New Releases by Greg Bear

In 1241, warriors try to stop the Mongols from invading Europe; in the nineteenth century, a group of martial artists provide a language expert with lost manuscripts to translate that chronicle their ancestors'' thirteenth century battles.

Greg Bear prouve avec ce nouveau roman qu''il est le meilleur auteur de science-fiction américain du moment et, de surcroît, un excellent écrivain. Dans "L''Échelle de Darwin", son précédent roman couronné par le prix Nebula, Greg Bear s''attaquait à un sujet classique: le mutant, l''espèce qui viendra après l''Homosapiens et le supplantera peut-être. Si celui-ci se laisse faire... L''opposition de l''ancienne à la nouvelle espèce est justement le thème des "Enfants de Darwin". On y voit les jeunes mutants (qui se caractérisent notamment par d''extraordinaires capacités d''empathie et de socialisation et des taches mobiles sur le visage exprimant leurs émotions) pris en chasse et menacés d''extermination par une humanité peu encline à leur céder la place...Outre l''habileté avec laquelle Greg Bear rend vraisemblable sa théorie de l''évolution, ce qui est remarquable dans ce roman complexe est la façon dont il développe, en racontant l''insertion dramatique des représentants de la nouvelle espèce dans la société humaine (en particulier américaine), une critique virulente des travers de notre époque. Le succès de "L''Échelle de Darwin" a sans doute été dû au lectorat féminin, d''habitude peu porté sur le genre. "Les Enfants de Darwin" devraient tout autant intéresser les femmes: elles y tiennent en effet la toute première place (l''héroïne est une courageuse mère acharnée à défendre sa mutante progéniture, la jeune Stella).

A long time ago, I was a living, breathing human being. I went mad. I served my enemies. They became my only friends.

In the wake of the apparent self-destruction of the Forerunner empire, two humans âe" Chakas and Riser âe" are like flotsam washed up on very strange shores indeed. They find themselves on an inverted world where horizons rise into the sky and where humans of all kinds are trapped in a perilous cycle of neglect. They have become strategic pawns in a cosmic game whose madness knows no end âe" a game of ancient vengeance between the powers who seeded the galaxy with life, and the Forerunners. In the company of a young girl and an old man, Chakas begins an epic journey across a lost and damaged Halo in search of a way home, an explanation for the warrior spirits rising up within, and for the Librarianâe(tm)s tampering with human destiny. This journey will take them into the domain of a powerful and monstrous intelligence who claims to be the Last Precursor, and who now has control of both this Halo and the fate of Forerunners and humans alike. Called the Primordial by ancient human warriors, this intelligence may control the fate of not only Chakas, Riser, and the rest of humanity, but all of sentient life.

MASTER AND APPRENTICE The Force is strong in twelve-year-old Anakin Skywalker . . . so strong that the Jedi Council, despite misgivings, entrusted young Obi-Wan Kenobi with the mission of training him to become a Jedi Knight. Obi-Wan? like his slain Master Qui-Gon?believes Anakin may be the chosen one, the Jedi destined to bring balance to the Force. But first Obi-Wan must help his undisciplined apprentice, who still bears the scars of slavery, find his own balance. Dispatched to the mysterious planet of Zonama Sekot, source of the fastest ships in the galaxy, Obi-Wan and Anakin are swept up in a swirl of deadly intrigue and betrayal. They sense a disturbance in the Force unlike any they have encountered before. It seems there are more secrets on Zonama Sekot than meet the eye. But the search for those secrets will threaten the bond between Obi-Wan and Anakin . . . and bring the troubled young apprentice face-to-face with his deepest fears?and his darkest destiny. Features a bonus section following the novel that includes a primer on the Star Wars expanded universe, and over half a dozen excerpts from some of the most popular Star Wars books of the last thirty years!

A starship hurtles through the emptiness of space. Its destination-unknown. Its purpose-a mystery. Now, one man wakes up. Ripped from a dream of a new home-a new planet and the woman he was meant to love in his arms-he finds himself wet, naked, and freezing to death. The dark halls are full of monsters but trusting other survivors he meets might be the greater danger. All he has are questions -- Who is he? Where are they going? What happened to the dream of a new life? What happened to Hull 03? All will be answered, if he can survive the ship. Hull Zero Three is an edge-of-your-seat thrill ride through the darkest reaches of space.

