Starsene seduti tranquilli alle tre del pomeriggio in un ristorante di Manhattan può essere l’inizio di una buona digestione, ma può anche costitiuire il primo capitolo di una strana e pericolosa odissea. E’ quello che succede a John O’Ryan quando, dopo aver notato una splendida ragazza dagli occhi grigi e un paio di bizzarri individui molto interessati a lei, si vede arrivare come insolito dessert dalla porta della cucina una bomba a mano pronta a esplodere. Una premessa inquietante, specie se innesca il sospetto di essere una specie di semidio coinvolto in una lotta senza quartiere fra due entità millenarie che si disputano il futuro del genere umano. Ma è solo un punto di partenza per John O’Ryan, che deve ancora scoprire il segreto della sua reale identità e poi tuffarsi in varie epoche del passato prima di poter dare un senso al conflitto che vorrebbe vederlo come una pedina dotata di scarso arbitrio.

The exciting beginning of Bova’s popular “Orion” saga, this is the story of John O’Ryan, a man who awakens one day to discover that he is the leader of a race of beings so far beyond humanity that they are almost gods. And, like a god he is locked in an endless struggle with an enemy whose powers are so far beyond the merely human that they seem demonic. Their eternal battle spans time itself.

More than human and less that a god, John O’Ryan is Orion, made by the Creators who rule outside of time. His purpose is to do their bidding. Now, Orion has becomee a key piece in a cosmic game between two of the Creators—Anya, the goddess he loves, and Aten, the god who toys with his destiny.

Ben Bova’s timeless hero returns . . . at the nexus of myth and history!More than human, less than god, Orion has fought across time and space at the whims of his Creators, god-like beings from the future who toy with human history like spoiled children playing with dolls. From the frozen wastes of the Ice Age to far-flung interstellar empires, Orion has been both assassin and hero, all the while striving to be reunited with Anya, the ageless goddess who is his one true love.Now Orion finds himself in Britain in the dark years after the Romans abandoned the island kingdom. Minor kings and warlords feud amongst themselves even as invading hordes of Saxons and Angles threaten to sweep over the land. There Orion befriends a young warrior named Arthur, who dreams of uniting his quarreling countrymen and driving the invaders from their lands. Along with a few brave comrades, Arthur hopes to the stem the tide of barbarism and create a new era of peace and prosperity.But Orion’s vainglorious Creator, Aten the Golden One, has other plans for the timeline. Arthur’s noble ambitions interfere with Aten’s far-reaching schemes to reshape history to his own ends. He wants Arthur dead and forgotten---but Orion does not.Defying his own creator, and risking his own immortal existence, Orion will battle the gods themselves to see that Arthur fulfills his destiny. But can even he save Arthur from the tragedy that awaits him?Orion and King Arthuris a thrilling new chapter in Ben Bova’s unforgettable cosmic saga.

John O’Ryan is Orion—more than human, less than a god, cast away on the seas of time to do battle among the Creators for the future of mankind. Now the eternal warrior finds himself separated from his great love, Anya, and marooned in Macedonia under the reign of Philip—fighting alongside the young Alexander, and at the mercy of a Queen Olympias who is far more than she seems.

Orion non è un uomo come tutti gli altri: tanto per cominciare, è immortale. Scelto dai Creatori per essere il loro campione nei frangenti più pericolosi e contro nemici insidiosissimi, è costretto ad andare alla deriva nel tempo per battersi contro i pericoli che si annidano in epoche e secoli nascosti. Insieme ad Anya, una ragazza che condivide la sua sorte, è costretto questa volta a lottare non solo contro le forze ostili ai Creatori, gli enigmatici esseri che reggono le fila del suo destino, ma contro i Creatori stessi per riconquistare la libertà. E la partita si decide in un’era lontanissima, dove la morte del tempo non è più metafora ma realtà.

Orion the Hunter, an eternal being made by the Creators to battle their greatest enemy, and Anya, a Creator who has abandoned her power to accompany him, come closer than ever to understanding and defeating their foe.

`ORION — il semidio la cui sorte è crudelmente manipolatadai Signori del cosmo — viene scagliato in un futuro lontanissimo denso di insidie: in quel particolare segmento dello spazio-tempo è infatti in corso una ferocissima guerra spaziale fra le razze di discendenza terrestre e le più feroci creature dei mondi alieni. Al comando di una guarnigione di terrestri pronti a tutto, John O’Ryan alias ORION comincia la sua ltta disperata. Resta un solo interrogativo: a chi gioverà questa ennesima guerra?

