Quando un'astronave entra nell'atmosfera terrestre alla paura iniziale si sostituisce subito la meraviglia. Con il primo contatto fra terrestri e alieni, sette membri della razza dei Tosok, di incredibile intelligenza, vengono accolti a braccia aperte dal mondo intero. Ma un noto scienziato umano in contatto con il gruppo viene improvvisamente trovato morto, mutilato da un'arma misteriosa, e tutte le prove sembrano condannare uno di loro. Cercando di evitare un incidente planetario, gli Stati Uniti assegnano agli alieni il miglior avvocato della nazione: ne seguirà un processo drammatico e inconsueto, in cui culture diverse, aliene e terrestri, si scontreranno per sancire la verità.

Quando un'astronave entra nell'atmosfera terrestre alla paura iniziale si sostituisce subito la meraviglia. Con il primo contatto fra terrestri e alieni, sette membri della razza dei Tosok, di incredibile intelligenza, vengono accolti a braccia aperte dal mondo intero. Ma un noto scienziato umano in contatto con il gruppo viene improvvisamente trovato morto, mutilato da un'arma misteriosa, e tutte le prove sembrano condannare uno di loro. Cercando di evitare un incidente planetario, gli Stati Uniti assegnano agli alieni il miglior avvocato della nazione: ne seguirà un processo drammatico e inconsueto, in cui culture diverse, aliene e terrestri, si scontreranno per sancire la verità.

Spre marea surprindere a curatorului Tom Jericho, când extratereştrii aterizează în incinta Muzeului Regal Ontario din Toronto, aceştia vor să vadă un paleontolog. Mai mult decât atât, sunt adepţi ai creaţionismului şi consideră că la originea Universului se află o inteligenţă exterioară. Se pare că extincţia în masă de pe alte planete coincide cu cele care s-au petrecut odinioară pe Terra, şi aceasta ar fi mult aşteptata dovadă a existenţei lui Dumnezeu. Iar, între timp, o supernovă explodează în galaxie.

Experimental psychologist Jim Marchuk has developed a flawless technique for identifying the previously undetected psychopaths lurking everywhere in society. But while being cross-examined about his breakthrough in court, Jim is shocked to discover that he has lost his memories of six months of his life from twenty years previously—a dark time during which he himself committed heinous acts.Jim is reunited with Kayla Huron, his forgotten girlfriend from his lost period and now a quantum physicist who has made a stunning discovery about the nature of human consciousness. As a rising tide of violence and hate sweeps across the globe, the psychologist and the physicist combine forces in a race against time to see if they can do the impossible—change human nature—before the entire world descends into darkness.

Recuerdos del futuro es la historia de un asombroso descubrimiento en las instalaciones del CERN en Suiza. El equipo de investigación de Lloyd Simcoe y Theo Procopides está empleando el acelerador de partículas del laboratorio para buscar el esquivo bosón de Higgs, una partícula subatómica teórica. Pero su experimento sale terriblemente mal y, durante unos instantes, la conciencia de toda la raza humana es arrojada veinte años hacia el futuro.Mientras la humanidad debe restañar los catastróficos efectos inmediatos del experimento (miles resultan muertos o heridos cuando el cuerpo de todos los hombres y mujeres queda inconsciente en el presente), las implicaciones más serias tardan algo en aparecer. Aquellos que no recibieron visión del porvenir tratan de descubrir cómo morirán, mientras que otros buscan a sus futuros amantes. Lloyd deberá superar la culpabilidad de haber provocado accidentalmente la muerte de la hija de su prometida, mientras Theo se ve atrapado en la investigación de su propio asesinato.A medida que las verdaderas consecuencias de lo sucedido comienzan a hacerse claras, la presión para repetir el experimento aumenta sin cesar. Todos quieren un destello del futuro, una oportunidad para saltar y ser testigo de su éxito... o para aprender a evitar sus errores.

Robert J. Sawyer, the author of such “revelatory and thought-provoking”* novels as Triggers and The WWW Trilogy, presents a noir mystery expanded from his Hugo and Nebula Award-nominated novella “Identity Theft” and his Aurora Award-winning short story “Biding Time,” and set on a lawless Mars in a future where everything is cheap, and life is even cheaper…Alex Lomax is the one and only private eye working the mean streets of New Klondike, the Martian frontier town that sprang up forty years ago after Simon Weingarten and Denny O’Reilly discovered fossils on the Red Planet. Back on Earth, where anything can be synthesized, the remains of alien life are the most valuable of all collectibles, so shiploads of desperate treasure hunters stampeded to Mars in the Great Martian Fossil Rush.Trying to make an honest buck in a dishonest world, Lomax tracks down killers and kidnappers among the failed prospectors, corrupt cops, and a growing population of transfers—lucky stiffs who, after striking paleontological gold, upload their minds into immortal android bodies. But when he uncovers clues to solving the decades-old murders of Weingarten and O’Reilly, along with a journal that may lead to their legendary mother lode of Martian fossils, God only knows what he’ll dig up…*The Globe and Mail

