100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Overnight NZ-wide delivery on in-stock orders 🚀

Ultima

By Stephen Baxter
0.0 (0 reviews)
3.67 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating. ( 3,449 ratings, 286 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Ultima by Stephen Baxter is a gripping Sci-Fi novel that explores the consequences of time travel and alternate histories. Set in a universe where Romans colonise the stars, the story follows vigilant explorers tackling cosmic challenges and defying imperial powers. As the narrative unfolds, characters must navigate moral dilemmas and uncover hidden secrets that question the very fabric of their reality.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2799
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

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?

If you enjoy exploring complex alternate histories and intricate plot twists set in a vast, imaginative universe, then this sci-fi and fantasy adventure could be perfect for you. It's great for readers who appreciate detailed world-building and the speculation of "what if" scenarios in space and time.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

The astonishing new SF novel from multi-award winning author Stephen Baxter - a dizzying exploration of alternate universes and deep time.

The astonishing new SF novel from multi-award winning author Stephen Baxter - a dizzying exploration of alternate universes and deep time.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description
The mind-blowing, time-warping science fiction epic that puts grand scientific ideas into a thrilling page-turning narrative

Fresh from his latest collaboration with Terry Pratchett on the Long Earth sequence, Stephen Baxter now returns to the mysteries and challenges first hinted at in his acclaimed novel Proxima.

In Proxima, we discovered ancient alien artefacts on the planet of Per Ardua - hatches that allowed us to step across light years of space as if we were stepping into another room. The universe opened up to us. Now, in Ultima, the consequences of this new freedom make themselves felt. We discover that there are minds in the universe that are billions of years old and they have a plan for us. For some of us. But as we learn the true nature of the universe, we also discover that we have countless pasts all meeting in this present, and that our future is terrifyingly finite. It's time for us to fight to take back control.

This is grand scale, big idea science fiction of the best possible sort. It is set to build on the massive success of Proxima and define Stephen Baxter's work going forward.

Read what everyone is saying about Ultima:

'So much fun of a read this turned out to be. Filled with SF inventiveness, delivered in a spontaneous, unforced pace. A treat. Five stars for sure' - Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

'This is one of the best books that Baxter has written to date, cleverly conflating some of his most beloved ideas, from deep time to alternate histories. Not to mention the immutability of the human spirit' - Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

'I love both time travel and alternate universe stories, so the fact that Ultima was able to exceed my already-high expectations is awesome' - Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

'Excellent, as usual. A combination of the historical and scientific. Fascinating' - Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

'A rollercoaster of a ride across space, universes, and time, and what ultimately draws you on the most is the mystery surrounding the hatches and who built them and why' - Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Baxter again makes mind-blowing concepts accessible with an enthralling story to explain them' - 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?

Ultima by Stephen Baxter is praised for its intricate scientific foundations and vast, imaginative narratives. Critics highlight its compelling sense of wonder and its ability to engage readers intellectually, with comparisons to iconic figures such as Arthur C. Clarke. The book is celebrated as a grand space opera that masterfully navigates through sweeping ideas and engages with big mysteries, keeping fans eager for more.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780575116894

Publisher: Orion Publishing Co

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 08 October 2015

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Gollancz

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 40.0mm

Width: 128.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 380g

Pages: 560

Collections

Fiction General Fiction Sci-Fi & Fantasy Science Fiction Stephen Baxter

About the Author

Stephen Baxter is the pre-eminent SF writer of his generation. With Terry Pratchett he has co-authored the Long Earth novels. 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.

Visit Stephen Baxter's website at www.stephen-baxter.com.

