Title: Science Fiction Swap - Reveals
shaunesay - January 26, 2008 05:06 AM (GMT)
luckaye - January 26, 2008 10:20 AM (GMT)
Lucie's reveal
The Man Who Melted by Jack Dann
The Man Who Melted is a warning for the future. It is the Brave New World and 1984 for our time, for it gives us a glimpse into our own future—a future ruled by corporations that control deadly and powerful forms of mass manipulation. It is a prediction of what could happen...tomorrow.
The Man Who Melted examines how technology affects us and changes our morality, and it questions how we might remain human in an inhuman world. Will the future disenfranchise or empower the individual? Here you’ll find new forms of sexuality, new perversions, new epiphanies, and an entirely new form of consciousness.
Would you pay to "go down" with the Titanic?
In this dystopia the Titanic is brought back from the bottom of the sea and refurbished, only to be sunk again for those who want the ultimate decadent experience. Some passengers pay to commit suicide by "going under" with the ship.
The Man Who Melted has been called "one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time" by Science Fiction Age and is considered a genre classic. It is the stunning odyssey of a man searching through the glittering, apocalyptic landscape of the next century for a woman lost to him in a worldwide outbreak of telepathic fear. Here is a terrifying future where people can gamble away their hearts (and other organs) and telepathically taste the last flickering thoughts
The Man Who Melted by Jack Dann
The Man Who Melted is a warning for the future. It is the Brave New World and 1984 for our time, for it gives us a glimpse into our own future—a future ruled by corporations that control deadly and powerful forms of mass manipulation. It is a prediction of what could happen...tomorrow.
The Man Who Melted examines how technology affects us and changes our morality, and it questions how we might remain human in an inhuman world. Will the future disenfranchise or empower the individual? Here you’ll find new forms of sexuality, new perversions, new epiphanies, and an entirely new form of consciousness.
Would you pay to "go down" with the Titanic?
In this dystopia the Titanic is brought back from the bottom of the sea and refurbished, only to be sunk again for those who want the ultimate decadent experience. Some passengers pay to commit suicide by "going under" with the ship.
The Man Who Melted has been called "one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time" by Science Fiction Age and is considered a genre classic. It is the stunning odyssey of a man searching through the glittering, apocalyptic landscape of the next century for a woman lost to him in a worldwide outbreak of telepathic fear. Here is a terrifying future where people can gamble away their hearts (and other organs) and telepathically taste the last flickering thoughts
rebeccaljames - January 26, 2008 10:51 AM (GMT)
Shaunesay's reveal:
The Saga of Seven Suns Book 1: The Hidden Empire - Kevin J. Anderson
Hidden Empire begins a dazzling space opera fit to stand with the classics of the genre, combining the politics of Frank Herbert's Dune, the scope of Peter F. Hamilton's Night's Dawn trilogy, and the pageantry and romance of Star Wars; In the far future, humanity began to search the stars, sending out vast spaceships that would take generations to reach their goals. In the depths of space they encountered the Ildiran empire - apparently the galaxy's only other intelligent civilisation. The Ildirans came to Earth and passed on the knowledge of their stardrive, allowing humanity to expand to the stars. Almost two hundred years after that first contact, there are human colonies proliferating through the galaxy. As Mankind seized the future, danger comes from the past, for two human archaeologists glean forbidden knowledge from the ruins of a dead world. Once, the insect-like Klikiss ruled the stars. Now, only their robot servants remain, guardians of a terrible technology - the Klikiss Torch, which has the power to create suns. Now, Humanity prepares to flex its new found muscle and activate the Torch for the first time in millennia, but there are reasons the Klikiss empire fell, and a train of events is about to be set in motion, which will change the universe...
The Saga of Seven Suns Book 1: The Hidden Empire - Kevin J. Anderson
Hidden Empire begins a dazzling space opera fit to stand with the classics of the genre, combining the politics of Frank Herbert's Dune, the scope of Peter F. Hamilton's Night's Dawn trilogy, and the pageantry and romance of Star Wars; In the far future, humanity began to search the stars, sending out vast spaceships that would take generations to reach their goals. In the depths of space they encountered the Ildiran empire - apparently the galaxy's only other intelligent civilisation. The Ildirans came to Earth and passed on the knowledge of their stardrive, allowing humanity to expand to the stars. Almost two hundred years after that first contact, there are human colonies proliferating through the galaxy. As Mankind seized the future, danger comes from the past, for two human archaeologists glean forbidden knowledge from the ruins of a dead world. Once, the insect-like Klikiss ruled the stars. Now, only their robot servants remain, guardians of a terrible technology - the Klikiss Torch, which has the power to create suns. Now, Humanity prepares to flex its new found muscle and activate the Torch for the first time in millennia, but there are reasons the Klikiss empire fell, and a train of events is about to be set in motion, which will change the universe...
