The 12th Planet (The Earth Chronicles, Book 1)

Amazon.com

Zecharia Sitchen's The 12th Planet is the starting point on a quest that spans six books and 20 years worth of ancient aliens, genetic manipulation, and scrutiny of linguistic minutiae. If we trust Sitchen's translation abilities, we must be prepared for the imminent return of an alien race who created us some 300,0x00 years ago. The 12th Planet is perhaps the best written of Sitchin's Earth Chronicles series; full of example after example of ancient Sumerian passages, astronomical observations, archaeological finds, and technological coincidences supporting his theories. The price we pay for all this evidence is a bit of a dry read at times, but the ideas Sitchin proposes are more than scintillating enough to make up for the overtly scholastic tone of his text. --Brian Patterson

Book Description

Over the years, startling evidence has been unearthed, challenging established notions of the origins of Earth and life on it, and suggests the existence of a superior race of beings who once inhabited our world. The product of thirty years of intensive research, The 12th Planet is the first book in Zecharia Sitchin's prophetic Earth Chronicles series -- a revolutionary body of work that offers indisputable documentary proof of humanity's extraterrestrial forefathers. Travellers from the stars, they arrived eons ago, and planted the genetic seed that would ultimately blossom into a remarkable species...called Man.

Customer Reviews:

Ignorance isn't bliss!!.......2007-09-19

I can't understand why people put some much negative engery into someone else's work such as a legend as Dr. Sitchin. As much as time they spent writing their negative reviews they could have perhaps written their own book. Anyways......it has been a true pleasure studying the works of Dr. Sitchin a true "Einstein" in our midst. Please see youtubedotcom for more on this "magnificent" scientist.

-Drah Cenedive

The 12th Planet.......2007-09-13

An enlightening look at how mankind came to be on this planet while explaining why a missing link cannot found. It molds together the ideas of creation as explained in religious manuscripts and theories of evolution into a feasible chain of events.

Bringing Forth An Unknown.......2007-06-29

I have to thank Sitchen for writing this book because it was an incentive for me to research and validate what I read. I have enjoyed all of his books.

I can say that almost of the information he has given can be validated if one has the desire to know.

Sitchen introduced me to Ninhursag, the chief geneticist and the co-creator of the human body as we know it today. I did not say she created the mind or the spirit that inhabits the body. I just write she co-created the human body as we know it today.
Bettye Johnson, author, Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls

The 12th Planet.......2007-03-09

This book was the start of a different thought process for me and Mr Sitchin "I THANK YOU SO MUCH" What a change in my life since I 1st read this book in 2002 and since I have read everything Sitchin and I must say I believe in what he writes.

An Interesting Theory..........2007-02-07

This book is interesting. The theory makes some sense, and I would like to see the material cited as "proof" backing up the theory.

A lot of the "pictures" are just drawings, which leaves room for questioning their authenticity. Being the skeptical believer I am, I really wish I had access to more reliable information that would confirm some of the things this book claims. It held my attention enough that I not only finished it, but also started to read the second book "The Stairway to Heaven" (which lost my attention after the first 20 or so pages... I'll get back to it at some point).

I do have to say, though, that towards the end I was a little turned off, mostly by the fact that:

- the book claims the 12th planet approaches Earth every 3,600 years
- the book uses its own interpretation of ancient texts to support its claim and says that ancient people described the periods when the planet approached Earth as times when the climate would go crazy due to the gravitational pull caused by this huge planet's proximity to Earth
- the book says the planet was near us at about 3,800 BC
- if the planet had come by us at about 3,800 BC, the actual last time the planet was near Earth was at about 200 BC, a time when such incredible event would have been clearly recorded by people, who had already developed pretty modern languages, and kept records of everything
- I never read anything from approximately 200 BC saying there were huge climatic changes on earth, big earthquakes, tsunamis, volcano eruptions, etc. around that time...

Another event that didn't make sense was that the writer tells the "gods" decided to let humanity perish by orbiting the planet in their spaceships while Earth was flooded by the deluge. The writer goes on to say that the aliens (gods) were crying in desperation in their ships because it was so horrible that earth was being destroyed and they regretted not saving men, and that they were starving in the ships because the food they brought wasn't enough.

Well, while the author says everything mentioned on the paragraph above, he also says that the 12th planet was near Earth when this happened. If they were starving and desperate, why didn't they just fly back to their planet? They could have come back in another 3,600 Earth-years (which, by the way, were just the same as one of their years) to check out how we were doing if they missed us too much.

On the other hand, it would make sense that such a messed up race (humans) would have come from such a messed up family of aliens. But, then again, we may just be making god to our own image, as usual...

All in all, it's an interesting theory for an interesting subject, definitely worth reading if you don't expect it to reveal all the secrets of the universe.

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Average customer rating:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Average customer rating:

A top tier book, without a doubt!
Very Entertaining Space Opera...
A Grand Tapestry
Epic in scope, richly detailed, but some flaws
Not so much

Pandora's Star
Peter F. Hamilton
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0345479211
Release Date: 2005-01-25

Book Description

Critics have compared the engrossing space operas of Peter F. Hamilton to the classic sagas of such sf giants as Isaac Asimov and Frank Herbert. But Hamilton’s bestselling fiction—powered by a fearless imagination and world-class storytelling skills—has also earned him comparison to Tolstoy and Dickens. Hugely ambitious, wildly entertaining, philosophically stimulating: the novels of Peter F. Hamilton will change the way you think about science fiction. Now, with Pandora’s Star, he begins a new multivolume adventure, one that promises to be his most mind-blowing yet.

