Destroyer

#1 World Engines

Stephen Baxter

$24.99

Paperback

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English

Gollancz
26 May 2020

Science fiction; Future Society; Space Exploration; Time Travel; Urban Sci-Fi

A hard-SF cli-fi saga set against the background of the birth of the solar system. Filled to the brim with big ideas and breathtaking worldbuilding

In the year 2570, a sleeper will wake . . .

In the mid-21st century, the Kernel, a strange object on a five-hundred-year-orbit, is detected coming from high above the plane of the solar system. Could it be an alien artefact? In the middle of climate-change crises, there is no mood for space-exploration stunts - but Reid Malenfant, elderly, once a shuttle pilot and frustrated would-be asteroid miner, decides to go take a look anyway. Nothing more is heard of him. But his ex-wife, Emma Stoney, sets up a trust fund to search for him the next time the Kernel returns . . .

By 2570 Earth is transformed. A mere billion people are supported by advanced technology on a world that is almost indistinguishable from the natural, with recovered forests, oceans, ice caps. It is not an age for expansion; there are only small science bases beyond the Earth. But this is a world you would want to live in: a Star Trek without the stars.

After 500 years the Kernel returns, and a descendant of Stoney, who Malenfant will call Emma II, mounts a mission to see what became of Malenfant. She finds him still alive, cryo-preserved . . . His culture-shock encounter with a conservative future is entertaining . . . But the Kernel itself turns out to be attached to a kind of wormhole, through which Malenfant and Emma II, exploring further, plummet back in time, across five billion years . . .

Readers are blown away by World Engines: Destroyer:

'The book quickly becomes epic in a massive, yet thoroughly believable way, precisely because the story is grounded in all of these well-realised characters' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

'It is a really good Cli-Fi but not only ecological . . . It touches on very many different topics that are very much in our future' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

'It's a great sci-fi novel, well written and gripping. I loved the amazing world building, the fleshed out cast of characters and the plot' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

'This is a complex book with a lot going on . . . Suffice to say this was a fantastic read with a great story, good characters & a world that I would very much like to come back to' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

'The large scale is always where

By: Stephen Baxter
Imprint: Gollancz
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 128mm, Spine: 46mm
Weight: 380g
ISBN: 9781473223196
ISBN 10: 1473223199
Pages: 576
Publication Date: 26 May 2020
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Stephen Baxter is the pre-eminent science fiction writer of his generation. Published around the world he has also won major awards in the UK, US, Germany and Japan. Born in 1957 he has degrees from Cambridge and Southampton. He lives in Northumberland with his wife.

Reviews for Destroyer (#1 World Engines)

gripping science fiction utilising big concepts and backed by brilliant writing - Starburst Magazine Grown up SF, a masterpiece from a star who shines as bright as any mainstream author - Sun Baxter is the natural heir to the hard sci-fi crown of Arthur C. Clarke and he shares Clarke's generous imagination and ability to extrapolate a plausible future technology from the cutting-edge theories of today. Imaginative appeal is what counts with Baxter and in that he delivers reliably - Daily Telegraph