Canadian author Robert Sawyer once again presents likable characters facing big ethical dilemmas in this smoothly readable near-future SF novel. Astronomer Sarah Halifax, who translated the first message from aliens and helped prepare humanity’s response, is 87 when the second, encrypted message arrives 38 years later. To aid the decoding, a tycoon buys rejuvenation treatment for Sarah and Don, her husband of 60 years; however, only Don becomes young again. While coping with the physical indignities of old age, Sarah tries to figure out the puzzle of the second message. The bond between Don and Sarah continues, even while Don is joyfully and guiltily discovering the pleasures of living in a young body again. They want to do what’s right for each other and the rest of humanity — for the aliens, too — if they can figure out what “right” could be. By its nature, a story about moral choices tends to get talky, but the talk is intelligent and performed by sympathetic and believable people.

Canadian author Robert Sawyer once again presents likable characters facing big ethical dilemmas in this smoothly readable near-future SF novel. Astronomer Sarah Halifax, who translated the first message from aliens and helped prepare humanity’s response, is 87 when the second, encrypted message arrives 38 years later. To aid the decoding, a tycoon buys rejuvenation treatment for Sarah and Don, her husband of 60 years; however, only Don becomes young again. While coping with the physical indignities of old age, Sarah tries to figure out the puzzle of the second message. The bond between Don and Sarah continues, even while Don is joyfully and guiltily discovering the pleasures of living in a young body again. They want to do what’s right for each other and the rest of humanity—for the aliens, too—if they can figure out what “right” could be. By its nature, a story about moral choices tends to get talky, but the talk is intelligent and performed by sympathetic and believable people.

En 2010, le premier message venu d'une autre étoile est capté. Il a été émis depuis Sigma Draconis, distante de dix-huit années-lumière. Et, non sans mal, l'astronome Sarah Halifax l'a déchiffré. Ce qui a permis de lui donner une réponse. Trente-huit ans plus tard, en 2048, un second message est capté. Crypté. Et deux fois plutôt qu'une.Qui pourra le décoder, sinon Sarah Halifax ? Seul problème : elle a désormais quatre-vingt sept-ans.Un multimilliardaire qui a fait fortune dans l’industrie des robots lui propose un *rollback*, un traitement de rajeunissement extraordinairement coûteux, qu lui rendra ses vingt-cinq ans. Sarah n’accepte que si Don, son époux du même âge, bénéficie de la même chance.Mais il y a un risque. C'est que sur l'un ou sur l'autre le traitement échoue. Que deviendra leur amour si longtemps partagé s'ils se trouvent séparés par soixante ans d'âge apparent ?Et que veulent donc nous dire les habitants de Sigma Draconis ?Croisant les deux thèmes du contact avec une autre civilisation et du rajeunissement intégral, Robert J. Sawyer, déjà couronné par le prix Hugo, nous donne ici un roman passionnant, intelligent et émouvant.

Vieną dieną svetimeivių erdvėlaivis nusileido Toronto mieste greta Paleontologijos muziejaus. Iš kosminio aparato išlindęs šešiakojis, dvirankis padaras, vardu Holusas, pareiškė norą pasikalbėti su žymiausiu paleontologu. Iš pokalbio paaiškėja, kad ir Žemė, ir Holuso planeta, ir dar vienas protingų būtybių pasaulis per kelis milijardus metų patyrė penkias grandiozines katastrofas TUO PAČIU METU.Vadinasi, kažas itin galingas (gal net visagalis) akivaizdžiai reguliuoja evoliuciją mūsų Galaktikoje. Holusas mano, kad galima pamėginti jį surasti...

Need a Job, Go to Mars… or the nearest space station or colony world. But what kind of career opportunities will you find on the ever-expanding frontiers of space? And how many alien beings will be vying for the same positions? To discover some of the possibilities, check out Space, Inc., and such entertaining and original tales as:“Attached Please Find My Novel”—Sometimes you found tomorrow’s best-sellers in the most unexpected places…“The Siren Stone”—Their mission was to blow up an asteroid before it could destroy a space station and its entire population, but nothing could prepare them for what they discovered when they rendezvoused with this giant piece of rock…“Come All Ye Faithful”—Finding a real congregation on Mars wasn’t going to be easy—in fact he had to admit it would be a miracle if it ever happened…