The year is 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars some four hundred light-years in diameter, contains more than six hundred worlds, interconnected by a web of transport “tunnels” known as wormholes. At the farthest edge of the Commonwealth, astronomer Dudley Bose observes the impossible: Over one thousand light-years away, a star . . . vanishes. It does not go supernova. It does not collapse into a black hole. It simply disappears. Since the location is too distant to reach by wormhole, a faster-than-light starship, the Second Chance, is dispatched to learn what has occurred and whether it represents a threat. In command is Wilson Kime, a five-time rejuvenated ex-NASA pilot whose glory days are centuries behind him.

Opposed to the mission are the Guardians of Selfhood, a cult that believes the human race is being manipulated by an alien entity they call the Starflyer. Bradley Johansson, leader of the Guardians, warns of sabotage, fearing the Starflyer means to use the starship’s mission for its own ends,.

Pursued by a Commonwealth special agent convinced the Guardians are crazy but dangerous, Johansson flees. But the danger is not averted. Aboard the Second Chance, Kime wonders if his crew has been infiltrated. Soon enough, he will have other worries. A thousand light-years away, something truly incredible is waiting: a deadly discovery whose unleashing will threaten to destroy the Commonwealth . . . and humanity itself.

Could it be that Johansson was right?

From the Hardcover edition.

Download Description

Critics have compared the engrossing space operas of Peter F. Hamilton to the classic sagas of such SF giants as Isaac Asimov and Frank Herbert. But Hamilton's bestselling fiction -- powered by a fearless imagination and world-class storytelling skills -- has also earned him comparison to Tolstoy and Dickens. Hugely ambitious, wildly entertaining, philosophically stimulating: the novels of Peter F. Hamilton will change the way you think about science fiction. Now, with Pandora's Star, he begins a new multivolume adventure, one that promises to be his most mind-blowing yet.

The year is 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars some four hundred light-years in diameter, contains more than six hundred worlds, interconnected by a web of transport "tunnels" known as wormholes. At the farthest edge of the Commonwealth, astronomer Dudley Bose observes the impossible: Over one thousand light-years away, a star... vanishes. It does not go supernova. It does not collapse into a black hole. It simply disappears. Since the location is too distant to reach by wormhole, a faster-than-light starship, the Second Chance, is dispatched to learn what has occurred and whether it represents a threat. In command is Wilson Kime, a five-time rejuvenated ex-NASA pilot whose glory days are centuries behind him.

Opposed to the mission are the Guardians of Selfhood, a cult that believes the human race is being manipulated by an alien entity they call the Starflyer. Bradley Johansson, leader of the Guardians, warns of sabotage, fearing the Starflyer means to use the starship's mission for its own ends.

Pursued by a Commonwealth special agent convinced the Guardians are crazy but dangerous, Johansson flees. But the danger is not averted. Aboard the Second Chance, Kime wonders if his crew has been infiltrated. Soon enough, he will have other worries. A thousand light-years away, something truly incredible is waiting: a deadly discovery whose unleashing will threaten to destroy the Commonwealth... and humanity itself.

Could it be that Johansson was right?

"The depth and clarity of the future Hamilton envisions is as complex and involving as they come."
   PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (STARRED REVIEW)

"The author's expansive vision of the future combines action and intrigue on a panoramic scale."
   LIBRARY JOURNAL

"Astounding... Thrilling... Hamilton uses technology to excellent effect."
   SCIENCE FICTION AGE

"Shows how thought-provoking yet entertaining science fiction can be. Some of the best fiction... in years."
   MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW

"[Hamilton is] taking on one of SF's (and maybe all of literature's) primal jobs: the creation of a world with the scale and complexity of the real one."
   LOCUS

"[Hamilton is] a rare talent."
   THE DENVER POST

Customer Reviews:

A top tier book, without a doubt!.......2007-08-19

Wow! What can I say? Evidently quite a bit from what you can see below. : ) This book is one of the best books I've read in a long time. I've read hundreds of sci-fi books, and this is one of the better ones.

Pandora's Star is a complex, perhaps epic, tale about the evolution of the Commonwealth (note the capital "C"), as it affects a wide variety of characters. With the invention of wormhole generators, humanity found an effective way to colonize the stars. With proper terraforming and zoning, they created designer worlds, such as a world devoted to X-games type sports, industrial worlds, etc. Naturally, as humanity expanded onto new worlds, new political factions evolved, and sentient alien lifeforms are discovered.

The central storyline revolves around a pair of stars that suddenly disappear. Of course, this happened thousands of years ago since light takes time to make it through the galaxy (points to the author for remembering this). Humans decide to launch an exploratory mission to discover what happened to the stars, and unintentionally loose a hostile and powerful lifeform bent on genocide of humans (hence the title of the book I would assume). Adding to the mix of interesting concepts is rejuvenation, allowing anyone with enough money to rejuvenate their body to whatever age they chose, and the interesting concept of Grand Families, who through rejuvenation and the miracle of compounding interest, amass so much money as to run the galaxy and be the true powers behind the government.

Add to this the concept of the Starflyer, a potentially fictional alien whose final agenda is unknown but presumed to be not in the best interest of mankind, and the Guardians of Selfhood, an underground and essentially terrorist organization who are pledged to fight the Starflyer, and it's a merry mix indeed.

