Greg Bear0.0 All the best thrillers contain the solution to a mystery, and the mystery in this intellectually sparkling scientific thriller is more crucial and stranger than most. Why are people turning against their neighbors and their newborn children? And what is causing an epidemic of still births? A disgraced paleontologist and a genetic engineer both come across evidence of cover-ups in which the government is clearly up to no good. But no one knows what's really going on, and the government is covering up because that is what, in thrillers as in life, governments do. And what has any of this to do with the discovery of a Neanderthal family whose mummified faces show signs of a strange peeling?
Greg Bear has spent much of his recent career evoking awe in the deep reaches of space, but he made his name with Blood Music, a novel of nanotechnology that crackled with intelligence. His new book is a workout for the mind and a stunning read; human malignancy has its role in his thriller plot, but its real villain, as well as its last best hope, is the endless ingenious cruelty of the natural world and evolution. --Roz Kaveney, Amazon.co.uk
1722 г. Наступили новые Темные Века. Призванная неизвестными существами комета опустошила Землю. Блистательный — а по словам некоторых, безумный — ученый Исаак Ньютон скрывается в Праге. Там, вместе со своим учеником Бенджамином Франклином, он пытается раскрыть тайны эфирных созданий, которые едва не погубили человечество. Но их безопасность под угрозой. Армии царя Петра неотвратимо движутся в Европу. А на другом краю мира Хлопковая Матушка и пират Черная Борода собирают экспедицию, стремясь пересечь Атлантику и выяснить, что произошло в Старом Свете.
На пустынном берегу близ купеческого города Удачный томится живой корабль “Совершенный”. Его считают безумным кораблем, убийцей моряков. Немногочисленные друзья, оставшиеся у него среди людей, мечтают выкупить “Совершенного” и вновь отправиться на нем в море. Они надеются с его помощью выручить другой живой корабль — “Проказницу”, захваченную пиратами. Но они не знают, что “Проказница” привязана к своему новому капитану, одноногому пирату Кенниту, и рада помогать ему в его ремесле. Тем временем в глубине моря гигантские разумные змеи разгадали наконец тайну своего предназначения.
Winner of the Bram Stoker Award and finalist for both the Nebula and World Fantasy Awards, Nina Kiriki Hoffman presents a novel of two people who live outside ordinary reality--and who are about to discover life's extraordinary possibilities...
Matt (Matilda) Black possesses the unique ability to speak with inanimate objects and to witness the inner dreams of other people. She spends her days traveling from place to place alone, yet never lonely--for she can communicate with all that surrounds her. She finds a kindred spirit in Edmund Reynolds--a wandering witch on a spiritual quest to help those in need. Together, these two special people will embark on an odyssey of the imagination. They will encounter things both wonderful and terrifying. And after so many years of solitude, they will learn to depend on one another--as they look into the darkest depths of the past.
Zahra IbSada is a talented mendicant on the planet of Irustan. In a nation where women's rights are drastically restricted, her job allows her to see much joy -- and pain -- in the lives of the women she heals. A wife is brutally beaten. A prostitute suffers at the hands of her employers. And her best friend Kalen struggles to save her daughter from a cruel marriage. She begs Zahra for help. Although Karen's plan goes against her mendicant vows, Zahra reluctantly agrees. But this silent act of terrorism will have far-reaching consequences -- for herself, and for all the women of her planet...
Финалист