In this near-future thriller, three FBI agents take on the Talos Corporation and its plan to destroy the government and constitutional law by means of a treatment program code-named Mariposa.

Isaac Asimov''s renowned Foundation Trilogy pioneered many of the familiar themes of modern science fiction and shaped many of its best writers. With the permission and blessing of the Asimov estate, the epic saga left unfinished by the Grand Master himself now continues with this second masterful volume. With Hari Seldon on trial for treason, the Galactic Empire''s long-anticipated migration to Star''s End is about to begin. But the mission''s brilliant robot leader, R. Daneel Olivaw, has discovered a potential enemy far deadlier--and closer--than he ever imagined. One of his own kind. A freak accident erases the basic commandments in humaniform robot Lodovik Trema''s positronic brain. Now Lodovic''s service to humankind is no longer bound by destiny, but by will. To ensure his loyalty, Daneel has Lodovic secretly reprogrammed. But can he be trusted? Now, other robots are beginning to question their mission--and Daneel''s strategy. And stirrings of rebellion, too, are infecting their human counterparts. Among them is a young woman with awesome psychic abilities, a reluctant leader with the power to join man and robot in a quest for common freedom.or mutual destruction. The Foundation Saga Continues Read Gregory Benford''s Foundation''s Fear, the first novel in this bold new series and Secret Foundation, the concluding volume from David Brin.

Multiple Hugo and Nebula award-winning author, Greg Bear is one of science fiction’s most accomplished writers. Bold scientific speculation, riveting plots, and a fierce humanism reflected in characters who dare to dream of better worlds distinguish his work. Now Bear has written a mind-bendingly epic novel that may well be his masterpiece. Do you dream of a city at the end of time? In a time like the present, in a world that may or may not be our own, three young people–Ginny, Jack, and Daniel–dream of a doomed, decadent city of the distant future: the Kalpa. Ginny’s and Jack’s dreams overtake them without warning, leaving their bodies behind while carrying their consciousnesses forward, into the minds of two inhabitants of the Kalpa–a would-be warrior, Jebrassy, and an inquisitive explorer, Tiadba–who have been genetically retro-engineered to possess qualities of ancient humanity. As for Daniel: He dreams of an empty darkness–all that his future holds. But more than dreams link Ginny, Jack, and Daniel. They are fate-shifters, born with the ability to skip like stones across the surface of the fifth dimension, inhabiting alternate versions of themselves. And each guards an object whose origin and purpose are unknown: gnarled, stony artifacts called sum-runners that persist unchanged through all versions of time. Hunted by others with similar powers who seek the sum-runners on behalf of a terrifying, goddess-like entity known as the Chalk Princess, Ginny, Jack, and Daniel are drawn, despite themselves, into an all but hopeless mission to rescue the future–and complete the greatest achievement in human history.

The survivors are sent on a quest by the Benefactors to find and destroy the race that destroyed the Earth.

Sequel to Eon.

This gripping ghost story for fans of Dean Koontz and Stephen King is the most mainstream novel yet from an author who knows how to mix scientific ideas with gripping narrative.

Greg Bear is one of the greatest science fiction writers of the late twentieth century. He has a powerful voice, combining the intense rationality of science with the intensely passionate characters that can only be created by a writer who loves humanity. Bear’s novel Moving Mars won the Nebula Award in 1994, and he did it again, in 2000, with Darwin’s Radio. He has been honored with Hugo and Nebula nominations for novel-length work eight more times. But Greg Bear’s short fiction is even more astounding, as this powerful career retrospective demonstrates. This collection contains Bear’s earliest published fiction from the late 1960s and early 1970s as well his remarkable award-winning work from the ‘80s and ‘90s—stories like the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novella- length version of “Blood Music” and the Hugo and Nebula Award-winner “Tangents.” This Collection is enhanced by brand-new introductions for each story, commentary, and reminiscences by Greg Bear.

