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.

OLTRE PLUTONE La missione su Marte ha reso Julia e Victor gli astronauti più famosi di tutti i tempi. Ora, anni dopo, vengono inviati dal Consorzio su Plutone, dove devono incontrare la nave guidata dal geniale e arrogante capitano Shanna Axelrod. Qui, sulle rive ghiacciate dell''oceano di Plutone, Shanna ha scoperto creature intelligenti che prosperano a temperature di -300°. Ma, anche se le scoperte spaziano dall''incredibile all''inconcepibile, i due equipaggi devono superare l''intensa rivalità che c''è fra i loro membri per poter lavorare insieme. Poiché le zone più remote del sistema solare, oltre Plutone, sono piene di meraviglie inimmaginabili e di forze tremende in grado di minacciare il genere umano.

Extinction is not permanent. Not anymore. Multi-millionaire researcher Alex Pierce has developed cutting-edge genetic techniques to extract viable DNA from preserved samples of breathtaking species that humans have erased from the Earth. From passenger pigeons and Tasmanian tigers, to Pleistocene dire wolves and sabretooths...even the humble dodo. The cornerstone of Alex''s dream is to resurrect the woolly mammoth. Majestic and massive, these creatures no longer roam the world, driven to extinction by ancient hunters. At his isolated Pleistocene Ranch in the wilds of Montana, Alex has actually bred the very first mammoth to walk the Earth in 10,000 years. But there are those who believe what is extinct should remain extinct, and that any tampering goes against the laws of nature. And their fervor may be far stronger than Alex''s dreams. Mammoth Dawn is the original acclaimed novella written by New York Times bestseller and Hugo and Nebula Award nominee Kevin J. Anderson and multiple Hugo and Nebula winner Gregory Benford; this volume also includes their detailed chapter-by-chapter treatment of the full novel the two authors originally envisioned, as well as a non-fiction overview of current scientific attempts to clone mammoths—a reality that may be much closer than you think.

The first manned mission to Mars has been a resounding success, and excitement grows as more new discoveries are made. However, one phenomenon continues to defy rational explanation - the ''marsmat'' - a complex anaerobic life-form found in the planet''s honeycomb of tunnels. This raises questions about the nature and meaning of life itself which will lead the curious and the driven to Pluto and beyond, to the cold void at the fringes of the solar system.

"Dans son laboratoire de physique, Alicia Butterworth procède à une expérience ambitieuse... qui tourne mal. Un accident qui va donner lieu à l''une des plus importantes découvertes de l''histoire de l''humanité. Dans les débris de l''explosion, Alicia retrouve une petite sphère faite d''une matière inconnue. Il s''agit d''un véritable cosmos en miniature, évoluant beaucoup plus vite que le nôtre : il vieillit de plusieurs millions d''années en l''espace de quelques jours... Ce qui ne va pas sans soulever un problème vertigineux : et si notre univers avait lui aussi été créé accidentellement par des savants ?" [Source : 4e de couv.]

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.

The third novel in the Nebula Award–winning author's classic series: "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 the only chance to save his family and mankind from final annihilation?

The Nebula Award–winning author's classic hard SF thriller of a race to Mars—and the "strange and beautiful" things encountered on the Red Planet ( Publishers Weekly ). In the early twenty-first century, a $30 billion dollar prize will be awarded to the private organization that successfully lands a spaceship on Mars. Eccentric billionaire John Axelrod believes he can accomplish the impossible challenge. But following closely behind his Consortium is a joint venture mounted by China and Europe. The race to the Red Planet is on . . . but getting there is just the beginning.

Live longer, live stronger, with scientific enhancements and the wonders of technology

The final volume in the Nebula Award–winning author's classic hard SF series—"as at the end of any great symphony, one can only stand and applaud" ( Asimov's Science Fiction ). Humanity's final chapter has begun, and three men hold the key to survival. As the fierce, artificially intelligent mechs pursue their savage and unstoppable destruction of the human race, it soon becomes apparent that three men—three generations in a family of voyagers—are their targets. Toby Bishop, his father Kileen, and his long-dead grandfather each carry a piece of the lethal secret that can destroy their relentless pursuers. To make matters worse, they have no idea they possess the only weapon that can save humanity. Sailing Bright Eternity concludes the genre-defining Galactic Center series by by the eminent physicist and award-winning author Gregory Benford. This edition contains a teaser chapter from Benford's novel The Sunborn.

