From a New York Times bestselling and Hugo award-winning author comes a modern masterwork of science fiction, introducing a captain, his crew, and a detective as they unravel a horrifying solar system wide conspiracy that begins with a single missing girl. Now a Prime Original series. Humanity has colonized the solar system—Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond—but the stars are still out of our reach. Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, the Scopuli, they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted. A secret that someone is willing to kill for—and kill on a scale unfathomable to Jim and his crew. War is brewing in the system unless he can find out who left the ship and why. Detective Miller is looking for a girl. One girl in a system of billions, but her parents have money and money talks. When the trail leads him to the Scopuli and rebel sympathizer Holden, he realizes that this girl may be the key to everything. Holden and Miller must thread the needle between the Earth government, the Outer Planet revolutionaries, and secretive corporations—and the odds are against them. But out in the Belt, the rules are different, and one small ship can change the fate of the universe. "Interplanetary adventure the way it ought to be written." —George R. R. Martin The Expanse Leviathan Wakes Caliban's War Abaddon's Gate Cibola Burn Nemesis Games Babylon's Ashes Persepolis Rising Tiamat's Wrath ​Leviathan Falls Memory's Legion The Expanse Short Fiction Drive The Butcher of Anderson Station Gods of Risk The Churn The Vital Abyss Strange Dogs Auberon The Sins of Our Fathers

An exploration of politics and the role of the 'soft sciences' in Science Fiction.

Presents a collection of hard science fiction tales that examines both the benefits and detriments of science and technology on humanity, the future, and the cosmos, and includes tales from Gregory Benford, Robert Reed, Aliette de Bodard, and Jack McDevitt.

Here are 25 stories of science fiction that push the envelope, by the biggest names in an emerging new crop of high-tech futuristic SF - including Charles Stross, Robert Reed, Alastair Reynolds, Peter Hamilton and Neal Asher. High-tech SF has made a significant comeback in the last decade, as bestselling authors successfully blend the super-science of 'hard science fiction' with real characters in an understandable scenario. It is perhaps a reflection of how technologically controlled our world is that readers increasingly look for science fiction that considers the fates of mankind as a result of increasing scientific domination. This anthology brings together the most extreme examples of the new high-tech, far-future science fiction, pushing the limits way beyond normal boundaries. The stories include: "A Perpetual War Fought Within a Cosmic String", "A Weapon That Could Destroy the Universe", "A Machine That Detects Alternate Worlds and Creates a Choice of Christs", "An Immortal Dead Man Sent To The End of the Universe", "Murder in Virtual Reality", "A Spaceship So Large That There is An Entire Planetary System Within It", and "An Analytical Engine At The End of Time", and "Encountering the Untouchable."

The first comprehensive critical study of hard science fiction, this book reveals how the term hard science fiction originated, and how arguments about its range and nature have unfolded. Westfahl shows that hard science fiction is generally characterized by the author's extreme concern for scientific accuracy and logic. Identifying two characteristic forms of hard science fiction, Westfahl closely examines several representative works: Arthur C. Clarke's A Fall of Moondust, Hal Clement's Mission of Gravity, and Charles Sheffield's Between the Strokes of Midnight. This book offers new insights into hard science fiction and provides a wealth of information about what members of the science fiction community have said about this relatively recent genre.

'AN EXCEPTIONAL BLEND OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICS, HARD SCIENCE, AND FIRST CONTACT' Michael Mammay, author of the Planetside series 'MACLEOD'S BEST BOOK TO DATE' SFX Science fiction legend Ken MacLeod begins a new space opera trilogy by imagining humankind on the precipice of discovery - the invention of faster-than-light travel unlocks a universe of new possibilities, and new dangers. When a brilliant scientist gets a letter from herself about faster-than-light travel, she doesn't know what to believe. The equations work, but her paper is discredited - and soon the criticism is more than scientific. Exiled by the establishment, she gets an offer to build her starship from an unlikely source. But in the heights of Venus and on a planet of another star, a secret is already being uncovered that will shake humanity to its foundations. Discover this ground-breaking new space opera from multi-award winning author Ken MacLeod Praise for Ken MacLeod: 'If you like science fiction, you will love this. . . a rollicking good read' Scotsman 'MacLeod is up there with Banks and Hamilton as one of the British sci-fi authors you absolutely have to read' SFX 'Prose as sleek and fast as the technology it describes. . . watch this man go global' Peter F. Hamilton on Star Fraction 'Ken MacLeod has an enviable track record of extrapolating from current trends to produce mind-bending novels of ideas' Guardian Also by Ken MacLeod: Lightspeed Beyond the Hallowed Sky Fall Revolution The Star Fraction The Stone Canal The Cassini Division The Sky Road Engines of Light Cosmonaut Keep Dark Light Engine City Corporation Wars Trilogy Dissidence Insurgence Emergence Novels The Human Front Newton's Wake Learning the World The Execution Channel The Restoration Game Intrusion Descent

The Wergens: a highly sophisticated alien race biochemically infatuated with humans. They crave us, they need us, while we need their technology. Humanity does what it always does. We exploit them. Until, that is, the Wergens find a way to circumvent their addiction... From the towering skyscrapers of Earth to the methane lakes of Titan, from the ice-plains of Pluto to distant alien gas giants with steel-crushing gravity, Wergen: The Alien Love War explores personal stories of unrequited love set against the cosmic backdrop of the conflict between the two species. Mercurio D. Rivera's Wergen stories have wowed readers and critics alike. Now, for the first time, the full arc of the human/Wergen relations is revealed: the conflict, cooperation, love, betrayal, and more. "Mindblowing hard science fiction" - N.K. Jemisin, Hugo Award Winning Author "Rivera gradually introduces a surprising level of ambivalence and complexity. What initially seems benevolent becomes quite the opposite, before evolving again. There are twists followed by more twists, heightening a powerful sense of alienation and menace. The conceptual and ethical switchbacks... are dizzying." - Tor.com "Fascinating and satisfying... exploring the nature of love. Is love something deeply spiritual or simply the result of chemical reactions in the brain?" - The Fix "The mystery of love's origins and endings are universal for humans and aliens alike, something that transcends mere biochemistry." - Tangent Online "Rivera has shown great invention here and written something that will touch you deeply." - SF Revu