Also by Stephen Baxter

View all
  • The Massacre of Mankind
    The awe-inspiring follow up to The War of the Worlds, which expands H.G. Wells' classic story while remaining true to his vision. It has been 14 years since the Martians invaded England. The world has moved on, always watching the skies but content that we know how to defeat the Martian menace. Machinery looted from the abandoned capsules and war-machines...
    By Stephen Baxter
    Paperback
    $2499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Galaxias
    What would happen to the world if the Sun went out? New epic sci-fi from Stephen Baxter, the award-winning author whose credits include co-authorship of the Long Earth series with Terry Pratchett. By the middle of the 21st century, humanity has managed to overcome a series of catastrophic events and maintain some sense of stability. Space exploration has begun again....
    By Stephen Baxter
    Paperback
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Fortress Sol
    When Rab was a baby, his mother made a decision which would change his life. She feared he would be sent to work in the hellish mines of Mercury, to eke out his life until he was worn out, all in the name of maintaining the defence of the Solar System. But when her desperate attempt to flee with her...
    By Stephen Baxter
    Paperback
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Hearthspace
    Thousands of years ago, a massive colony ship arrived at the Hearth - the celestial birthplace of millions of planets, ranging from habitable earth-like worlds to unimaginable hellscapes of pressure and heat. Using lightsails to navigate, humanity has spread itself across dozens of these worlds. But they have also forgotten their beginnings, where they came from... and a terrible secret...
    By Stephen Baxter
    Paperback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Raft
    "Such realistic brilliance you can see a whole civilisation in it" - The Times "Simply amazing science fiction that will have me grabbing book two" - Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars "one of the best scifi concepts out there" - Amazon Reviewer, 5 stars Raft is Stephen Baxter's highly acclaimed first novel and the beginning of his stunning Xeelee Sequence. A...
    By Stephen Baxter
    Paperback
    $2499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Fortress Sol
    When Rab was a baby, his mother made a decision which would change his life. She feared he would be sent to work in the hellish mines of Mercury, to eke out his life until he was worn out, all in the name of maintaining the defence of the Solar System. But when her desperate attempt to flee with her...
    By Stephen Baxter
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • World Engines: Destroyer
    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...
    By Stephen Baxter
    Paperback
    $2999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Xeelee: An Omnibus
    Stephen Baxter's epic sequence of Xeelee novels was introduced to a new generation of readers with his highly successful quartet, Destiny's Children, published by Gollancz between 2003 and 2006. But the sequence of novels began with Raft in 1991. From there, it built into perhaps the most ambitious fictitious universe ever created. Beginning with the rise and fall of sub-quantum...
    By Stephen Baxter
    Paperback
    $6000
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Long Utopia
    From the combined talents of the UK's bestselling novelist and a giant of British science-fiction comes the fourth in the phenomenal The Long Earth series. The Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller 'Rich in an awe-inspiring sense of wonder' — Independent 'A hymn to the joys of unfettered world-building' — Guardian 2045-2059. After the cataclysmic upheavals of Step Day and the...
    By Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Thousand Earths
    In 2145AD, John Hackett's adventure is just beginning. In Year 30, Mela's story is coming to a close. Hackett, in his trusty ship the Perseus, is not just a space traveller—beginning his travels with an expedition to Neptune and back—but, thanks to the time-dilation effect, a time traveller as well. His new mission will take him to Andromeda, to get...
    By Stephen Baxter
    Paperback
    $2799
    Elsewhere:
    $2999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Creation Node
    In the year 2255, of all the sentient beings in her universe, it was a woman named Salma, twenty years old, who was the first fully to see the object called Planet Nine. See with her own eyes, albeit moderated by her ship's instruments. If not to recognise what it was, not yet. Not that the object turned out to...
    By Stephen Baxter
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Behemoth
    They have measured the slow pulse of the seasons as the Earth spins its stately annual dance. Their memories stretch back across the million-year cycles of the ice sheets. Their stories tell of the making of the world. And as the millennia have passed, their legends have served them well. And a thousand years from now, on a different world,...
    By Stephen Baxter
    Paperback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