The second volume in the classic hard sci-fi series by the renowned physicist and Nebula Award–winning author: "So good it hurts" ( Washington Post Book World ). 2076. Technology has propelled the world into a new age of enlightenment. Nigel has left Earth to explore space and search for alien life. But while on this captivating mission, humanity's birthplace has fallen prey to attack and its seas are seeded with alien lifeforms. Now, Nigel is left to search for the only savior he knows—the one who saved him once before—the alien machine called the "Snark." Having left the solar system and turned traitor to its alien masters, Nigel is unsure of the Snark's new allegiance. Is the Snark a friend? Or will it also turn on Nigel . . . proving to be a deadly foe?

What would have happened if history had been different: if the major events that shaped our times had occurred in a different way-or not at all? From a Trojan War in which Helen surrenders to a Civil War fought with robots, from a World War I in which Teddy Roosevelt tries to recapture the glory of San Juan Hill to a World War II in which the race is not for atomic weapons but for orbital rockets, these bold excursions in time depict bizarre new worlds-oddly familiar, disturbingly different.

Merlin is one of the most powerful names in the annals of fantasy, a name to conjure with, a name that is synonymous with Arthur, Morgan le Fay, the Lady of the Lake, Nimue, the Knights of the Round Table, Camelot and Avalon. Was he the greatest of Druids, a true caster of spells, a weaver of tales and legends, a maker of kings, or a tragic hero in his own right?

Collection dirigée par Gérard KleinLa Grande Rivière du ciel, c''est la Voie lactée, vue du centre de la galaxie. C''est là que se joue peut-être le dernier acte de l''histoire de l''humanité.Traquée par des machines intelligentes, la tribu de Killeen et de Shibo n''a plus qu''un espoir : retrouver le navire magique Argo, l''un de ceux qui ont amené leurs ancêtres, à travers l''espace interstellaire, sur un monde qui fut un paradis. Avant l''arrivée des Machines. Mais pour cela, il leur faudra déjouer les ruses d''intelligences artificielles aussi puissantes que le Fabricant ou que la Mante.Gregory Benford, écrivain et physicien, nous offre ici le premier volet d''une des plus vertigineuses trilogies de la science-fiction, auquel feront suite Marées de lumière et Les Profondeurs furieuses.

Human civilization has evolved to the point at which we have begun consciously sending messages into the far future. How should we communicate who we are, what we know, to asyet-unmet intelligent beings elsewhere in both time and space? Will they be able to decipher what we say? And what information will we leave to Earth''s occupants a million years hence? How can we address an unknown destiny in which human culture itself may no longer exist? Combining the logical rigor of a scientist with the lyrical beauty of a novelist, Gregory Benford explores these and other fascinating questions in a provocative analysis of humanity''s attempts to make its culture immortal, to cross the immense gulf that such deep-time messages must span in order to be understood. In clear, crisp language, he confronts our growing influence on events hundreds of thousands of years into the future, and explores the possible "messages" we may transmit to our distant descendants in the language of the planet itself -- from nuclear waste to global warming to the extinction of species. We are already sending messages into nearby space; in the coming ages we will be able to launch probes accurately to other stars. Our indelible legacy to future generations, or to the next occupants of this planet, is already being constructed. As we begin our incredible journey down the path of eternity, Gregory Benford masterfully calls forth some of the intriguing, astounding, undreamed -- of futures which may await us in deep time. Human civilization has evolved to the point at which we have begun consciously sending messages into the far future. How should we communicate who we are, what we know, to as-yet-unmet intelligent beings elsewhere in both time and space? Will they be able to decipher what we say? And what information will we leave to Earth''s occupants a million years hence? How can we address an unknown destiny in which human culture itself may no longer exist?Combining the logical rigor of a scientist with the lyrical beauty of a novelist, Gregory Benford explores these and other fascinating questions in a provocative analysis of humanity''s attempts t make its culture immortal, to cross the immense gulf that such deep-time messages must span in order to be understood. In clear, crisp language, he confronts our growing influence on events hundreds of thousands of years into the future, and explores the possible "messages'' we may transmit to our distant descendants in the language of the planet itself-from nuclear waste to global warming to the extinction of species.