For main characters the variety is impressive. There is Wilson Kime, the commander of the initial manned mission to Mars and possessed of exceptional military command presence; Paula Myro, a genetically bred single minded detective who has only had one unsolved case in 130 years (the arrest of a particularly beguiling agent of the Guardians of Selfhood); Nigel Sheldon, one of the co-inventors of the wormhole generator and the head of one of the Grand Families; Ozzie, the other co-inventor of the wormhole generator and semi-anti-authoritarian, except that because of his great wealth he effectively is "the man" when he wants to be; Dudley Bose, the astronomer who first notices the disappearance of the two stars; Melanie, an immature but ambitious gold-digger who sleeps her way to her goals, and the SI, an artificial intelligence created by man who is generally benevolent but seems to also have its own agenda. There are many others, but you get the idea.

Peter Hamilton manages to weave multiple storylines, some of which it is unclear as to how the fit into the main story arc. I'd consider him the "Tom Clancy" of science fiction in this regard. He manages to inject some science into science fiction, considering things like different gravitational forces depending on the mass of the colonized planets that other authors don't bother with. In hindsight it doesn't sound impressive, but he remembers to do this type of thing in a variety of areas, and it just lends credibility to the tale.

The main storylines include political maneuvering by the Grand Families (Nigel Sheldon), the military mission to the disappeared stars (Wilson Kime), the Indiana Jones type adventures of Ozzie, the rise of Melanie (more interesting than it sounds), the plans and raids of the Guardians of Selfhood against the Starflyer, and the investigation of Paula Myro into the Guardians of Selfhood. I may have left out one or two.

The only minor annoyance I found is that the author is British (no, that's not the annoyance) and occasionally some of the descriptions reference buildings in London (e.g., the layout of Parliament) that while I'm sure are accurate, do nothing for helping me visualize the scene.

Lastly, be forewarned that Pandora' Star is only half the story. It literally and metaphorically leaves you mid-stream in the story. You'll have to read "Judas Unchained" to get the second half.

This book is great. I plan on checking out several of Peter Hamilton's other books as soon as I finish this one, which won't be long given how hard it is to put down.

Very Entertaining Space Opera..........2007-07-01

Plenty of other reviews provide plot synopsis, etc. Here are aspects of this work that I didn't see as much of:

1. Overall Believability of Setting:
Hamilton's slick style pulled me right in, and a richly detailed "movie" began playing in my mind's eye almost immediately. I have read very few authors who do this so well -- Julian May being one of the few others who comes to mind.

2. Future Tech:
This work verily bristles with technology; some mundane, some wicked cool, and some worthy of making you stop and ponder. Very fun.

3. Characters:
Yes, there are loads of them, and a mind-boggling number of story threads. For whatever reason, I can't stand referring to a Dramatis Personae. Uncomfortable at first, I soon realized that though I may not immediately recognize a character thread pages later, there were almost always enough breadcrumbs in the new thread to find the link back.

With so many to juggle, Hamilton has to set-up characters quickly, and make them stick. I think he does this very well, with excellent hooks: quirks, an interesting point-of-view, a feeling for a loved one, the impact of interaction with technology, etc.

4. Entertainment Value:
A Bargain Bonanza. This book, plus its sequel, Judas Unchained, are two thousand pages of great entertainment. Could make a great series on the Sci-Fi Channel.

5. Humor: Tell me, when was the last time you read Sci-Fi that actually made you laugh out loud? Give up? Read this :-)

A Grand Tapestry.......2007-06-13

"Pandora's Star," Peter F. Hamilton's sprawling 988-page opus (first volume of two)is a thrill. It's an episodic space opera cum techno thriller, in which the kicker is that people can be, and are, rejuvenated and can also store their memories electronically, in case something happens to them. So death is impermanent. The society the author conjures up is called "The Commonwealth," an organiztion of explored planets linked by wormholes.

The story, told in multiple povs, takes a while to get started, and along the way it delves into many familiar sci-fi themes, while managing to make every one of them fresh. It begins with a look at the first landing on Mars, segues into the tale of an astronomer who makes a starting discovery, morphs into a police procedural, follows with a "behind closed doors" glimpse into political decisionmaking, and then gives us a look at an X-Game version of hang gliding.

And that brings us all the way to page 126.

The story gains steam as an FTL starship--obsolete tech in this age of wormholes--is built (and this is where that astronomer's discovery comes in) in order to learn why the double star system known as the "Dyson Pair" has been shielded by some sort of force field. Is it meant to keep the natives of that system within, or to protect them from what lies without? As if that weren't enough, a terrorist group wants to prevent this excursion.

But even as this is going on, the author continues his journey through genres--a murder mystery is solved (yes, I know I explained that people can be rejuvenated here, but wait for it); a low-tech fantasy theme is introduced (a scene at an inn, a native boy who wants to join the explorer, and so forth) that at one point presents readers with a trek across a frozen planet (a la LeGuin), and there's even a priggish dad with an ickily cute family (complete with dog) on one of those impossibly utopian planets (think Kim Stanley Robinson with an edge). There's a helpful AI, and some alien critters, too. In fact, there are so many characters, so many concepts, that maybe you'll feel that this is the first sci-fi epic you've ever read that could have used an index. (Certainly a list of characters could have been provided.)

About 700 pages in, we finally meet the creeptastic villain(s) (eek! hive mind!), after which the tale cascades on swiftly on to the end of part I.

So pull up a chair, relax and enjoy. And be not afraid. While the 988th page is just the halfway point in the saga, part two, "Judas Unchained" is now available. (At 1008 pages and, oh wow! a list of characters.)

