New Releases by Gregory Benford

“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 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.

Glorious continues the hard science fiction Bowl of Heaven series from multi-award-winning authors Gregory Benford and Larry Niven. 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. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Bowl of Heaven and Shipstar collects two novels from science fiction masters Larry Niven (Ringworld) and Gregory Benford (Timescape) that weave a thrilling intersteller odyssey in the not-too-distant future. “If you like hard SF with mind-stretching ideas—both physical and psychological—then you definitely want to read this book.” —Analog on the New York Times bestseller Bowl of Heaven A human expedition to colonize another star system 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. Investigating the Bowl, or Shipstar, the human explorers are separated—one group captured by the gigantic structure’s alien inhabitants, the other pursued across its strange and dangerous landscape—while the mystery of the Shipstar’s origins and purpose propel the human voyagers toward discoveries that transform their understanding of their place in the universe. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

In this thematic sequel to Gregory Benford’s award-winning bestseller Timescape, a history professor finds that he is able travel back to 1968, the year he was sixteen—here, he finds a slew of mentors with the same ability, including Robert Heinlein, Albert Einstein, and Philip K. Dick and becomes a successful Hollywood screenwriter until some wicked time travelers try to subvert him. It’s 2002, and Charlie, in his late forties, is a bit of a sad-sack professor of history going through an unpleasant divorce. While flipping the cassette of an audiobook he gets into a car accident with a truck, and wakes up, fully aware as his adult mind, in his sixteen-year-old body in 1968. Charlie does the thing we all imagine: he takes what he remembers of the future and uses it for himself in his present, the past. He becomes a screenwriter, anticipating the careers of Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg, and then, in a 1980s life of excess, he dies, and wakes up again in his bedroom at sixteen in 1968. Charlie realizes things he didn’t see the first time: that there are others like him, like Albert Einstein, Philip K. Dick, Robert Heinlein. In fact, there is a society of folks who loop through time to change the world for their agenda. Now, Charlie knows he has to do something other than be self-indulgent and he tries to change one of the events of 1968 in this clever thriller.

New York Times bestselling author Gregory Benford creates an alternate history about the creation of the atomic bomb that explores what could have happened if the bomb was ready to be used by June 6, 1944. Karl Cohen, a chemist and mathematician who is part of The Manhattan Project team, has discovered an alternate solution for creating the uranium isotope needed to cause a chain reaction: U-235. After convincing General Groves of his new method, Cohen and his team of scientists work at Oak Ridge preparing to have a nuclear bomb ready to drop by the summer of 1944 in an effort to stop the war on the western front. What ensues is an altered account of World War II in this taut thriller. Combining fascinating science with intimate and true accounts of several members of The Manhattan Project, The Berlin Project is an astounding novel that reimagines history and what could have happened if the atom bomb was ready in time to stop Hitler from killing millions of people.

THE MARS GIRL (Joe Haldeman) Carmen Dula was just like any other girl. Or she used to be, before she spent six months on the spacecraft, John Carter, as part of the first nine families to settle on Mars. ) Just like any other teenager she was curious about her new home-who wouldn''t be?-but she did her schoolwork, enjoyed time with her friends, and she started to explore the red planet with the supervision of her guide and friend, Paul Santos; always within the rules set by the colony.) Yet the Administrator, Dargo Solingen, seemed to have it out for her. She had no idea why, but she was blamed for every slight; every transgression. Until one day she had enough. At night fall, Carmen donned a biosuit and ventured outside on her own-during curfew, while her outside privileges had been suspended. She didn''t have a set goal. All she knew is that she wanted to explore... What happened next was beyond her most wildest dreams. But how can she prove what she saw that night, when almost everyone assumes she is lying? ============================================================ AS BIG AS THE RITZ (Gregory Benford) Clayton Donnor grew up in a hard-working mining asteroid community, so when he went to Earth to study at UCLA, he thought all his dreams had come true. Earth was gaudy, effervescent and, above all, it was fun. Majoring in Comparative Astrophysics, and Minoring in Analytic Economic Morality, Clayton''s aspirations were large. But he had no idea what would be in store for him when he first met Sylvia Rolland, and she invited him home to meet her father. For Dr. Norman Rollan had created the elusive Brotherworld, a manufactured Hoop world a few kilometres thick, that circled around the Vortex of a black hole twenty kilometres away. Why did Dr. Rollan not allow any Astrophysicists to visit? What were his colony of genetically- perfect clones hiding? Clayton was determined to find out...

