New Releases by Gregory Benford

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?

"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.]

David Brin and Gregory Benford come together again to issue a new edition of their bold collaboration about our near human future in space, planting our boots . . . and staking our destiny . . . on becoming the People of the Comet.Prescient and scientifically accurate, Heart of the Comet is known as one of the great "hard sf" novels of the 1980s. First published in 1986, it tells the story of an ambitious manned mission to visit Halley''s Comet and alter its orbit, to mine it for resources. But all too soon, native cells0́4 that might once have brought life to Earth0́4begin colonizing the colonists. As factions battle over the comet''s future . . . and that of Earth . . . only love, courage and ingenuity can avert disaster, and possibly spark a new human destiny.Tremendously imaginative . . . a breathtaking effort from two of science fiction''s brightest stars. 0́4 The San Diego Union

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.

Regein was the first human colony struck by the Quarn - aliens never seen by man, yet who sow a strange death through man''s crumbling empire. In humanity''s wreckage, Ling Sanjen, a rare half-breed Caucasian, sets forth to find what - and who - has broken the spirit of mankind...

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.

In 1986, Halley''s Comet returned to our heavens for the first time in over seventy-five years. Heart of the Comet is the story of Halley''s next return in the middle of the twenty-first century, and of a daring mission to explore and colonize this ice-covered wanderer. It is the thrilling saga of a multinational group of exiles who discover the comet''s astonishing secret - the secret that threatens their very survival.

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.

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 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.

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...

Cley est une Originale, une représentante génétiquement pure de la très ancienne race des Ur-humains. Comme les autres membres de sa tribu, elle vit dans la forêt et espère passer ses quelques siècles d''existence à travailler dans la grande Bibliothèque de la Vie. Mais d''étranges formes de vie transdimensionnelles détruisent la Bibliothèque et tuent tous les Originaux de la Terre. A l''exception de Cley. Ces êtres belliqueux attaquent également les Supras, une autre espèce hautement évoluée. Ceux-ci se retrouvent dans l''incapacité de récupérer les connaissances accumulées par les hommes au fil des millénaires et les archives d''ADN perdues dans les ruines de la Bibliothèque. Tout comme ils ne peuvent protéger Cley... Obligée de fuir pour survivre, elle devra s''aventurer au-delà des mondes connus... Avec ce roman, dans la lignée des explorations les plus osées du grand Arthur C. Clarke, avec qui il a longtemps collaboré, Gregory Benford, grand nom de la science-fiction classique, explore de nouveaux concepts dans un foisonnement d''idées passionnant, qui entraîne le lecteur dans des abîmes vertigineux. Un livre formidablement stimulant pour les neurones !

Follows the discovery of a complex life form during the first successful manned mission to Mars, a finding that poses significant questions about life on worlds beyond our solar system.

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.

Un astéroïde menace la Terre. Chargé de l''éliminer, Nigel Walmsley s''aperçoit qu''il s''agit d''une épave spatiale et transgresse ses instructions pour l''explorer et l''étudier. Et lorsque quinze ans plus tard une sonde extraterrestre pénètre dans le système solaire et que les autorités décident de la détruire, Nigel l''insoumis parvient à entrer en contact avec elle avant qu''elle ne s''enfuie. Du coup, Nigel, qui a capté cette pensée étrangère grâce à un implant médical, est devenu l''ambassadeur des Autres, à demi humain, à demi différent. C''est sur la Lune qu''il va rencontrer son destin et modifier celui de toute l''humanité. On y a découvert en effet une autre épave dont l''examen va ouvrir aux hommes le chemin des étoiles. Voici le premier volume de l''immense épopée du Centre galactique dont le deuxième volet À travers la mer des soleils paraîtra en 2003 au Livre de Poche où sont déjà disponibles les titres suivants : La Gronde Rivière du ciel, Marées de lumière et Les Profondeurs furieuses.

Chargé de détruire un astéroïde qui menace d''entrer en collision avec la Terre, Nigel découvre qu''il s''agit en fait de l''épave d''un vaisseau spatial. Transgressant ses ordres, il retarde la mise à feu des explosifs pour l''étudier. Quinze ans plus tard, une sonde extraterrestre pénètre dans le Système solaire. Les autorités décident alors de la détruire et provoquent sa fuite. Nigel, qui cherchait à entrer en communication avec l''entité de cette sonde, capte sa pensée grâce à un implant de surveillance médicale. Ce contact privilégié ainsi que l''examen d''une épave sur la Lune débouche sur la plus grande aventure qu''ait connue l''humanité... Avec Dans l''océan de la nuit puis A travers la mer des soleils, Gregory Benford nous offre les deux premiers volumes de sa fresque du Centre galactique, tout aussi importante que le cycle de Rama d''Arthur C. Clarke.

Combining the logical rigor with the lyrical finesse of a novelist, award-winning author Gregory Benford explores these and other fascinating questions in this provocative analysis of humanity''s attempts to make its culture immortal. In "Deep Time" he confronts our growing influence on events hundreds of thousands of years into the future and explores the possible "messeges" 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. 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.

Physicist and writer Gregory Benford draws from his own research to craft this third collection of science fiction stories, available for the first time in book form.

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.

The Jovian Astronautical-Biological Orbital Laboratory, a.k.a. "the Can", is the only home 17-year-old Matt Bohles has ever known. Concerned about the aging space station''s failure to find evidence of alien life on Jupiter or its moon, the cost-conscious powers back home have determined that all non-essential personnel must be evacuated. Now, unless Matt can somehow prove himself to be an invaluable member of the scientific team, he faces exile to a dangerous, frightening, and unfamiliar place: Earth.

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.