A Financial Times Best Science Book of 2023 • A Science News Favorite Book of 2023 • A Scientific American 2023 Staff Recommendation "The next-best thing to traveling through space and time." —Laura Helmuth, editor in chief of Scientific American A rip-roaring tour of the cosmos with the Bad Astronomer, bringing you up close and personal with the universe like never before. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel the universe? How would Saturn’s rings look from a spaceship sailing just above them? If you were falling into a black hole, what’s the last thing you’d see before getting spaghettified? While traveling in person to most of these amazing worlds may not be possible—yet—the would-be space traveler need not despair: you can still take the scenic route through the galaxy with renowned astronomer and science communicator Philip Plait. On this lively, immersive adventure through the cosmos, Plait draws ingeniously on both the latest scientific research and his prodigious imagination to transport you to ten of the most spectacular sights outer space has to offer. In vivid, inventive scenes informed by rigorous science—injected with a dose of Plait’s trademark humor—Under Alien Skies places you on the surface of alien worlds, from our own familiar Moon to the far reaches of our solar system and beyond. Try launching yourself onto a two-hundred-meter asteroid, or stargazing from the rim of an ancient volcano on a planet where, from the place you stand, it is eternally late afternoon. Experience the sudden onset of lunar nightfall, the disorientation of walking—or, rather, shuffling—when you weigh almost nothing, the irritation of jagged regolith dust. Glimpse the frigid mountains and plains of Pluto and the cake-like exterior of a comet called 67P. On a planet trillions of miles from Earth, glance down to see the strange, beautiful shadows cast by a hundred thousand stars. For the aspiring extraterrestrial citizen, casual space tourist, or curious armchair traveler, Plait is an illuminating, always-entertaining guide to the most otherworldly views in our universe.

From the mind of Sid Kotian (Gambit, The Adventures of Apocalypse Al, Dream Police, Dents) comes Beneath an Alien Sky. On an alien planet a mad man releases a deadly monster onto an unsuspecting populace. The creature is the last of its kind. And it comes from the third planet orbiting a yellow sun. The Krimikitan are an alien race who brought themselves to the brink of complete ecological destruction. After a devastating war they refer to as the Realignment their society reformed themselves under the leadership of a god like AI called Control. Having done away with the political class, peace reigned. The new societies were self-contained inside giant domes. The natural world outside was left to heal itself unencumbered by their meddling. However not everyone was happy with this Realignment. Appi, a remnant of the old world, plots to ruin the world by introducing the universe’s most violent and invasive species into the fragile, recovering ecosystem. Standing in his way is Kopa, a cop. Appi and the creature’s destructive ambition and Kopa’s naïve ambition collide with the fate of the domed city and the struggling natural world outside hanging in the balance.

Ever since the Montgolfier's hot air balloon carried a chicken, a goat, and a duck into the Parisian skies, scientists have dreamed of contraptions to explore the atmosphere. With the advent of the space age, new airborne inventions were needed. From the Soviet Venus balloons to the advanced studies of blimps and airplanes for the atmospheres of Mars and Titan, Drifting on Alien Winds surveys the many creative and often wacky ideas for exploring alien skies. Through historical photographs and stunning original paintings by the author, readers also explore the weather on planets and moons, from the simmering acid-laden winds of Venus to liquid methane-soaked skies of Titan.

"But there is a different, unexpected answer to the riddle. Lorili and Kyal will have to fight for their theory - and their lives."--BOOK JACKET.

The Singularity. The day the machines gained awareness. The day they turned cruel. The day they overthrew their makers. In a distant star system, a planet-sized computer unleashes its hosts: fleets of warships, armies of robots, and a swarm of killer drones. Their purpose is one: destroy all life. As the cosmos crumbles, one team steps up to the plate: The Alien Hunters. The Alien Hunters are galactic pest controllers, not an army. Their spaceship is old and clunky. They specialize in crushing the odd space bug, not a fleet of vicious machines. They're a rolled-up newspaper when the cosmos needs an A-bomb. But they're fast, they're brave, and they're just foolhardy enough to charge right into battle. As the robots spread across the galaxy, slaying all in their path, the Alien Hunters fly out to meet them. The war between life and machine begins.

A small band of pilots fight against a seemingly unstoppable alien empire in this thrilling space opera. Commander Lanoe's skills made him a hero of the interplanetary civil war, but he was left with nothing except battle scars and painful memories. But now he faces the greatest threat mankind has ever known. Once again, Lanoe must go to war -- but he does not go alone. A ragtag band of criminal and outcast pilots stand with him. Some are old friends, one an old enemy, and despite their own battle scars, they are the only ones willing to fight back. Sometimes the few must stand against the many, but the best these aces can do might not be good enough. This explosive first novel from D. Nolan Clark is an epic tale of a fight against the odds -- and the terror of realizing that we're no longer alone in the cold vacuum of space.