Epic in scope, richly detailed, but some flaws.......2007-05-26

To use the word "sweeping" in a description of this novel is almost to diminish what the word actually means in the context of the scale that is present in this extremeley challenging and detailed science fiction novel. Pandora's star is our future hundreds of years from now when humans have discovered how to create wormholes in space. This technology has led humankind to be spread over hundreds of worlds with the ease of stepping through a portal to the other side. Hamilton has keenly created a possible future, replete with commercial and governmental infrustructure and fully realized high technology. And this future scares the hell out of me! Humans have developed the ability to live "forever" by storing their memories in something like a computer bank vault, and then reimplanting those memories into a lab created, accelerated growth clone. Part of the brilliance of Hamilton is that he has indeed hypothesized the impact this may have on humanity in terms of values, wealth, and societal institutions such as marriage and family. This future envisions a completely secularized society (since there is no death, what is the point?) where marriages are merely a business partnership with fringe benefits of sex and childrearing. Even childbirth is usually undertaken in a laboratory. The continued exploration of space has led to a prosperous free market system, and the limitless lifespans have led to vast wealth accumulation. Thus, externally humanity is more prosperous and mobile than it has ever been. A sole astronomy professor has discovered that a couple of stars hundreds of light years away, have seemingly "winked out." This was no natural phenomena, but apparently caused by some type of alien interference. It is this backdrop of a story upon which this novel is based. Could it be that this has something to do with the alien invasion warned about by the Guardians of selfhood? The Guardians are a secretive cultish society that believes that aliens have infiltrated human society and will destroy them. Their leaders have been hunted by the government for over a hundred years, accused of sabotage and murder.

There are a vast array of characters and a huge number of subplots in this book. Towards the middle and the end of the book I expected that I had covered all of the subplots only for a new one to start. In fact, they continue on almost through to the end of the book. One drawback of this is that some of the subplots are far more interesting than others and I was dissappointed to have to leave those to start in on a less interesting one and then have to wait for a very long time to get back to the interesting ones. The alien presence imagined in this novel is most certainly menacing. I would have to say that this is the most malevolent and fully scientifically realized alien that I have ever encountered. There is some derivation ala Ender's Game, but this is so fully imagined that it is only a surface comparison.
It is this ominous alien presence that is the real strength of the novel. It is so well done that it was almost hard to read. The tremendous scope of the novel, while ambitious, does detract a bit from the overall effectiveness of the narrative. Some of it was tedious and distracting. The characters were well written and also actualized well, however some were simply not necessary. Even though the future implications of an eternal life were well described, however ultimately believable or not, I found the existence sterile and soulless, and this also affected my ultimate enjoyment of the book. A secular humanity, devoted only to the pursuit of human material gratification, no lifelong devotion and commitment to another person, and no real human metaphysical connection seemed to me to be more horrible a future calamity than any hostile alien presence.

Pandora's star is still so well crafted, and the alien threat so absolutely menacing, that despite the length issues and the numerous subplots and characters it is well worth reading. If not for its story and what that says, but for the uncomfortable ramifications of an eternal and soulless life.

Not so much.......2007-05-24

Despite the heft of this book and it's sequel, the plot is simple: a star-spanning human civilization is threatened by an implacable enemy suddenly unleashed by another mysterious force. Worlds are destroyed, battles are fought, disparate human factions try to use the conflict to their own ends, quirky aliens hang out on the sidelines, a huge cast of characters shapes and is shaped by events, a whole gaggle of subplots is resolved.

Fair enough. Too bad this is also the plot of the Night's Dawn trilogy. Been there, done that, got a hernia from lifting the darn thing.

Someone compared Hamilton to Dickens. Dickens was intentionally verbose because he was getting paid by the word.

Skip this and stick with someone a little more terse, like Vernor Vinge.

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)

Average customer rating:

Check and see
Suprise! Suprise!
Prescient St Augustine?
Something of a disappointment
Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy..

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
Anatoly T Fomenko
Manufacturer: Delamere Resources LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621066

Product Description

`History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2` is the second volume of the most explosive and astounding tractate on history ever written - however, every theory it contains, no matter how unorthodox, is backed by rock solid scientific data. The book is easy and pleasant to read; it is well-illustrated, contains hundreds of charts, graphs and illustrations, copies of ancient manuscripts, and countless facts attesting to the falsity of the chronology used nowadays. You will be amazed to discover: - That the chronology universally accepted today and taken for granted is simply wrong; - That ALL methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts known today are erroneous or non-exact; - That there is not a single document that could be reliably dated earlier than the XIth century; The Author refers to the Middle Ages as the Antiquity and proves mutual superimposition of the Second and the Third Roman Empire, both of which become identified as the respective kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Furthermore, he asserts that the famous reform of the Occidental Church in the XI century by Pope Gregory Hildebrand was the reflection of the XII century reforms of Byzantine emperor Andronicus who in his turn identifies with Jesus Christ. The Trojan war counted by Homer happened only as late as of the XIII century A.D. and the great poet actually lived in XIV century A.D. No stone in history of Antiquity is left unturned. Literally. This book is the beginning of a major correction to the chronology we live with.

Customer Reviews:

Check and see.......2007-06-21

I don't care what other people say of this book. Those affirmig it's fake, they hadn't ever read it. Or have some special reasons to do so. "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see..." This book won't make you feel comfortable. It'll make you feel free. It'll make you feel you're "not the only one" to feel you'd been lied to for centuries.

Suprise! Suprise!.......2007-03-22

Here is a serie of books which turns "the whole world" upside down. I learned a lot of it and I hope that a new book from A.T. Fomenko will follow very quick. A absolute must for everybody who is interested in history or even a little bit from it.

Prescient St Augustine?.......2006-02-05

We can so far divide the New Chronology into the following three parts:

a) The verifiable theory that proves consensual chronology wrong with the aid of astronomy, statistics and mathematics;

b) The new chronology hypothesis based on a new understanding of known historical facts and the most likely logical explanation of the most obvious inconsistencies inherent in the official version of history;

c) The history conjectures, that is experimental historical reconstructions based on assumptions that the authors believe to make sense in the light of their research and linguistic parallels - void of ironclad factual support to date.

