men alive who can snatch an unimaginable treasure from beneath the muzzles of countless railguns. And if this foulmouthed Belter thug doesn’t want to cooperate, she’ll find a way to force him. She’s come too far to give up now.

She has a plan.

They’re about to find out that a plan is a list of things that won’t happen.

Order Devon Eriksen’s Theft of Fire: Orbital Space #1 today!

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PRAISE FOR Theft of Fire

“Shoot-em-up space opera, mysterious alien artifacts, freedom-minded Belters versus corporate oligarchs, and even a bit of romance highlight this masterpiece of the new golden age of optimistic, imaginative science fiction.”
—John Walker, co-founder, Autodesk, Inc.

“This is the best new hard sci-fi I’ve read in a long time. It follows in the best traditions of Asimov, Heinlein, Niven, Vinge, Card, Zahn, and the like.”
—JT, Space Force Systems Engineer

Singularity Sky

Singularity Sky
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In a technologically suppressed future, information demands to be free in the debut novel from Hugo Award-winning author Charlie Stross.

In the twenty-first century, life as we know it changed. Faster-than-light travel was perfected, and the Eschaton, a superhuman artificial intelligence, was born. Four hundred years later, the far-flung colonies that arose as a result of these events—scattered over three thousand years of time and a thousand parsecs of space—are beginning to rediscover their origins.

The New Republic is one such colony. It has existed for centuries in self-imposed isolation, rejecting all but the most basic technology. Now, under attack by a devastating information plague, the colony must reach out to Earth for help. A battle fleet is dispatched, streaking across the stars to the rescue. But things are not what they seem—secret agendas and ulterior motives abound, both aboard the ship and on the ground. And watching over it all is the Eschaton, which has its own very definite ideas about the outcome…

In the Ocean of Night (Galactic Center saga)

In the Ocean of Night (Galactic Center saga)
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A classic novel of man’s future and fate, written by the eminent American physicist and award-winning author of Timescape.
2034. An indistinguishable sound is heard from the depths of space and one member of the search and survey team, Nigel, believes he knows its origins. 15 years earlier, he was the astronaut sent to implode a firey comet as it hurtled toward the Asian subcontinent. Once inside the fissure he made an unlikely discovery: an abandoned alien ship. Against his better judgment, Nigel carried out his mission, destroying the vessel-but not before clandestinely removing alien data and technology from on board. Now, as the team sets forth on a new adventure of discovery, Nigel’s past will collide with the present, introducing him to wonders beyond human comprehension.

The Forge of God

The Forge of God
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This doomsday masterpiece from the author of Eon and Hull Zero Three was a finalist for the Hugo and Nebula awards.

On July 26, Arthur Gordon learns that Europa, the sixth moon of Jupiter, has disappeared. Not hiding, not turned black, but gone.

On September 28th, Edward Shaw finds an error in the geological records of Death Valley. A cinder cone was left off the map. Could it be new? Or, stranger yet, could it be artificial? The answer may be lying beside it—a dying Guest who brings devastating news for Edward and for Planet Earth.

As more unexplained phenomena spring up around the globe—a granite mountain appearing in Australia, sounds emanating from the earth’s core, flashes of light among the asteroids—it becomes clear to some that the end is approaching, and there is nothing we can do.

In The Forge of God, award-winning author Greg Bear describes the final days of the world on both a massive, scientific scale and in the everyday, emotional context of individual human lives. Facing the destruction of all they know, some people turn to God, others to their families, and a few turn to saviors promising escape from a planet being torn apart. Will they make it in time? And who gets left behind to experience the last moments of beauty and chaos on earth?

Nominated for the Nebula, Hugo, and Locus Awards, The Forge of God is an engrossing read, breathtaking in its scope and in its detail.