HUGO AWARD FINALIST • “WOW! What a splendid (scary) notion: a human upgrade! What a superb plot! Darwin''s Radio is bloody damned good.”—Anne McCaffrey “Virus hunter” Christopher Dicken is a man on a mission, following a trail of rumors, government cover-ups, and dead bodies around the globe in search of a mysterious disease that strikes only pregnant women and invariably results in miscarriage. But when Dicken finds what he’s looking for, the answer proves to be stranger—and far deadlier—than he ever could have imagined. Something that has slept in human DNA for millions of years is waking up. Molecular biologist Kaye Lang has spent her career tracing ancient retroviruses in the human genome. She believes these microscopic fossils can come to life again. But when Dicken’s discovery becomes public, Lang’s theory suddenly turns to chilling fact. As the outbreak of this terrifying disease threatens to become a deadly epidemic, Dicken and Lang must race against time to assemble the pieces of a puzzle only they are equipped to solve—an evolutionary puzzle that will determine the future of the human race . . . if a future exists at all. Praise for Darwin’s Radio “Bear is one of our very best, and most innovative, speculative writers.”—New York Daily News “Superb . . . Bear''s novel is frighteningly believable with a lot of clearly explained hard science, but the personal struggles of the well-realized characters keep everything on a human level.”—Focus “Bear is a writer of passionate vision.”—Locus “Darwin’s Radio scores a high rating on the thrill monitor.”—Birmingham Post (England) “Absorbing and ingenious.”—Kirkus Reviews

Blending fierce, fast plots with vivid characters and mind-bending ideas, Greg Bear has mastered a powerful alchemy of suspense, science, and action in his gripping thrillers. Darwin’s Radio was hailed across the country as one of the best books of the year. His newest novel, Vitals, begins with a harrowing descent to a netherworld at the very bottom of the sea–and then explodes to the surface in sheer terror. Hal Cousins is one of a handful of scientists nearing the most sought after discovery in human history: the key to short-circuiting the aging process. Fueled by a wealth of research, an overdose of self-confidence, and the money of influential patrons to whom he makes outrageous promises, Hal experiments with organisms living in the hot thermal plumes in the ocean depths. But as he journeys beneath the sea, his other world is falling apart. Across the country, scientists are being inexplicably murdered–including Hal’s identical twin brother, who is also working to unlock the key to immortality. Hal himself barely eludes a cold-blooded attack at sea, and when he returns home to Seattle, he finds himself walking into an eerie realm where voices speak to him from the dead . . . where a once-brilliant historian turned crackpot is leading him on a deadly game of hide-and-seek . . . and where the beautiful, rich widow of his twin is more than willing to pick up the pieces of Hal’s life–and take him places he’s never been before. Suddenly Hal is trapped inside an ever-twisting maze of shocking revelations. For he is not the first person to come close to ending aging forever–and those who came before him will stop at nothing to keep the secret to themselves. Now every person on earth is at risk of being made an unsuspecting player in one man’s spectacular and horrifying master plan. From the bottom of Russia’s Lake Baikal to a billionaire’s bionic house built into the cliffs of the Washington seashore, from the darkest days of World War II and the reign of Josef Stalin to the capitalist free-for-all that is the United States, Vitals tells an astounding tale of the most unimaginable scientific secret of all–exposed by the quest for immortality itself . . . From the Hardcover edition.

Corona An awesome, sentinent force of protostars -- Corona -- has taken control of a stranded team of Vulcan scientists. The U.S.S Enterprise™ has come on a rescue mission, with a female reporter and a new computer that can override Kirk''s command. Suddenly, the rescuers must save themselves and the entire Universe -- before Corona unleashes a Big Bang!

Twelve-year-old Anakin Skywalker and his mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi travel to the planet Zonama Sekot and sense a troubling disturbance in the force that tests the bond between them and makes Anakin face his dark potential.