Fomenko's theory complies with the most rigid scientific standards as a whole:

It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know.

- It is consistent: independent lines of inquiry all lead to the same conclusion.

- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically.

Fomenko goes by the following axioms:

- Chronology is the basis of history;

- Human evolution has always been linear, gradual and irreversible;

- The "cyclic" nature of human civilization is a myth, likewise all the gaps, duplicates, "dark ages" and "renaissances" that we know from consensual history;

- The accumulation of geographical knowledge as reflected in cartography is a gradual and irreversible process;

- The chronological distance between a given manuscript and the events described therein is proportional to the amount of distortions it contains;

- There is no "useless" information in authentic ancient sources.

Why the mainstream historians do not shower mathematician Academician Dr.Prof Fomenko with thanks and laurels?

The Russians:

Because Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by three centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called "Tartars and Mongols" were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a bilingual state with Arabic spoken as freely as Russian. The ancient Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities. The hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called "blood tax"). Their "invasions" were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion. Fomenko proves that Russian history as we know it today is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scientists brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs, whose ascension to the throne was the result of coup d'état, charged with the mission of making their reign look legitimate. Fomenko proves Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. They represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate rulers and the ambitious upstarts. The winner took it all! Over some 30 years of controversy, Russian historians have made a most remarkable transition - they were initially accusing the young mathematician Fomenko of anticommunist dissident activity and attempts to deface the historical legacy of Soviet Russia; nowadays the middle-aged mathematician is accused of adhering to "pro-communist Russian nationalism" and defacing the proud historical legacy of Great Russia.

The Westerners:

Because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History. Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one the Ancient Rome (the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the XIV century A. D.), the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, and the Ancient Egypt (the pyramids of Giza become dated to the XI-XV century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global "Mongolian" Empire, no less). The civilization of the Ancient Egypt is irrefutably dated to the XII-XV century A. D. with the aid of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone. He was the first one to decipher and date all such horoscopes, coming up with mediaeval dates in every case. English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. To reward the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.

The Chinese:

Because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such thing. Full point. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the XVII-XVIII century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation, this time performed on the Chinese soil by the loving Jesuit hands. The Chinese are the next in line to go berserk. Chinese history is inevitably bound to get both more ancient and more eventful, proportionally to the growing involvement of China in the world affairs. Chinese historians will keep on finding valid proof of prehistoric Chinese spaceflights until the Politburo orders them to shut up.

The Arabs:

Too bad. Islam with all its key figures is datable to XV-XVI century A. D. Arabic historians may find consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire in the XVI-XVII century. The trouble is that this empire was initially a Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, according to Fomenko! We can only guess if the acquisition of Alexander the Great (a Macedonian and a Christian) as the founder of the Muslim World Empire will make Fomenko's theories more acceptable to the Arabic mainstream. He certainly does not spare any holy cows at all, claiming The Stone of Qa'Aba in Mecca to contain the lost Arch of the Covenant.

The Divinity:

Despite of reiterated statement that his theory is all about chronology and not Religion, Fomenko stirs up a whole condominium of wasp nests. His collection of anathemas, fatwa, and other condemnations from all parties concerned is already considerable. Little wonder, considering that the history of religions à la Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the XI century and JC), Bacchic Christianity (XI-XII century, before and after JC), JC Christianity (XII-XVI century) and its subsequent mutations into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on.

According to Fomenko we know strictly NOTHING about the events that predate the X century A. D.

St Augustin was prescient when he spoke unto us: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."

Something of a disappointment.......2005-09-09

After having read the first volume of this expected series of 7 volumes I was triggered by the thesis of these authors that ancient Greek and Roman history did in fact take place in the Middle Ages. So I started studying medieval history of the Middle East - also known as Islamic history - to find out if the opponents of the ancient Greeks and Romans - the Acheamenid Persians, Sassanids, Scythians, Egyptians, etc. - also have their duplicates in medieval history. My search was disappointing: none of the many medieval Islamic dynasties seemed to correspond to the ancient middle eastern rulers.

However, I did find a close correspondence between Herodotus' Persian kings and medieval events:

- the defeat and capture of an Anatolian king - the Lydian Croesus - by the Persian conqueror Cyrus is identical to the defeat and capture of another Anatolian king - sultan Bayezid - by the Asian/Mongol conqueror Tamerlane;
- the Persian conquest of Egypt by the cruel tyrant Cambyses reds almost exactly as the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by Selim the Grim (note the nickname!);
- Darius the Lawgiver of the Persian Empire looks very much alike to Sulayman the Magnificent, the Lawgiver in Islamic history;
- Xerxes, whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by the Greeks at the naval battle of Salamis, looks like Selim II (the Sot) whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by a Spanish-Italian alliance at the naval battle of Lepanto.

I should have expected Fomenko et al. to arrive at similar conclusions, however, they claim that the Persian kings are the alter egos of the Angevin kings of Sicily whose biographies do not contain the exploits of the Persian kings.

The similiarities I indicate lead to the conclusion that Herodotus must have written his Histories at the close of the 16th century. But this is extremely late, given that Herodotus is "the Father of History", so therefore all other "ancient" histories must have been fabricated even later. Yet, the founders of modern chronology - Scaliger and Petavius - laid their foundations also at the close of the 16th century and had the full corpus of ancient histories already at their disposal.

It seems to me that Fomenko has to address these inconsistencies, maybe in the forthcoming 5 volumes?