15 all-new stories of tomorrow from 15 of the best sci-fi writers of todayThe challenge and lure of space exploration has long been fertile ground for some of the finest science fiction stories. Here, fifteen of the best chroniclers of the day after tomorrow present unique tales of space stations both in our own solar system and far beyond.From BooklistThis neat little theme anthology contains a satisfying mixture of old hands’ and newcomers’ stories. In the opener, Timothy Zahn’s “The Battle of Space Fort Jefferson,” a space fort that is crumbling into disrepair as an unpopular tourist destination wins its first battle—finally—though only by means of the vagaries of decaying equipment. In Jean Rabe’s “Auriga’s Streetcar,” a gem of a piece, an old “spacer” finds herself on the way to a distant star in the belly of an even older space observatory towed by unknown aliens. Robert J. Sawyer’s “Mikeys” relates the work of those who go almost to the target and the unexpected event that brings them to the forefront. The closer, Gregory Benford’s “Station Spaces,” is a doozy about what happens when human merges with machine, and the building of human habitation on Luna. Despite, or possibly as a result of, a literally (i.e., spacially) limited topic, these stories cover a lot of ground.Regina Schroeder

15 all-new stories of tomorrow from 15 of the best sci-fi writers of todayThe challenge and lure of space exploration has long been fertile ground for some of the finest science fiction stories. Here, fifteen of the best chroniclers of the day after tomorrow present unique tales of space stations both in our own solar system and far beyond.From BooklistThis neat little theme anthology contains a satisfying mixture of old hands' and newcomers' stories. In the opener, Timothy Zahn's “The Battle of Space Fort Jefferson,” a space fort that is crumbling into disrepair as an unpopular tourist destination wins its first battle—finally—though only by means of the vagaries of decaying equipment. In Jean Rabe's “Auriga's Streetcar,” a gem of a piece, an old “spacer” finds herself on the way to a distant star in the belly of an even older space observatory towed by unknown aliens. Robert J. Sawyer's “Mikeys” relates the work of those who go almost to the target and the unexpected event that brings them to the forefront. The closer, Gregory Benford's “Station Spaces,” is a doozy about what happens when human merges with machine, and the building of human habitation on Luna. Despite, or possibly as a result of, a literally (i.e., spacially) limited topic, these stories cover a lot of ground.Regina Schroeder

Canadian author Robert J. Sawyer offers an epic hard-science space adventure full of technical descriptions of starships and physics tempered by human concerns. In the twenty-first century, the human race has both developed faster-than-light travel and contacted nonhuman intelligent races. Starplex, under the command of Keith Lansing, is one of the contact makers. Lansing faces hostile crew members, the personal and cultural idiosyncracies of nonhumans, the problems of first contact, and a marriage that may be deteriorating. Scientists on the Starplex study the mysterious artificial wormholes that make space travel routine and convenient. Then the wormholes' creators appear, and the scientists must understand and communicate with them to save the galaxy.

Canadian author Sawyer offers an epic hard-science space adventure full of technical descriptions of starships and physics tempered by human concerns. In the twenty-first century, the human race has both developed faster-than-light travel and contacted nonhuman intelligent races. Starplex, under the command of Keith Lansing, is one of the contact makers. Lansing faces hostile crew members, the personal and cultural idiosyncracies of nonhumans, the problems of first contact, and a marriage that may be deteriorating. Scientists on the Starplex study the mysterious artificial wormholes that make space travel routine and convenient. Then the wormholes' creators appear, and the scientists must understand and communicate with them to save the galaxy.

La missione dell’astronave Starplex è indagare sui scorciatoie, misteriose anomalie del cosmo che permettono di viaggiare sia nello spazio che nel tempo. Ma durante l’esplorazione il comandante keith Lansing e la sua nave si trovano di fronte a una stella tanto vecchia da risuktare più antica dell’universo stesso! Non è l’unica scoperta “impossibile”: una razza sconosciuta viene identificata in quell’assurda regione della galassia, e la Starplex è attaccata da nemici sconosciuti. Lansing sa che c’è un solo mezzo per uscire dalla situazione critica: entrare nel scorciatoia e varcare la soglia di parecchi miliardi di anni per scoprire il segreto della stella verde.

Canadian author Robert J. Sawyer offers an epic hard-science space adventure full of technical descriptions of starships and physics tempered by human concerns. In the twenty-first century, the human race has both developed faster-than-light travel and contacted nonhuman intelligent races. Starplex, under the command of Keith Lansing, is one of the contact makers. Lansing faces hostile crew members, the personal and cultural idiosyncracies of nonhumans, the problems of first contact, and a marriage that may be deteriorating. Scientists on the Starplex study the mysterious artificial wormholes that make space travel routine and convenient. Then the wormholes’ creators appear, and the scientists must understand and communicate with them to save the galaxy.