Collected in this 34th edition are the best science fiction and fantasy works chosen by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. "Exceptionally fine . . . An essential index of one year in SF and fantasy."--"Booklist."

A gripping, masterfully written adventure set against the violent beauty of a planet in the throes of cataclymic transformation, "Against Infinity" is Gregory Benford's timeless portrait of a young man's comming of age. On the poisonous, icy surface of Ganymede, a man and a boy are on a deadly hunt.Their prey is the "Aleph"--an unknowable alien artifact that roamed and ruled Ganymede for countless millennia. Indescribable, infinitely dangerous, the Aleph haunts men's dreams and destroys all efforts to terraform Ganymede into a habitable planet. Now in a modern world ancient struggle is joined, as a boy seeks manhood, a man seeks enlightenment, and a society seeks the power to rule the universe. On the poisonous, icy surface of Ganymede, a man and a boy are on a hunt for the Aleph--an alien artifact that ruled Ganymede for countless millenia, Infinitely dangerous, the Aleph haunts men's dreams and destroys all efforts to terraform Ganymede into an habitable planet. Now an ancient struggle is joined, as a boy seeks manhood, a man seeks enlightenment, and a society seeks the power to rule the universe.

Isaac Asimov's Foundation series has long held a pre-eminent place in the science fiction canon. Yet Asimov himself suggested that there were areas that needed further exploration. In FOUNDATION'S FEAR, Gregory Benford, one of the foremost writers of hard science fiction, takes up the challenge. Hari Seldon, close to perfecting his theory of Psychohistory, is now a reluctant candidate for the position of First Minister. But there is considerable, and dangerous, opposition to him and he and his wife, Dora, are forced to flee Trantor. But Hari's sometimes harrowing experiences whet his political edge and prepare him for the all-important confrontation with his enemy.... FOUNDATIONS' FEAR is an important and compelling work, in which Benford's magnificent storytelling, grand vision and hard science fiction combine to take Asimov's Foundation into new and fascinating territory.

Hari Seldon n''avait qu''un souhait : rester mathématicien, s''absorber dans la froide précision des nombres. Mais le destin - et le pouvoir arbitraire d''un empereur cruel - va le propulser, malgré lui, au poste de Premier ministre de l''Empire. Au début de l''aventure, Hari est sur le point de quitter son poste de chercheur et de relever le défi presque impossible de gouverner vingt-cinq millions de mondes habités, depuis la planète Trantor. Avec l''aide de la belle Dors, le robot humanoïde qui est sa compagne, et de son protégé, Yugo, Seldon s''efforce de mettre au point la psychohistoire, cette science qui prédira l''avenir, sans jamais imaginer qu''elle lui vaudra d''affronter la menace la plus terrifiante de l''histoire du futur. De la grande et belle science-fiction, fidèle à l''esprit du célèbre Asimov, et même au-delà. L''aventure continue, servie par un auteur qui retrouve le souffle propre à l''épopée de la Fondation.

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 his new hardcover "The Sunborn," scheduled for release in March 2005.

In 1962, a young Californian scientist finds his experiments spoiled by mysterious interference. Gradually his investigations lead him to the shattering truth that scientists from the end of the century are using subatomic particles to send a message into the past to try and avert disaster.

Science fiction-roman.

Arthur C.Clarke''s early novel Against the Fall of the Night, set far in the future, and a sequel by Gregory Benford. Alvin, the only child for many centuries born in what is believed to be the only city left on Earth, leads a renaissance. Man is reclaiming the Earth, but evil has also returned.

Gregory Benford expands Arthur C. Clarke''s novella, Against the Fall of Night, into a novel-length adventure set billions of years in the future about human destiny among the stars.