shaunesay - January 26, 2008 03:13 PM (GMT)
Here's mine with the picture :)
The Saga of Seven Suns Book 1: The Hidden Empire - Kevin J. Anderson
Hidden Empire begins a dazzling space opera fit to stand with the classics of the genre, combining the politics of Frank Herbert's Dune, the scope of Peter F. Hamilton's Night's Dawn trilogy, and the pageantry and romance of Star Wars; In the far future, humanity began to search the stars, sending out vast spaceships that would take generations to reach their goals. In the depths of space they encountered the Ildiran empire - apparently the galaxy's only other intelligent civilisation. The Ildirans came to Earth and passed on the knowledge of their stardrive, allowing humanity to expand to the stars. Almost two hundred years after that first contact, there are human colonies proliferating through the galaxy. As Mankind seized the future, danger comes from the past, for two human archaeologists glean forbidden knowledge from the ruins of a dead world. Once, the insect-like Klikiss ruled the stars. Now, only their robot servants remain, guardians of a terrible technology - the Klikiss Torch, which has the power to create suns. Now, Humanity prepares to flex its new found muscle and activate the Torch for the first time in millennia, but there are reasons the Klikiss empire fell, and a train of events is about to be set in motion, which will change the universe...
The Saga of Seven Suns Book 1: The Hidden Empire - Kevin J. Anderson
Hidden Empire begins a dazzling space opera fit to stand with the classics of the genre, combining the politics of Frank Herbert's Dune, the scope of Peter F. Hamilton's Night's Dawn trilogy, and the pageantry and romance of Star Wars; In the far future, humanity began to search the stars, sending out vast spaceships that would take generations to reach their goals. In the depths of space they encountered the Ildiran empire - apparently the galaxy's only other intelligent civilisation. The Ildirans came to Earth and passed on the knowledge of their stardrive, allowing humanity to expand to the stars. Almost two hundred years after that first contact, there are human colonies proliferating through the galaxy. As Mankind seized the future, danger comes from the past, for two human archaeologists glean forbidden knowledge from the ruins of a dead world. Once, the insect-like Klikiss ruled the stars. Now, only their robot servants remain, guardians of a terrible technology - the Klikiss Torch, which has the power to create suns. Now, Humanity prepares to flex its new found muscle and activate the Torch for the first time in millennia, but there are reasons the Klikiss empire fell, and a train of events is about to be set in motion, which will change the universe...
elsi - January 26, 2008 04:01 PM (GMT)
Venus by Ben Bova
From the back cover:
The surface of Venus is the most hellish place in the solar system. The ground is hot enough to melt aluminum. The air pressure crushes spacecraft like tin cans. The sky is perpetually covered with clouds of sulfuric acid. The atmosphere is a choking mixture of poisonous gases.
This is where Van Humphries must go. Or die trying.
His older brother perished in the first attempt to land a man on Venus, years before, and his father has always hated him for surviving when his brother died. Now his father has offered ten billion dollars to the first person to land on Venus and return his oldest son's remains.
To everyone's surprise, Van takes the offer. But what Van Humphries will find on Venus will change everything—our understanding of Venus and of Earth,and Van's own knowledge of who he is.
From the back cover:
The surface of Venus is the most hellish place in the solar system. The ground is hot enough to melt aluminum. The air pressure crushes spacecraft like tin cans. The sky is perpetually covered with clouds of sulfuric acid. The atmosphere is a choking mixture of poisonous gases.
This is where Van Humphries must go. Or die trying.
His older brother perished in the first attempt to land a man on Venus, years before, and his father has always hated him for surviving when his brother died. Now his father has offered ten billion dollars to the first person to land on Venus and return his oldest son's remains.
To everyone's surprise, Van takes the offer. But what Van Humphries will find on Venus will change everything—our understanding of Venus and of Earth,and Van's own knowledge of who he is.
shaunesay - January 27, 2008 04:54 AM (GMT)
Lemonitsa's Sci-Fi Reveal
Odyssey by Jack McDevitt
To boost waning interest in interstellar travel, a mission is sent into deep space to learn the truth about "moonriders," the strange lights supposedly being seen in nearby systems. But the team soon discovers that their odyssey is no mere public-relations ploy, for the moonriders are not a harmless phenomenon. They are very, very dangerous-in a way that no one could possibly have imagined.
Odyssey by Jack McDevitt
To boost waning interest in interstellar travel, a mission is sent into deep space to learn the truth about "moonriders," the strange lights supposedly being seen in nearby systems. But the team soon discovers that their odyssey is no mere public-relations ploy, for the moonriders are not a harmless phenomenon. They are very, very dangerous-in a way that no one could possibly have imagined.
shaunesay - January 27, 2008 02:26 PM (GMT)
Wss4's reveal:
The Stonehenge Gate
by Jack Williamson
'A burst of curiosity propels mild-mannered English professor Will Stone and his three friends to excavate a site where radar has evidently detected huge, assembled stones hidden beneath the sand. There they stumble upon an ancient artefact that will change their lives and the world forever...a gateway between planets, linking Earth to distant worlds, where they will discover wonders and terrors beyond imagining.'
