In the last years of the Forerunner empire, chaos rules. The Flood—a horrifying shape-changing parasite—has arrived in force, aided by unexpected allies. Internal strife within the ecumene has desperately weakened Forerunner defenses. Only the Ur-Didact and the Librarian—a husband and wife pushed into desperate conflict—hold the keys to salvation. Facing the consequences of a mythic tragedy, one of them must now commit the greatest atrocity of all time—to prevent an unmatched evil from dominating the entire universe.

A major science fiction author continues one of the most famous SF stories of all time. 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.

"A long time ago, I was a living, breathing human being. I went mad. I served my enemies. They became my only friends. " "Since then, I've traveled back and forth across this galaxy, and out to the spaces between galaxies--a greater reach than any human before me. " "You have asked me to tell you about that time. Since you are the last true Reclaimer, I must obey. Are you recording? Good. Because my memory is failing rapidly. I doubt I'll be able to finish the story. " "Once, on my birth-world, a world I knew as Erde-Tyrene, and which now is called Earth, my name was Chakas. . . " In the wake of apparent self-destruction of the Forerunner empire, two humans--Chakas and Riser--are like flotsam washed up on very strange shores indeed. Captured by the Master Builder, misplaced during a furious battle in space, they now 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 horror and neglect. For they have become both research animals and strategic pawns in a cosmic game whose madness knows no end--a game of ancient vengeance between the powers who seeded the galaxy with life, and the Forerunners who expect to inherit their sacred Mantle of duty to all living things. 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 Librarian's tampering with human destiny. This journey will take them into the Palace of Pain, 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 Captive by Forerunners, and the Primordial by ancient human warriors, this intelligence has taken charge of, and retasked, the Master Builder's cruel researches into the Flood--which it may have itself unleashed on the galaxy more than ten thousand years before.

Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting is a young rebellious Forerunner. He is a Manipular, untried--yet to become part of the adult Forerunner society, where vast knowledge and duty waits. He comes from a family of Builders, the Forerunners’ highest and most politically powerful rate. It is the Builders who create the grand technology that facilitates Forerunner dominance over the known universe.   It is the Builders who believe they must shoulder the greatest burden of the Mantle--as shepherds and guardians of all life. Bornstellar is marked to become a great Builder just like his father. But this Manipular has other plans. He is obsessed with lost treasures of the past. His reckless passion to seek out the marvelous artifacts left behind by the Precursors--long-vanished superbeings of unknowable power and intent---forces his father’s hand. Bornstellar is sent to live among the Miners, where he must come to terms with where his duty truly lies. But powerful forces are at play.   Forerunner society is at a major crux. Past threats are once again proving relentless. Dire solutions--machines and strategies never before contemplated--are being called up, and fissures in Forerunner power are leading to chaos. On a Lifeworker’s experimental planet, Bornstellar’s rebellious course crosses the paths of two humans, and the long lifeline of a great military leader, forever changing Bornstellar’s destiny …and the fate of the entire galaxy.

Reynard, a young apprentice, seeks release from the drudgery of working for his fisherman uncle in the English village of Southwold. His rare days off lead him to strange encounters—not just with press gangs hoping to fill English ships to fight the coming Spanish Armada, but strangers who seem to know him—one of whom casts a white shadow. The village's ships are commandeered, and after a fierce battle at sea, Reynard finds himself the sole survivor of his uncle's devastated hoy. For days he drifts, starving and dying of thirst, until he is rescued by a galleon, also lost—and both are propelled by a strange current to the unknown, northern island of Thule. Here, Reynard Reynard must meet his destiny in a violent clash between humans and gods.

There is a song you dare not sing - a melody that you dare not play, a concerto that you dare not hear: It is called a Song of Power. It is a gateway to another world - a gate that will lock behind you as you pass, barring you from the Earth forever. Resist at all cost. For it is a world of great danger and great beauty - and it is not good to be human in the Realm of the Sidhe.

7 remarkable stories, newly revised for this collection, showcase the award-winning talents of one of the 21st century's finest writers of speculative fiction Whether penning science fiction (Moving Mars, Queen of Angels, War Dogs), alternate history (the Mongoliad series with Neal Stephenson), or fantasy (Sleepside, The Infinity Concerto), Greg Bear tells stories that engage the reader's intellect while gripping the imagination. His short fiction is no exception. Beyond the Farthest Suns takes readers to the far end of the universe and the borders of scientific understanding. The volume includes: · "The Way of All Ghosts," set in the bestselling universe of Eon and Eternity; · "The Venging," which takes a group of desperate fugitives fleeing alien dominance down into the awesome gateway of a black hole; · "The Fall of the House of Escher," in which a...