More from Sci-Fi & Fantasy

View all
  • The Strength of the Few
    The highly anticipated follow-up to The Will of the Many—one of 2023's most lauded and bestselling fantasy novels. The Hierarchy still call me Vis Telimus. They still, as one, believe they know who I am. But with all that has happened—with what I fear is coming—I am not sure it matters anymore. I am no longer one. I won the...
    By James Islington
    Paperback
    $2899
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Project Hail Mary
    Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Martian, offers a gripping new adventure in hard science fiction. With endorsement from notable figures such as Barack Obama and a slew of five-star reviews, this novel promises a thrilling and intellectually stimulating journey. Ryland Grace, a lone astronaut, finds himself on a...
    By Andy Weir
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    (4)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Red Rising
    The first book in the incredible New York Times bestselling series Darrow is a Helldiver, toiling beneath the surface of Mars. As a member of the Red caste, he performs grueling labor in the belief that his sacrifice will enable future generations to one day inhabit the surface of the Red Planet. The Reds are humankind's lowest caste, living in...
    By Pierce Brown
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Crossroads of Ravens
    THE GLOBAL PHENOMENON RETURNS... Every legend has an origin - and Geralt of Rivia's begins here. In this brand-new chapter of Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher series, follow Geralt in his earliest days as a Witcher, as he faces monsters and humans alike. Discover the untold stories and encounters that shaped the iconic character known today. Crossroads of Ravens brings readers into...
    By Andrzej Sapkowski
    Paperback
    $2899
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Will of the Many
    Phenomenal! One of the best high fantasy novels I've read in years—think Red Rising meets The Name of the Wind. I couldn't put it down. - LYNETTE NONI This new edition of book one in the Hierarchy series features never-before-seen bonus materials, including a full-colour map by the author, a note to the reader, and new cover art. AUDI. VICE....
    By James Islington
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Wind and Truth
    The long-awaited explosive climax to the first arc of the Number One New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive. Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson sees Dalinar Kholin challenge the evil god Odium to a contest of champions with the future of Roshar on the line. The Knights Radiant have only ten days to prepare, and the sudden ascension of the...
    By Brandon Sanderson
    Paperback
    $3100
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Ministry of Time
    One of the 18 best novels of the year for the Sunday Times A book of the year for the New York Times, Guardian, Independent, Evening Standard, Spectator, Red, NPR, Vanity Fair, People, Slate, Advocate, Sydney Morning Herald, Globe and Mail, Den of Geek, Good Housekeeping, Goodreads, NetGalley and Smithsonian Magazine 'A sparkling delight' Observer 'Make room on your bookshelves...
    By Kaliane Bradley
    Paperback
    $2500
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Assassin’s Apprentice
    Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb marks the beginning of an extraordinary adventure in the rich and immersive world of the Six Duchies. Set against the backdrop of a kingdom teetering on the brink of civil war, this gripping tale introduces readers to FitzChivalry Farseer, a royal bastard whose existence threatens the stability of the crown. When the crown prince's secret...
    By Robin Hobb
    Paperback
    $1900
    Elsewhere:
    $2299
    Backorder
    Ships late August
  • I Who Have Never Known Men
    A haunting, heartbreaking tale of female friendship and intimacy that evokes the chilling atmospheres of The Handmaid's Tale and the desolate landscapes of The Road, I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman is a story that lingers long after the last page is turned. This gripping narrative takes us deep underground, where thirty-nine women are held in isolation...
    By Jacqueline Harpman
    Paperback
    $2800
    Elsewhere:
    $3299
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Colour Illustrated Hobbit
    The Colour Illustrated Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien is a timeless classic that has enchanted readers for generations. This beloved tale follows Bilbo Baggins, a peace-loving hobbit from the quaint and picturesque Shire, who finds himself thrust into an epic journey far from the comforts of his cosy home. Charming and lively illustrations by Jemima Catlin breathe new life...
    By J. R. R. Tolkien
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $2999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Blood Over Bright Haven
    A riveting dark academia fantasy about the limits of truth and power, from the author of The Sword of Kaigen. The first woman ever admitted to a prestigious order of mages unravels a secret conspiracy that could change the practice of magic forever, in this standalone dark fantasy from the author of The Sword of Kaigen. For twenty years, Sciona...
    By M. L. Wang
    Paperback
    $3400
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Great Dune Trilogy
    Frank Herbert's The Great Dune Trilogy plunges readers into an evocative and grandiose saga set on the desert planet of Arrakis. This richly detailed landscape becomes the focal point for a complex tapestry of political intrigue, military conflict, and galaxy-wide repercussions. Arrakis, also known as Dune, is the sole source of the spice melange, a valuable and highly sought-after substance...
    By Frank Herbert
    Paperback
    $3900
    Elsewhere:
    $4499
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.

Sci-Fi & Fantasy lists from the team

Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!

The Latest at Book Hero

View all