Although Hugo-prize winner Jack Williamson's latest novel may sound like the outline to a 'Stargate' series, it's actually quite different. The story of four scientists' trip through a Stonehenge-like artefact situated in the Sahara desert is narrated by Will Stone, not your usual hero-type. His friend Ram tells a tale of his great-grandmother, known as 'Little Mama', who escaped a hell filled with 'metal devils' and reached Africa. Her legacy has left Ram with an unusual crown-shaped birthmark and a pendant with matching markings. While excavating the site of the stones, Ram stumbles through a gateway, discovering the pendant acts as a key to the stone gates. His friends have no choice but to follow him. Thrown into a cold, dead world, Will is confused, disorientated and just wants to return to Earth. The only trouble is that they soon find that the gateway only works one-way. So they go onward.
While Will just wants to go home, Ram is curious as to which of the seven eerie and abandoned planets the gate system takes them to is 'Hell'. Each one appears stranger than the next, full of robots, moving pavement-walkways, huge mountains and two or three suns each. The mysteries mount up. Their two companions, Lupe and Derek, want to unravel the mysteries and search for scientific and archaeological remains until Lupe is taken by what appears to be a half-living, half-robotic giant insect. Then the search is on not just for answers and a way back to Earth but also to find their missing friend.
The travels continue, until they finally come to an inhabited planet. The people there are human, civilised, but caught in an on-going civil war between white and black. Ram's birthmark soon catches the attention of black rebel leaders who believe it proclaims him as the son of an ancient god.
'The Stonehenge Gate' is a readable enough book, with some detailed descriptions of alien worlds and landscape. The characters are perhaps not as fully-formed as one would hope and the pace is a little slow to begin with. It does pick up, though, and becomes entertaining as the tension increased. The matter-of-fact, blunt acceptance of the characters to interplanetary travel and alien worlds and people put me off a little, but overall the idea is solid if somewhat predictable in places. The mysteries stay until the final chapters and you can decide for yourself whether all the questions are answered fully.
Laura Kayne
The Stonehenge Gate
by Jack Williamson
'A burst of curiosity propels mild-mannered English professor Will Stone and his three friends to excavate a site where radar has evidently detected huge, assembled stones hidden beneath the sand. There they stumble upon an ancient artefact that will change their lives and the world forever...a gateway between planets, linking Earth to distant worlds, where they will discover wonders and terrors beyond imagining.'
Although Hugo-prize winner Jack Williamson's latest novel may sound like the outline to a 'Stargate' series, it's actually quite different. The story of four scientists' trip through a Stonehenge-like artefact situated in the Sahara desert is narrated by Will Stone, not your usual hero-type. His friend Ram tells a tale of his great-grandmother, known as 'Little Mama', who escaped a hell filled with 'metal devils' and reached Africa. Her legacy has left Ram with an unusual crown-shaped birthmark and a pendant with matching markings. While excavating the site of the stones, Ram stumbles through a gateway, discovering the pendant acts as a key to the stone gates. His friends have no choice but to follow him. Thrown into a cold, dead world, Will is confused, disorientated and just wants to return to Earth. The only trouble is that they soon find that the gateway only works one-way. So they go onward.
While Will just wants to go home, Ram is curious as to which of the seven eerie and abandoned planets the gate system takes them to is 'Hell'. Each one appears stranger than the next, full of robots, moving pavement-walkways, huge mountains and two or three suns each. The mysteries mount up. Their two companions, Lupe and Derek, want to unravel the mysteries and search for scientific and archaeological remains until Lupe is taken by what appears to be a half-living, half-robotic giant insect. Then the search is on not just for answers and a way back to Earth but also to find their missing friend.
The travels continue, until they finally come to an inhabited planet. The people there are human, civilised, but caught in an on-going civil war between white and black. Ram's birthmark soon catches the attention of black rebel leaders who believe it proclaims him as the son of an ancient god.
'The Stonehenge Gate' is a readable enough book, with some detailed descriptions of alien worlds and landscape. The characters are perhaps not as fully-formed as one would hope and the pace is a little slow to begin with. It does pick up, though, and becomes entertaining as the tension increased. The matter-of-fact, blunt acceptance of the characters to interplanetary travel and alien worlds and people put me off a little, but overall the idea is solid if somewhat predictable in places. The mysteries stay until the final chapters and you can decide for yourself whether all the questions are answered fully.
Laura Kayne
rebeccaljames - January 28, 2008 10:29 AM (GMT)
rebeccaljames' reveal
Drinking Midnight Wine by Simon R. Green
TBR
From the back cover: Toby Dexter is a slave to his own daily grind - nine to five at the local bookstore. One evening he gets a reprieve in the form of a beautiful woman riding the same train. A woman he follows through a rainstorm. A woman who opens a door in a wall that wasn't there a moment before... So he follows her through the door, where a serpent stirs awake and an angel fall. ...Toby had entered Mysterie...
Drinking Midnight Wine by Simon R. Green
TBR
From the back cover: Toby Dexter is a slave to his own daily grind - nine to five at the local bookstore. One evening he gets a reprieve in the form of a beautiful woman riding the same train. A woman he follows through a rainstorm. A woman who opens a door in a wall that wasn't there a moment before... So he follows her through the door, where a serpent stirs awake and an angel fall. ...Toby had entered Mysterie...