The Future Is Ourselves The world is rapidly changing. We surf future-shock every day, as the progress of technology races ever on. Increasingly we are asking: how do we change to live in the world to come? Whether it’s climate change, inundated coastlines and drowned cities; the cramped confines of a tin can hurtling through space to the outer reaches of our Solar System; or the rush of being uploaded into cyberspace, our minds and bodies are going to have to drastically alter. Multi-award winning editor Jonathan Strahan brings us another incredible volume in his much praised science-fiction anthology series, featuring stories by Madeline Ashby, John Barnes, James S.A. Corey, Gregory Benford, Benjanun Sriduangkaew, Simon Ings, Kameron Hurley, Nancy Kress, Gwyneth Jones, Yoon Ha Lee, Bruce Sterling, Sean Williams, Aliette de Bodard, Ramez Naam, An Owomoyela and Ian McDonald.

A Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy ISSUE 13: March 2015 Mike Resnick, Editor Jean Rabe, Assistant Editor Shahid Mahmud, Publisher Stories by: Liz Colter, Pat Cadigan, Brad R. Torgersen, Gregory Benford, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Eric Leif Davin, Fabio F. Centamore, Jody Lynn Nye, Kathleen Conahan Serialization: Melodies of the Heart by Michael Flynn Columns by: Barry Malzberg, Gregory Benford Book Reviews: Paul Cook. Interview: Joy Ward interviews Jerry Pournelle Galaxy''s Edge is a bi-monthly (every two months) magazine published by Phoenix Pick, the science fiction and fantasy imprint of Arc Manor, an award winning independent press based in Maryland. Each issue of the magazine has a mix of new and old (reprint) stories, a serialization of a novel, columns by Barry N. Malzberg and Gregory Benford, book reviews by Paul Cook and an interview conducted by Joy Ward.

They were fighting death. Through their scientific breakthroughs, one of humanity''s oldest dreams could be coming true. With cryonics, the body could be preserved at superlow temperatures for future revival. But Death was fighting back. In the hospital there were senior staff determined to destroy careers and work. And on the streets, Death''s Agent hears the whispered commands of the preacher and knew he must seek out and kill the blasphemers...

Modern space adventures crafted by a new generation of Grand Tradition science fiction writers. Smart, engaging stories that take us back to a time when science fiction was fun and informative, pithy and piquant-when speculative fiction transported us from the everyday grind and left us wondrously satisfied. Showcasing the breadth of Grand Tradition stories, from 1940s-style pulp to realistic hard SF, from noir and horror to SF spaceships, alien uplift, and action-adventure motifs, Far Orbit''s diversity of Grand Tradition stories makes it easy for every SF fan to find a favorite.

The dramatic sequel to Larry Niven and Gregory Benford''s New York Times bestselling novel, Bowl of Heaven 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. Investigating the Bowl, or Shipstar, the human explorers are separated—one group captured by the gigantic structure''s alien inhabitants, the other pursued across its strange and dangerous landscape—while the mystery of the Shipstar''s origins and purpose propel the human voyagers toward discoveries that transform their understanding of their place in the universe. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Death came in on sixteen legs.So begins a novella set in the Galactic Center series, "A Hunger for the Infinite." Now this novella and much other writing about the science and fiction in the series, appears in one volume. Unique in literature, the series comes from the author''s own scientific research. The series took a quarter century to complete, and Benford traces his own research into the strange structures there, first discovered in the 1980s. Critics have described the six novels as "magnificent" by "the most rigorous of hard SF writers." The series has been called "one of the greatest sf series ever written," "a major achievement in realizing the potential of hard SF not only as speculation, but as literature," with "a bardic heft worthy of Poul Anderson." "No one has surpassed this ground-breaking achievement in mapping the unmappable depths of space, time, and consciousness."For the first time, all the depth surrounding the series is collected in one volume.

