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World Engines: Destroyer
A post climate change high concept science fiction odyssey
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Check link for latest rating. ( 1,426 ratings, 123 reviews)
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World Engines: Destroyer
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
A hard-SF saga set against the background of the birth of the solar system, and based on the latest planetary science: a human story of loss and salvation
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Description
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, and 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...' - Goodreads reviewer
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
World Engines: Destroyer by Stephen Baxter captivates readers with its gripping exploration of big sci-fi concepts. Critics praise its masterful writing, likening Baxter's work to that of Arthur C. Clarke for its plausible future technology and imaginative storytelling. The book is celebrated as sophisticated science fiction that stands out even in the "mainstream" literary world.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781473223196
Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 28 May 2020
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Gollancz
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 46.0mm
Width: 128.0mm
Height: 198.0mm
Weight: 380g
Pages: 576
About the Author
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.
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