Coalescent - A Novel

Zusatztext PRAISE FOR STEPHEN BAXTER Evolution “GRIPPING . . . THE PERFECT SCIENTIFIC ROMANCE OF OUR TIME . . . The miracle of Evolution is that it makes the triumph of life! which is its story! sound like the real story.” – The Washington Post Book World “ EVOLUTION IS A WORK OF OUTRAGEOUS AMBITION. . . . What is astonishing is how successfully he brings to life a wide range of facts and conjectures! and how entertaining as well as informative this book–an episodic novel with evolution as its protagonist–manages to be.” – The New York Times Book Review Manifold: Time “A STAGGERING NOVEL! If you ever thought you understood time! you’ll be quickly disillusioned when you read Manifold: Time .” –SIR ARTHUR C. CLARKE Manifold: Space “BREATHTAKING IN ITS ORIGINALITY AND SCOPE . . . [AN] IMPRESSIVE PARADE OF WONDERS.” –The Washington Post Manifold: Origin “UTTERLY ENGROSSING . . . A book that challenges and provokes . . . Origin leads you to ask questions about sentience and existence.” –SFX magazine Informationen zum Autor Stephen Baxter is a trained engineer with degrees from Cambridge (mathematics) and Southampton Universities (doctorate in aeroengineering research). Baxter is the winner of the British Science Fiction Award and the Locus Award, as well as being a nominee for an Arthur C. Clarke Award, most recently for Manifold: Time . His novel Voyage won the Sidewise Award for Best Alternate History Novel of the Year; he also won the John W. Campbell Award and the Philip K. Dick Award for his novel The Time Ships . He is currently working on his next novel, a collaboration with Sir Arthur C. Clarke. Klappentext "Lean, taut storytelling . . . breakneck stuff . . . Arguably his most accessible book to date-Baxter [is] resplendent."-SFX magazine When his father dies suddenly, George Poole stumbles onto a family secret: He has a twin sister he never knew existed, who was raised by an enigmatic cult called the Order. The Order is a hive-a human hive with a dominant queen-that has prospered below the streets of Rome for almost two millennia. After Poole enters the Order's vast underground city and meets the disturbing inhabitants, he uncovers evidence that they have embarked on a divergent evolutionary path. These genetically superior humans are equipped with the tools necessary to render modern Homo sapiens as extinct as the Neanderthals. And now they are preparing to leave their underground realm. "[Excels] at both action-packed storytelling and philosophical speculation."-Library Journal "Utterly fascinating . . . constantly surprising . . . Coalescent reveals a new side to Baxter's vast talent."-Locus Chapter  1 I have come to stay in Amalfi. I can’t face going back to Britain—not yet—and to be here is a great relief after the swarming strangeness I encountered in Rome. I’ve taken a room in a house on the Piazza Spirito Santo. There is a small bar downstairs, where I sit in the shade of vine leaves and drink Coke Light, or sometimes the local lemon liqueur, which tastes like the sherbet-lemon boiled sweets I used to buy as a kid in Manchester, ground up and mixed with vodka. The crusty old barman doesn’t have a word of English. It’s hard to tell his age. The flower bowls on the outdoor tables are filled with little bundles of twigs that look suspiciously like fasces to me, but I’m too polite to ask. Amalfi is a small town nestling in a valley on the Sorrento Peninsula. This is a coast of limestone cliffs, into which the towns have been carved like seabird nesting grounds. People have adapted to living on a vertical surface: there are public staircases you can follow all the way to the next town. Nothing in Italy is new—Amalfi was a...

Product details

• Authors: Stephen Baxter
• Publisher: Del Rey
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 23.11.2004
• EAN: 9780345457868
• ISBN: 978-0-345-45786-8
• No. of pages: 544
• Dimensions: 107 mm x 171 mm x 31 mm
• Series: Destiny's Children; Destiny's Children (Paperback); Destiny's Children
• Subject: Fiction > Narrative literature