The author of such hard-science masterpieces as Eater, Benford excels at short fiction as well, from a tale of courage in the aftermath of nuclear war ("To the Storming Gulf") to a thoughtful commentary on human and primate interaction in his title novella.

A billion years from now a human woman is created from data held within the Library of Life. Her birth could result in the destruction of the cosmos . . . A rogue element in an increasingly unstable, she draws the attention of a mysterious alien breed. Already masters of travel between parallel universes they believe this girl is the key to changing all reality. And if they track her down, the effects on the galaxy will be cataclysmic. Beyond Infinity is an epic far future thriller from an author who is both a master storyteller and a highly respected scientist.

Craftsman and amateur astronomer Geoffrey Carlisle from Ely discovers that the moon is fractionally ahead of its usual elliptical orbit. He becomes instantaneously well-known for his unique observation. Using Carlisle''s findings, astronomy experts discover that each star circling the moon has been slightly warped. Yet after some time, as Professor Wright from Cambridge University had predicted, the warped stars return to their rightful places, suggesting that the world is an information-ordered one, like an analogue program acting out. What then, are the actual repercussions of a computational error in reality?

Reveals predictions made in "Popular Mechanics" magazine between 1903 and 1969 about what the future would hold!

A Tor.com original, Nebula Award-winning author Gregory Benford''s Grace Immaculate is the awe-inspiring story of first contact--and the beginning of something more. Earth picked up the signals from 134 light years away. Humanity''s leaders quickly established contact with the alien Hydrans, engaging in a cultural exchange lasting centuries. But maintaining a communicative understanding between two very different species over such a long distance results in altering both societies beyond expectation... At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

A man at a masquerade discovers that one guest has come a long, long way to attend - and that some disguises reveal more secrets than they hide. This collection of 21 short stories by Gregory Benford, who won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award and the Nebula for his novel, "Timescape", is a remarkable introduction to his writing.

Once upon a moment, the One spoke to He and She, and learned that infinity and eternity are slippery concepts. At best. Don''t miss Gregory Benford''s mindbending short story The Final Now, a Tor.com Original. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The Nebula Award-winning author''s fifth installment of his classic Galactic Center series is reissued in this special edition that contains a teaser chapter from The Sunborn. Trying to escape the relentless mechs, the last humans from planet Snowglade take their ancient starship on a dangerous course straight into the Eater, the black hole at the galactic center. Hungry and desperate, the refugees begin to question the leadership of Captain Killeen, who believes the center holds their one hope of survival. Meanwhile, Killeen''s son Toby struggles with the microchips that were implanted in his spine-a technology that now threatens his sanity. Caught between their genocidal pursuers and peril in the galactic center, Killeen and Toby bring humanity to its final destiny.

Sentinels: A collection of stories and essays by some of Clarke''s many colleagues and friends who were influenced by his writings and thoughts about human possibilities, and who continue as his sentinels by the doors to the future that he opened... Stories and essays by: Isaac Asimov, Stephen Baxter, Gregory Benford, Russell Blackford, Damien Broderick, Pat Cadigan, Sheila Finch, James Gunn, Robert A. Heinlein, A.A. Jackson IV, Christopher McKitterick, Charles Pellegrino, Frederik Pohl, Pamela Sargent, Joan Slonczewski, Allen Steele, Howard Waldrop, Jack Williamson, George Zebrowski.

"Flying cars, mail delivery by parachute, and other predictions from the past"--Jacket.

In Newcomb''s paradox you choose to receive either the contents of a particular closed box, or the contents of both that closed box and another one. Before you choose, a prediction algorithm deduces your choice, and fills the two boxes based on that deduction. Newcomb''s paradox is that game theory appears to provide two conflicting recommendations for what choice you should make in this scenario. We analyze Newcomb''s paradox using a recent extension of game theory in which the players set conditional probability distributions in a Bayes net. We show that the two game theory recommendations in Newcomb''s scenario have different presumptions for what Bayes net relates your choice and the algorithm''s prediction. We resolve the paradox by proving that these two Bayes nets are incompatible. We also show that the accuracy of the algorithm''s prediction, the focus of much previous work, is irrelevant. In addition we show that Newcomb''s scenario only provides a contradiction between game theory''s expected utility and dominance principles if one is sloppy in specifying the underlying Bayes net. We also show that Newcomb''s paradox is time-reversal invariant; both the paradox and its resolution are unchanged if the algorithm makes its ''prediction'' after you make your choice rather than before.