Another critique of their book is that the correspondencies between different rulers are often based on a superficial comparison of the biographies; upon a more thorough comparison many details appear that do not correspond at all.

Finally, the authors rely heavily on the works of Gregorovius (1821-1891!!) - his medieval histories of Rome and Athens - as the source of medieval history; these works are - at least in the West - hoplessly outdated and have been superceded by more up-to-date works (for instance, Julius Norwich's trilogy on Byzantine history is not even cited).

Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy.........2005-07-30

If you agree with Fomenko that Roman chronology is basically the foundation of the entire edifice of global chronology; you would also certainly agree that despite its numerous gaps and inconsistencies, Roman history is the best-documented field of ancient history, and thus a reference scale. But how well is the actual date of the Eternal City's foundation known?

Firstly, Rome is supposed to have been founded by the Trojans who had to flee after the fall of Troy. Some claim Rome to have been founded by Aeneas and Ulysses shortly after Troy had fallen; others are of the opinion that there was an entire dynasty that ruled for 500 years between the fall of Troy and the foundation of Rome.

Well, that's just an innocent 500 years long misunderstanding compared with what heretic Fomenko says, asserts, proves in his second volume: Second Roman Empire, Third Roman Empire, Biblical Kingdom of Israel, Biblical Kingdom of Judah, Holy Roman Empire are stories about basically same events, written from different points of view at different times. The underlying events have actually taken place during xii-xv cy. These histories have been written and perfected by multitude of highly talented humanist and clerical writers of xiii-xvi cy disguised as "ancients" with glorious names like Homer, Pluto, Thucydides etc..Chronology 2.0 beta..

Historians are kindly invited to report the bugs.

Expedition: Being an Account in Words and Artwork of the A.D. 2358 Voyage to Darwin IV

Average customer rating:

Awesome!
Out of this World!
An unique vision of an alien world!
Good artwork...but...
Settle down,It's not meant to be real...

Expedition: Being an Account in Words and Artwork of the A.D. 2358 Voyage to Darwin IV
Wayne Douglas Barlowe
Manufacturer: Workman Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0894809822

Customer Reviews:

Awesome!.......2006-04-17

This is the best work for Alternative evolution yet! I actually like how he made the animals look nothing like things on Earth because they evolved from a completely different orgin.It is even better that it's movie adaption Alien Planet. In alien planet it said that they have eyes, but very weak ones, probably just strong enough to pick up biolights, but not strong enough to have complex vision. I like how they ended up with sonar. I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who is as big an evolutionary science nut as I am!

Out of this World!.......2005-07-01

Expedition is a book in the style of Dougal Dixon's "alternitive zoology" books, with the main diffrence being this book takes place on a completley alien world, Darwin IV.
The book itself is amazing. The writing, while not as bad as some reviwers say, is'nt up to Dixon's books, but the artwork is truly where Expedition shines. Darwin IV and it's alien inhabitants jump off the pages, even if some of the creatures look pretty "out there". I highly reccomend Expedition to any fan of scientific fiction.

An unique vision of an alien world!.......2005-05-12

Barlowe has created a rich and exciting world for his readers. We discover this world alog with his main character, who is an intrepid and earnest researcher and artist. Barlowe does not simply spell out every detail of this world, but makes conjectures based on the available data, thus preserving the illusion that this is an actual account of a place that exists.
This book is the template for the new Discovery Channel special on alien worlds. I recommend this book to anyone interested in beautiful art coupled with a fantastic story.

Good artwork...but..........2005-01-21

Expedition is about an artist's voyage to Darwin Four, in 2358 A.D. The book is his collection of drawings and sketches made during the first manned mission to the planet. Mr. Barlowe is not just an artist, but also has great knowledge about nature and how it works. He tries to mix the two, showing the aliens and explaining how they lived, mated and, sometimes, died. But he leaves so much out - there is very little background on the planet's natural history. We get hints and clues about what early life was like. For example, most creatures use sonar and have biolights, yet are blind. Being blind, the sonar makes sense, but why have biolights then? The atmosphere must have been thick and murky, allowing animals armed with sonar better chances than those armed with eyes, but could the biolights be something from earlier times, before sonar was developed and all animals used visible light?
The science, in other words, is lacking the details I enjoy. It is a great art book, but Dougal Dixon is better at the science, showing evolution and how it works. This is an alien planet and we barely touched the surface of its wonders!
That is why it only gets three points.

Settle down,It's not meant to be real..........2004-01-17

All these people saying that this is a well illustrated but poorly written book shouldn't take it so serioulsy, who cares if the inhabitants are unbelievable. It's a fiction book, none of these reviewers could come up with anything half as imaginitive as Wayne Barlowe... consult a scientist or biologist, yeah right...it's not real.......just have fun with it.

The Lonely Planet Guide to the Middle of Nowhere (Lonely Planet Pictorial)

Average customer rating:

Travel Writers Seek Personal Solitude in 55 Diverse Locales Stunningly Photographed
Entertaining and informative.

The Lonely Planet Guide to the Middle of Nowhere (Lonely Planet Pictorial)
Lonely Planet Publications
Manufacturer: Lonely Planet Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1741047846

Book Description

The Middle of Nowhere fosters the spirit of exploration and travel. It's about appreciation and seeking out adventure in all travel experiences, whether in the remote regions of Russia or the chaotic streets of Shanghai. The 80 first-person accounts weave a story about the journeys as much as the destinations. This book is a reminder to even the most seasoned adventurer, there's a lifetime of experiences to discover.