Powieść będąca prequelem do całego cyklu „Droga przez Układ Słoneczny”. Ambicją młodego inżyniera, Dana Randolpha, jest zapewnienie uzależnionej odbliskowschodniej ropy Ameryce alternatywnego źródła energii. Eksploatacjazbudowanego przez Dana satelity energetycznego będzie jednak opłacalnatylko pod warunkiem wykorzystywania taniego środka transportu na orbitę, aprototyp wahadłowca ulega katastrofie podczas lotu próbnego. Wiele poszlakwskazuje, że ktoś dokonał sabotażu. Kto stoi za tą zbrodnią? Międzynarodowekoncerny naftowe czy arabscy fundamentaliści? Firma Dana, AstroCorporation, stoi na skraju przepaści. Skąd może nadejść ratunek? Czy od Saito Yamagaty, którego koncern również inwestuje w energię ze Słońca? Amerykańskich koncernów naftowych, które zastawiają się nad inwestowaniem winne źródła energii?

Akcja powieści rozgrywa się w sześć lat po „Marsie”. Politycy, zobligowani swoimi obietnicami i odkryciem przez pierwszą ekspedycję marsjańską prymitywnych form życia, wyrażają zgodę na kolejną misję. Tym razem koszt wyprawy ma się nie tylko zwrócić, ale i przynieść zyski.To determinuje harmonogram — wśród załogi szerzy się niezdrowe współzawodnictwo, chęć zarobku przesłania rzeczywisty cel — badanie czerwonej planety. Jamie Waterman, półkrwi Nawaho, zostaje dowódcą grupy badawczej i musi stawić czoła partykularnym interesom naukowców oraz spełnić wymagania mecanasów projektu i polityków. Ale najważniejsze dla Jamiego jest dotarcie do niesamowitych obioektów, które odkrył na ścianie marsjańskiego kanionu. Przez sześć lat męczy go pytanie: czy to był miraż, czy budowle skonstruowane przez inteligentnych budowniczych.

La possibilità di creare in via sperimentale, ma in grande serie, razze di superuomini e sottouomini, ci porrebbe già oggi problemi gravissimi. Ma su una Terra sovrappopolata, dove l’equilibrio sociale, economico, psicologico è appeso a un filo, gli scienziati responsabili di un così esplosivo progetto debbono essere fermati a qualsiasi costo. Come? Quando la persuasione non basta, e lo sterminio è impraticabile, si ricorre al vecchio sistema dell’esilio. Solo che qui si tratta di un esilio extraterrestre, di una Siberia cosmica. E una colonia penale formata dai migliori cervelli del mondo deve combattere duramente non solo per sopravvivere nello spazio, ma anche per trovare un sistema di convivenza accettabile, uno scopo, una meta.

DAS GRÖSSTE ABENTEUER DER MENSCHHEIT GEHT WEITER.In ›Mars‹ schilderte Ben Bova die abenteuerliche Geschichte der ersten bemannten Mars-Mission.Nun, einige Jahre später, kehrt ein Team aus Astronauten, Ingenieuren und Wissenschaftlern zum sagenumwobenen Roten Planeten zurück. Geleitet wird diese Expedition von Jamie Waterman, der bereits auf der ersten Reise dabei war und auf dem Mars Spuren intelligenten Lebens entdeckt hatte. Er hat es sich zu seiner Aufgabe gemacht, das Geheimnis unseres Nachbarplaneten zu lüften, und er würde alles dafür hergeben – selbst sein eigenes Leben.

In ›Mars‹ schilderte Ben Bova die abenteuerliche Geschichte der ersten bemannten Mars-Mission.Nun, einige Jahre später, kehrt ein Team aus Astronauten, Ingenieuren und Wissenschaftlern zum sagenumwobenen Roten Planeten zurück. Geleitet wird diese Expedition von Jamie Waterman, der bereits auf der ersten Reise dabei war und auf dem Mars Spuren intelligenten Lebens entdeckt hatte. Er hat es sich zu seiner Aufgabe gemacht, das Geheimnis unseres Nachbarplaneten zu lüften, und er würde alles dafür hergeben — selbst sein eigenes Leben.

Second in size only to Jupiter, bigger than a thousand Earths but light enough to float in water, home of cushing gravity and delicate, seemingly impossible rings, it dazzles and attracts us: Saturn.Earth groans under the rule of fundamentalist political regimes. Crisis after crisis has given authoritarians the upper hand. Freedom and opportunity exist in space, for those with the nerve and skill to run the risks.Now the governments of Earth are encouraging many of their most incorrigible dissidents to join a great ark on a one-way expedition, twice Jupiter’s distance from the Sun, to Saturn, the ringed planet that baffled Galileo and has fascinated astronomers ever since.But humans will be human, on Earth or in the heavens — so amid the idealism permeating Space Habitat Goddard are many individuals with long-term schemes, each awaiting the right moment. And hidden from them is the greatest secret of all, the real purpose of this expedition, known to only a few…

Saturn — fascynująca i tajemnicza planeta z wielkimi pierścieniami i księżycami, z których Tytan jest najprawdopodobniej obdarzony życiem. Wreszcie możliwe jest zbadanie Saturna i nie będzie to zwykły lot załogowy, a wyprawa jakiej dotąd nie było. Wielki habitat „Goddard” to olbrzymi statek, samowystarczalna arka z dziesięcioma tysiącami ludzi na pokładzie. Naukowcami, dysydentami i ludźmi niepokornymi, którym nie podobają się rządy religijnych fanatyków na Ziemi. Płonne są jednak ich nadzieje, że Nowa Moralność czy inni fanatycy nie zechcą mieć kontroli nad habitatem. A wśród uczestników wyprawy jest siostra Pancho Lane, szefowej Astro Corp, i laureatka Nobla za osiągnięcia w dziedzinie nanotechnologii — Kris Cardenas.