The classic sci-fi saga continues in this “intriguing and engrossing” first installment of a new trilogy that “extends and embellishes Asimov’s vision” (Kirkus). Isaac Asimov''s Foundation Trilogy is one of the high-water marks of science fiction. It is the monumental story of a Galactic Empire in decline, and the secret society of scientists who seek to shorten the inevitable Dark Age with the science of psychohistory. Now, with the permission—and blessing—of the Asimov estate, the epic saga continues. Fate—and a cruel Emperor''s arbitrary power—have thrust Hari Seldon into the First Ministership of the Empire against his will. As the story opens, Hari is about to leave his quiet professorship and take on the nearly impossible task of administering 25 million inhabited worlds from the all-steel planet of Trantor. With the help of his beautiful bio-engineered "wife" Dors and his alien companion Yugo, Seldon is still developing the science that will transform history, never dreaming that it will ultimately pit him against future history''s most awesome threat.

Impending personal tragedy is dimming the brilliant light of Dr. Benjamin Knowlton''s world. On the threshold of their greatest achievement, the renowned astrophysicist''s beloved wife and partner -- ex-astronaut-turned astronomer -- is dying. But something looms alarningly on the far edge of the solar system: at once a scientific find of unparalleled importance that could ensure the Knowltons'' immortality, and a potential earth-shattering cataclysm that dwarfs their private one. For Benjamin and Channing have discovered "Eater," an eons-old black hole anomaly that devours stars and worlds. Yet its most awesome and devasting secrets are still to be revealed...and feared.

An archaeologist discovers a mysterious ancient object in Greece that could destroy the world in this science fiction adventure. A small cube of black rock has been unearthed in a 3,500-year-old Mycenaean tomb. An incomprehensible object in an impossible place; its age, its purpose, and its origins are unknown. Its discovery has unleashed a global storm of intrigue, theft, and espionage, and is pushing nations to the brink of war. Its substance has scientists baffled. And the miracle it contains does not belong on this Earth. It is mystery and madness—an enigma with no equal in recorded history. It is mankind’s greatest discovery . . . and worst nightmare. It may have already obliterated a world. Ours is next. Praise for Artifact “What do you get if you cross a James Bond movie with an Indiana Jones movie? A Gregory Benford novel. That seems to be a pretty accurate description of the pace and theme of Artifact. It’s an engaging tale. . . . Artifact skillfully blends physics and archeology with a fast-paced plot worthy of any blockbuster action flick.” —SF Site

The third novel in the award-winning author''s classic Galactic Center series is available once again. "A challenging, pacesetting work of hard science fiction that should not be missed" (Los Angeles Times). Nearly 100,000 years after first contact with the machines that dominate the universe, a few hundred humans survive. Trapped on Snowglade, a barren world near the center of the galaxy, people like Killeen of Family Bishop and his child Toby are primitive scavengers, homeless and hunted by the ruling "mechs." Then suddenly, a strange cosmic entity-neither organic nor cybernetic nor living matter-reaches out from a black hole to speak with Killeen. But can this fallen descendant of starfarers understand this alien being in time-and seize his only chance to save his family and mankind from final annihilation?

Now in a new, revised edition, the fourth book of the Nebula Award-winning author''s Galactic Center series is a classic tale of man''s future and fate--and the greatest mystery from outer space that humanity has ever encountered. Piloting an ancient starship, Killeen and the Bishop tribe escape the mech-ruled world of Snowglade. Seeking refuge on a far away planet, they discover vast wonders-an organic life-form as large as a world, a planet-coring cosmic string, a community of humans ruled by a brutal tyrant, and ultimately an alien race more awesome than any they have encountered. As they battle for survival against these myriad dangers, Killeen and his crew will gain an unforeseen ally-one that may determine humanity''s true destiny...

From the Nebula Award-winning author of "Timescape" and "Foundation''s Fear" comes a hard-science thriller about the race to Mars that will tie into NASA''s upcoming landing on the planet.