Après Fondation en péril, de Grégory Benford, voici le deuxième volet de la nouvelle trilogie inspirée par la saga d''Isaac Asimov, l''une des œuvres fondatrices de la science-fiction moderne. Agé et fragile, Hari Seldon, le fameux inventeur de la psychohistoire, est jugé pour avoir osé prédire la chute de l''empire. Le moment est venu de la migration si longtemps espérée vers Star''s End - " Là où finissent les étoiles ". Mais R. Daneel Oliwaw, le brillant robot auquel incombe cette mission, a découvert un ennemi potentiel, plus redoutable encore que les hommes de main d''un Empereur emblématique : l''un de ses pareils. Un robot humanoïde, comme lui. Lodovik Trema est le seul survivant d''un rarisssime accident interstellaire : son cerveau positronique a été exposé à un orage de neutrons et semble avoir effacé le critère holographique absolu des Trois Lois de la Robotique. Il ne serait plus soumis à aucune contrainte. Si tel est le cas, le service que Lodovik peut rendre à l''humanité n''est plus une question de destinée mais de volonté. Daneel, incapable de se passer de Lodovik, l''envoie à Eos, la planète secrète, où les robots sont réparés et perfectionnés afin de servir l''humanité. Lodovik prétend être guéri. Mais peut-on lui faire confiance alors que le mécontentement gronde un peu partout dans la galaxie ? D''autres robots remettent leur mission en cause. La stratégie de Daneel est très controversée. Les humains ne sont pas en reste. Dans les cavernes d''acier de Trantor se cache la jeune Klia Asgar, qui s''engage à mettre son pouvoir au service des hommes et des robots pour un destin commun - ou une destruction mutuelle.

La Voie s''enfonçait dans l''infini. Par endroits, elle donnait sur des Portes. Celles-ci ouvraient sur des univers parfois entièrement différents et quelquefois sur des variations de la réalité que les humains de l''Hexagone considéraient comme la leur. Des mondes parallèles. D''une de ces portes avaient surgi les Jarts. Des étrangers absolus, des ennemis terrifiants. Il avait fallu condamner la Voie. Et aller si possible jusqu''au bout de l''éternité. Pour vaincre les Jarts. Ou, mieux, pour faire la paix. Eternité est le second volet de l''œuvre la plus ambitieuse de Greg Bear, commencée dans Eon, et qui a le souffle et l''envergure des inventions les plus audacieuses d''Arthur C. Clarke ou d''A. E. Van Vogt.

The Song of Power opened the gateway to the Realm of the Sidhe, allowing young Michael Perrin to slip through. Now Michael faces years of captivity and deadly struggles for the future of the Realm and of Earth--leading finally to a terrible confrontation on the streets of Los Angeles, with the soul of humanity at stake. Weaving the power of music, poetry, and myth into a headlong narrative of nearly overwhelming intensity, Song of Earth and Power is one of the most original fantasy epics of our time, a vast tapestry of relentless suspense, terrible beauty, and brilliant imagination. Originally published years ago in two parts, it now returns in a new edition rewritten by the author and published in a single volume as he originally intended. Wrote Analog on its original appearance: "A delight....A vision of Faery that may owe a bit to a wish to do it right. Read it."

In this prequel to EON, Greg Bear continues to explore the possibilities presented by the asteroid Thistledown, a remnant of a lost human civilization. The Way is a tunnel through space and time that leads to other worlds, some more like planet Earth than Earth itself. It is perhaps the most formidable discovery in Thistledown and with it come disputes as to the nature of the Way and how it should be used. The Way can be reached only through Axis City, the only space station of Thistledown. The ruling body of Axis City, the Hexamon, has decreed that other worlds reached by The Way must be left untouched as an insurance against future needs of the human race. But then the Hexamon hear of a group of clandestine colonists who have settled on one of the new worlds. Olmy Ap Sennon is an eager young career soldier who must go and investigate this illegal colony, and at the same time confront his own humanity. As he witnesses the hardship and beauty of the outlaw human colony, he learns what it means to struggle with war, ecological disaster, love, and death.

The 21st century was on the brink of nuclear confrontation when the 300 kilometer-long stone flashed out of nothingness and into Earth''s orbit. NASA, NATO, and the UN sent explorers to the asteroid''s surface...and discovered marvels and mysteries to drive researchers mad. For the Stone was from space--but perhaps not "our "space; it came from the future--but perhaps not "our" future; and within the hollowed asteroid was Thistledown. The remains of a vanished civilization. A "human"--English, Russian, and Chinese-speaking--civilization. Seven vast chambers containing forests, lakes, rivers, hanging cities... And museums describing the Death; the catastrophic war that was about to occur; the horror and the long winter that would follow. But while scientists and politicians bickered about how to use the information to stop the Death, the Stone yielded a secret that made even Earth''s survival pale into insignificance.