Customer Reviews:

Travel Writers Seek Personal Solitude in 55 Diverse Locales Stunningly Photographed.......2007-04-30

As part of their eclectic series of coffee table books, Lonely Planet has produced a fascinating collection of essays and world-class photos strung around the theme of personal solitude and exploration. Fifty-five locales are covered by thirty-eight travel writers, most of whom succeed in evoking a sense of adventure that remarkably remains possible despite the intervention of technology and the all-encompassing Web. Most of the contributions fit the traditional image of isolated locales and exotic cultures, but some feel far more within reach, for example, Janet Brunckhorst's amusing dissection of Las Vegas and Andrew Dean Nystrom's account of the remote Thorofare region in Yellowstone National Park. The common thread among these accounts is that such adventures can take many forms and not necessarily require a backpack and a passport.

There are a few accounts that bring fresh twists to familiar landmarks such as Daniel Robinson's remembrance of visiting Angkor Wat in 1989 when the civil war was raging between the Phnom Penh government and the genocidal Khmer Rouge. Or there is Gregor Clark's nighttime exploration of Machu Picchu when the ruins took on a ghost-like pall. Colorful stories abound in places far less famous such as Lasseter's Cave in the middle of the Australian outback and the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan. We are given descriptions of places as far-flung as Babuskina in the outer reaches of Siberia, the depths of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific, and the harsh volcanic landscape of El Hierro, the most remote of the Canary Islands.

All the continents are covered, and even the moon is included at the end in a semi-tongue-in-cheek manner. The book ends with a reference guide for each location, giving navigational information, specifically how one would get about; its geography and geology; its history with man; its proximity to civilization; the must-haves before embarking on a trip there; and what works of art the area has inspired. If not quite in the same league as The Travel Book: A Journey Through Every Country in the World or The Cities Book: A Journey Through The Best Cities In The World for sheer breadth, this book will appeal to those with a particularly incessant and pioneering wanderlust.

Entertaining and informative........2007-02-03

You find yourself looking at this book and not being able to put it down. It offers unique views and perspectives on the world we live in. Typical of the Lonely Planet series, it is well done. Frankly, this book should be left on the coffee table for visiting friends that you truly do want to entertain with an interesting read.

The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet

Average customer rating:

Sort of glad Spielberg or Lucas never touched it
Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet
An Out Of This World Adventure
An Out Of This World Adventure
STILL just as terrific as the first time!

The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet
Eleanor Cameron
Manufacturer: Little, Brown Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0316125407

Book Description

In print since the 1950's, the Mushroom Planet series is back with a new design by illustrator Kevin Hawkes.Don't miss the adventures of Chuck and David, two boys who travel to the alien planet Basidium in their homemade spaceship.This timeless series is a classic that is sure to be read over and over again.

Customer Reviews:

Sort of glad Spielberg or Lucas never touched it.......2007-08-14

All of the Mushroom Planet books should be considered as gems by the major movie producers, but think about the political correctness they would likely impose. The original story had two boys, Dave and Chuck, building the spacecraft. I'm sure most Hollywood producers would inflict a girl into the scene with no regard to the integrity of the author's written word. In fact there is almost no role played by any female in these books. Would that stop the Hollywood distortion machine from wreaking havoc with the original story line ? NO. If the Mushroom Planet saga ever is made into film, my prediction is that it will bear scant resemblance to Eleanor Cameron's superlative vision of a small invisible planet visited by two small boys.

Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet.......2007-01-07

This is a great book which I read when I was 10 years old, and I never
forgot it. I'm nearly 60 now, and I wanted to find the book and relive the adventure. And so I did, and I loved the story now as much as I did
almost 50 years ago. The storyline is ageless, a frolic which is still
enjoyable.

An Out Of This World Adventure.......2006-12-11

The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet is a science fiction book written by Eleanor Cameron. The book is about two friends, David and Chuck, who build a spaceship in response to a want ad placed in the newspaper by a Mr. Tyco Bass. He is a two-thousand year old Basidiumite, or Mushroom Person, who needs the two boys to travel to his home planet Basidium-X to help save his people.

The main reason I enjoyed reading this book is because the story gets started right away and the plot develops quickly. In the first few pages the reader learns that the main character David is interested in outer space and pretends in bed each night that he is traveling in his own spaceship to other planets. He wishes he could find a little planet just his size which he could explore in just a day or two. The newspaper ad placed by Mr. Bass promises the two boys who successfully build the spaceship an adventure. It quickly becomes apparent that David shall get his wish and will soon travel to another planet, only this time not in his imagination.

David and his best friend Chuck live in Pacific Grove, California. They build the spaceship with scrap metal and lumber found in the boatyard owned by Chuck's grandfather. Even though it might seem unrealistic to believe that two eleven year old boys could successfully build a spaceship, the author convinces the reader it can happen through the use of Mr. Bass and his un-natural powers. Although the boys build the spaceship, it is Mr. Bass who quickly makes the spacecraft capable of traveling into space by adding a rocket motor and special coating to its surface. Since Mr. Bass is not originally from the planet earth, it is easy for the reader to accept his ability to perform amazing tasks and make marvelous inventions such as his "stroboscopic telescope" used to view Basidium-X.

After meeting Mr. Bass the boys blast-off on their journey and take along a gentle hen named Mrs. Pennyfeather for their mascot. The main conflict of the story is revealed when David and Chuck land on Basidium-X. They learn that the Basidiumites, or Mushroom People, are sick and dying because they don't have any magic plants left to eat. A drought has destroyed the special mushroom plants that grow in the mountains at the Place of the Hidden Water. While on the planet, David and Chuck meet several Basidiumites, including the lovable thinkers Mebe and Oru and the serious ruler Ta. I really enjoyed the characters Mebe and Oru because they seemed so innocent and helpless.