Die   nicht   allzu   ferne   Zukunft:   Christliche   und   islamische  Fundamentalisten haben einen so großen politischen Einfluss  auf   der   Erde   erlangt,   dass   Wissenschaftler   und   andere  »Säkularisierte«  gezwungen sind, den Planeten zu verlassen.  Im   Mondorbit   ist   für   sie   ein   riesiges   Habitat,   die  Goddard,  entstanden, das mehr als zehntausend Menschen aufnehmen  kann   und   zum   Saturn   gesteuert   werden   soll,   um   dort   als  Außenposten der menschlichen Zivilisation und als Basis für  die   Erforschung   des   Ringplaneten   und   seiner   Monde   zu  dienen. Doch niemand ahnt, dass eine Gruppe von religiösen  Fanatikern mit an Bord ist, die nur ein Ziel kennt: Die Macht  im Habitat zu  übernehmen, die Wissenschaftler kaltzustellen  und die Ungläubigen zu bekehren — und sei es mit Gewalt. Als  die Goddard den Jupiter passiert, sehen sie die Zeit gekommen,  um loszuschlagen…

Cities became ovens. Grasslands became seas of flame. As the touch of dawn swept westward across the spinning planet Earth, its fiery finger killed everything in its path. Glaciers in Switzerland began to melt, floodwaters poured down on the burning, smoking villages dotting the Alpine meadows. Paris became a torch, then London. North of the Arctic Circle, Lapplanders in their summer furs burst into flame as their reindeer collapsed and roasted on the smoking tundra.The line of dawn raced westward across the Atlantic Ocean, but as it did the brightness diminished. The sun dimmed as quickly as it had brightened.The Americas escaped the Sun’s wrath. Almost. A hard, dark book, the story of mankind after the fall… compulsive reading… the battle to rebuild Earth after its almost total destruction by a gigantic solar flare.Harry HarrisonPart of this novel was published separately, in substantially different form, as ‘When The Sky Burned’, copyright © 1973 by Ben Bova.

In the wake of the Asteroid Wars that tore across the solar system, Victor Zacharius makes his living running the ore-carrier Syracuse. With his wife and two children he plies the Asteroid Belt, hauling whatever cargo can be found. When the Syracuse stumbles into the middle of a military attack on the habitat Chrysalis, Victor flees in a control pod to draw the attacker’s attention away from his family. Now, as his wife and children plunge into the far deeps of space, Victor has been rescued by the seductive Cheena Madagascar. He must do her bidding if he’s to have a prayer of ever seeing his family again.Elverda Apacheta is the solar system’s greatest sculptor. The cyborg Dorn was formerly Dorik Harbin, the ruthless military commander responsible for the attack on Chrysalis. Their lives and destinies have been linked by their joint discovery of the alien artifact that had, earlier, profoundly affected industrialist Martin Humphries. Similarly transformed by the artifact’s mysterious powers, Apacheta and Dorn now prowl the Belt, determined to find the bodies of the many victims of Harbin’s atrocities so that they can be given proper burials.Kao Yuan is the captain of Viking, owned by Martin Humphries, who’s determined to kill Dorn and Elverda because they know too much about the artifact and its power over him. But Viking’s second-in-command, Tamara Vishinsky, appears to have the real power on board ship. When Viking catches up to Apacheta and Dorn, their confrontation begins a series of events involving them, the Zacharius family, and Martin Humphries and his son in the transformation of the human solar system…

Just in time for spring training, two power hitters return to our pages. Ben Bova not only writes about the future, he has helped create it. The author of more than eighty-five futuristic novels and nonfiction books, he has been involved in science and high technology since the very beginnings of the space program. President Emeritus of the National Space Society and a past president of SFWA, Dr. Bova is a frequent commentator on radio and television, and a widely popular lecturer. He has also been an award-winning editor and an executive in the aerospace industry. Rick Wilber has sold about a hundred short stories and poems, and over one thousand nonfiction articles. He is the SF reviewer for the St. Petersburg Times, and he edits the Fiction Quarterly for the Tampa Tribune. Mr. Wilber is a faculty member of the School of Mass Communications at the University of South Florida. He is also administrator of the Isaac Asimov Award for excellence in undergraduate writing that is co-sponsored by the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts and by this magazine.

Here are the deadliest warriors in the universe—awesome gladiators caught in the ultimate one-on-one battles of all eternity. These explosive tales of future combat are collected here for the first time—featuring today’s acclaimed masters of science fiction.