New Releases by David Brin

The classic apocalyptic novel that stunned the world.

Al Morris is a private investigator - an exceptionally busy private investigator. Luckily, he lives in a world where it is possible to produce disposable clones or multiple copies of yourself for a million and one essential tasks. However, Al''s ''dittos'' aren''t coming up with enough answers, some aren''t coming back at all and Al is becoming increasingly worried. As he penetrates deeper into the seedy underside of international commerce and corruption, self-reliance with a dash of immortality may no longer be enough .

Science fiction roman.

Colin Blakeney, 21st Century inventor of the technology that will give the world the transporter and the holodeck, is the victim of a treacherous attack that beams him out of this world -- and into forever. Three hundred years after Blakeney''s disappearance, the crew of the Enterprise Spot a stray transporter beam in deep space. Little do they know that this beam contains a mystery for the ages!

In New York and Baltimore, police cameras scan public areas twenty-four hours a day. Huge commercial databases track you finances and sell that information to anyone willing to pay. Host sites on the World Wide Web record every page you view, and “smart” toll roads know where you drive. Every day, new technology nibbles at our privacy.Does that make you nervous? David Brin is worried, but not just about privacy. He fears that society will overreact to these technologies by restricting the flow of information, frantically enforcing a reign of secrecy. Such measures, he warns, won''t really preserve our privacy. Governments, the wealthy, criminals, and the techno-elite will still find ways to watch us. But we''ll have fewer ways to watch them. We''ll lose the key to a free society: accountability.The Transparent Society is a call for “reciprocal transparency.” If police cameras watch us, shouldn''t we be able to watch police stations? If credit bureaus sell our data, shouldn''t we know who buys it? Rather than cling to an illusion of anonymity-a historical anomaly, given our origins in close-knit villages-we should focus on guarding the most important forms of privacy and preserving mutual accountability. The biggest threat to our freedom, Brin warns, is that surveillance technology will be used by too few people, now by too many.A society of glass houses may seem too fragile. Fearing technology-aided crime, governments seek to restrict online anonymity; fearing technology-aided tyranny, citizens call for encrypting all data. Brins shows how, contrary to both approaches, windows offer us much better protection than walls; after all, the strongest deterrent against snooping has always been the fear of being spotted. Furthermore, Brin argues, Western culture now encourages eccentricity-we''re programmed to rebel! That gives our society a natural protection against error and wrong-doing, like a body''s immune system. But “social T-cells” need openness to spot trouble and get the word out. The Transparent Society is full of such provocative and far-reaching analysis.The inescapable rush of technology is forcing us to make new choices about how we want to live. This daring book reminds us that an open society is more robust and flexible than one where secrecy reigns. In an era of gnat-sized cameras, universal databases, and clothes-penetrating radar, it will be more vital than ever for us to be able to watch the watchers. With reciprocal transparency we can detect dangers early and expose wrong-doers. We can gauge the credibility of pundits and politicians. We can share technological advances and news. But all of these benefits depend on the free, two-way flow of information.

-- David Brin is a famous science fiction author, winner of multiple awards. -- Steve Jackson is one of today''s best-known game creators. -- This game has been acclaimed as an educational simulation! In this critically-acclaimed game, the players take the part of primitive men and women, trying to hunt and gather food and protect their children. In the process, they build a society!

Il a fallu à la Terre des siècles pour rompre son isolement galactique et des siècles encore de manipulations génétiques pour que le Streaker, vaisseau d''exploration, dispose de l''équipage essentiel à sa mission : sept Terriens de haute expérience spatiale, un étonnant néo-chimpanzé et des dauphins rompus à la technique et au langage. Aussi, quand une avarie force le Streaker à faire halte, le commandant choisit-il Kithrup, un monde nautique où les dauphins peuvent agir aussitôt. Tous, en effet, savent que des Flottes galactiques, venues de planètes rivales, veulent s''emparer du vaisseau. C''est que le Streaker, lors d''une étonnante découverte, a fourni à ses banques de données un savoir secret qui peut ébranler la cohésion de l''univers...

Science fiction-roman.

The first collaboration between the Nebula Award-winning authors of Timescape and Startide Rising, Heart of the Comet is a breathtaking novel about a handful of men and women who ride a cold, hurtling ball of ice to a distant, unknowable future. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Omnibus edition of the second and third novels in the "Uplift" series: "Startide Rising" (winner, 1983 Nebula Award, 1984 Hugo Award, 1984 Locus Poll Award) and "The Uplift War" (winner, 1988 Hugo, 1988 Locus Poll Award). These novels were preceded by" Sundiver" (1980).

Eleven stories deal with a team searching for extraterrestrials, a strange epidemic, parallel worlds, space exploration, a memory drug, androids, and a man hunted by aliens