Read the book to find out whether or not David and Chuck are successful in their mission to save the Basidiumites and learn how important one small chicken can be to an entire race! The book will leave you wanting to read more about the Mushroom People and the mysterious Mr. Bass.

Cristian LA-6A Word Count 491

An Out Of This World Adventure.......2006-12-11

STILL just as terrific as the first time!.......2006-09-20

I'm so happy to see that I'm not the only 40+ person who has rediscovered this book from their childhood. I, too, first read this when I picked it up in the school library around 1967 or so. I've thought about this story on and off thru my entire adult life and FINALLY asked a librarian while visiting the other day.....she went straight to it after only getting a brief description of the story. I sat down last night and began re-reading.....I could feel myself smiling and slowly slipping back into my carefree childhood. I only wish Eleanor Cameron were still alive that I could write and thank her for creating such an incredible story. It feels like a long overdue homecoming! I can't wait to get home and read some more (just like I did 40 yrs ago!!!)

Average customer rating:

Good outer-limits SF
gregory benford
Round and round with no direction
An Ur-human In Time
A wonderfully written book

Beyond Infinity
Gregory Benford
Manufacturer: Aspect
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 044653059X

Book Description

Voyagers cross a living universe in a gripping new novel of the far future by GregBenford, multiple award-winning author of The Martian Race and Timescape. BEYONDINFINITYtakes a scientist's imagination to the uttermost ends of time. Set more than a billion years from now, the novel begins with a young woman who yearns to escape the rigid, timeless Earth she knows. So she flees, in the company of an intelligent beast wise beyond recognition. But there are mysterious forces afoot among the planets that she never foresaw. Alien agencies have learned to span parallel universes, ones that lie only a millimeter away but are invisible to any device known to man. Soon these beings confront the travelers and a struggle beyond imagining begins......

Customer Reviews:

Good outer-limits SF.......2007-06-12

This is one of Benford's better books - the surprises are connected logically enough, but not so tightly that they fail to surprise. There is some careful character development as well - I'm curious to hear whether female readers think it's plausible. One of the plot elements is a Zen-master neo-raccoon, who unveils more and more power as the book goes on - I got rather fond of his quirky viewpoint.

The start is a little slow, but stick with it (or skim) - this one's worth it.

gregory benford.......2007-01-31

folks if you like the hard stuff then benford is for you, with an imaginative mixture of theoretical physics and creative fiction, his books bound with possibilitys.

Round and round with no direction.......2006-07-31

This book, like many Benford offerings seems to mistake confusion for art. The story line is weak and development is weak. Benford is, I'm sure a brilliant physicist, and my recommendation is that he stay with his day job.

An Ur-human In Time.......2006-07-20

Beyond Infinity (2004) is a science fiction novel of the very far future. Based on Clarke's Against the Fall of Night, it was initially written as a novella, Beyond the Fall of Night, but has been greatly extended and modified for this version.

In this novel, Cley is an Ur-human, a form of Original and the oldest extant version of humanity (the Originals were reconstructed by the Supras during the rejuvenation of Earth). She grows up in her Meta Family knowing only her current MOM - Mother Of the Moment -- and imagining her father. She knows that her mother is probably someone living within the Meta, but her father left the Meta when she was three. Cley yearns for his return.

When she is old enough, Cley starts work at the Library of Life, where various species of Mankind catalog and rerecord the DNA and other data of Earth's history. She has a passionate attraction toward Kurani, a Supra who lives in the present as well as within the realm of abstraction. They are working together when agents of the Malign attack the Library and kill Kurani. They also try to kill Cley, but fail; her body slowly mends itself.

Seeker After Patterns, a highly modified and intelligent raccoon, finds her body and helps restore her to health. For some time they dwell in the forest, amidst ancient networks of life, while Cley recovers in body and mind. Then Rin, another Supra, discovers them and takes them back to the Library of Life.

Cley is told about the attack and learns something of the Malign and other human encounters with higher dimensions. While working outside one day, Cley and Seeker encounter Morphs, manifestations of higher dimensional beings within normal spacetime. They try to capture one, but are transported to the Tubeworld, a sort of bridge between the tri-dimensional world and higher dimensions. After attracting the attention of a higher dimensional being, they are returned to normal spacetime.

This novel starts slowly, lingering over Cley's childhood thoughts and behaviors, but abruptly speeds up with the attack of the Malign agents and the introduction of Seeker. After that, the pace increases to the point of giddiness, taking Cley offplanet and into the Solar System.

As can be expected from a working physicist, the author inserts various concepts from speculative physics into the plotline, everything from multiple dimensions to electromagnetic lifeforms. The novel terminates with a glimpse of the universe well beyond our ordinary viewpoint and leaves room for an even more exotic sequel.

Highly recommended for Benford fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of speculative physics and the far future.

-Arthur W. Jordin

A wonderfully written book.......2006-06-03

Really, the only problem this book has besides not being written for "Average Joe" is lack of character development. Many of the background characters recieve little to no description, and the main characters are sparsly described in places. It would seem that Benford concentrated on the locations and technology in the story more then the characters.

This isn't a book for your everyday reader. It takes a lot of work and time to understand the details of why things work like they do, especially because most of the technology used in the book is based on cutting edge theoretical physics. In spite of these shortcomings, this is a well written book, but not one that can be simply picked up and read. If you want to read this book, be prepared to set aside a substantial amount of time.

Average customer rating:

the ship who won
What happened, Anne?
Not the best in the series, but a good read
A few legs short of a centipede
Science fiction with a little fantasy thrown in.

The Ship Who Won
Anne McCaffrey , and Jody Lynn Nye
Manufacturer: Baen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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