Moving Mars is a story of human courage and love set within the greater saga of a planetary liberation movement. Mars is a colonial world, governed by corporate interests on Earth. The citizens of Mars are hardworking, but held back by their lack of access to the best education, and the desire of the Earthly powers to keep the best new inventions for themselves. The young Martians -- the second and third generations born on Mars -- have little loyalty to Earth, and a strong belief that their planet can be independent. The revolution begins slowly, but will grow in power over decades of political struggle until it becomes irresistible. Told through the eyes of an extraordinary character, Casseia Majumdar, a daughter of one of Mars' oldest, most conservative Binding Multiples, Moving Mars is Greg Bear's brilliant conception of the human colonization of the red planet, with lovingly painted details and a grand historical sweep, embellishing an audacious scientific speculation. Greg Bear sold his first short story, at the age of fifteen, to Robert Lowndes's Famous Science Fiction. Since then, he has written some twenty novels. A winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards, Bear is married to Astrid Anderson, and they, and their two children, live near Seattle, Washington. A Hugo Award NomineeWinner of the Nebula Award for Best NovelShe is a daughter of one of Mars's oldest, most conservative Binding Multiples—the extended family syndicates that colonized the red planet. But Casseia Majumdar has a dream of an independent Mars, a notion born in the student protests of 2171. During those brief days of idealism she had forged bonds of friendship and hatred that set the stage for an astonishing revolution on Mars.Charles Franklin was also caught up in those days of passion and youth. A brilliant physicist, and Casseia's first love, Franklin is so dedicated to science that he seeks to link his mind to the most advanced artificial intelligence in the solar system. Doing so will cost him a lifetime with the lovely Casseia, but will teach him the secrets of space and time. “Nebula Award winner Bear has long been known for novels of stunning scientific extrapolation and high literary quality . . . This new novel of Mars is his finest yet. Bear follows the unlikely career of Casseia Majumdar of the Majumdar Binding Multiple (a sort of cross between an extended family and a corporation) as she goes from lukewarm student activist to president of the fledgling Federal Republic of Mars. Beginning as a coming-of-age story, with Casseia encountering corruption as well as courage and determination in a student uprising, the narrative then becomes a fine, taut and realistic political novel, as Casseia travels to Earth as part of an ambassadorial retinue, and later serves as second in leader Ti Sandra's push for Martian unification. As conflict heats up between upstart Mars and Mother Earth, Bear introduces a wildly intriguing hard-science idea, and the novel spins into a tense science fiction thriller. Bear offers a fast-moving plot; realistic, appealing characters; a vividly imagined future Earth awash in 'tailored microbes,' nanotechnology and dirty dealing; and the most believable evocation of the workings of politics and science in any recent science fiction novel.”—Publishers Weekly "Bear's Mars is one of the most vividly realized of the recent body of areological novels . . . He has the gift of implying a whole background with high-resolution but subtly-signaled background details."—Locus"No one spins out ideas like Greg Bear. He explores the very frontiers of possibility, weaving tapestries of wonder. And yet, all of Bear's ideas, all the adventure and action, don't half compare to his finest creation yet—that treasure of a Martian, Casseia Majumdar!"—David Brin"Great characters, science, cultures, action. Moving Mars brings together all the things that make science fiction wonderful."—Vernor Vinge“In 2171, Mars inhabitants are grouped in extended family businesses that sometimes compete, sometimes cooperate, and resist the imposition of a central authority. But Earth is forever trying to impose its will upon Mars; and so young politician-to-be Casseia of the old and powerful Majumdar family—following a brief and painful affair with ambitious, brilliant physicist Charles Franklin—will travel to Earth with her uncle Bithras to negotiate with the powers that be. Unexpectedly, the talks fizzle; worse, Casseia learns that Earth has infected Mars's artificial-intelligence 'thinkers' with virus-like 'evolvons.' With Earth now openly hostile, Mars must present a united front, and Casseia is elected Vice President. She realizes that what has alarmed Earth are the discoveries of Charles Franklin: his physics of 'descriptors' allow the alteration or 'tweaking' of matter and energy within the absolute-zero Bell Continuum. In practical terms: instantaneous communications, the ability to fry remote targets instantaneously, even the moving of entire planets! Earth attacks by activating the evolvons that sabotage Mars's thinkers, producing chaos. Charles Franklin's team retaliates, and the attack ceases. Clearly, though, this is just the first phase of a struggle that must result in Mars's subjugation—or its leaving the solar system altogether.”—Kirkus Reviews“Revolution is not a new concept as colonies grow more independent from their mother countries. Bear, author of The Wind from a Burning Woman, uses this scenario as the backdrop for Moving Mars with great success. Combining hard science with colonial naiveté, he weaves an epic story of Mars, the colony, against the technologically superior but culturally remote mother Earth. When a staggering scientific breakthrough occurs on Mars, the 'Terries' scurry to regain control of their Martian 'Rabbit.' The chaotic political conditions of the Martian republic do not enhance the colonists position, and their leaders find themselves up against more than they bargained for. Frantically trying to gain a base of support from their constituents, they are backed against the wall by the theft of their technology by Earth. Forced to make a monumental decision that changes the future of Mars forever, the colonial leaders embark upon the ride of their lives. This production is well narrated and effective.”—Roxanna Herrick, Washington University Library, St. Louis, Library Journal“Nebula Award winner Bear has long been known for novels of stunning scientific extrapolation and high literary quality from his early novel Blood Music to his more recent Queen of Angels. This new novel of Mars is his finest yet. Bear follows the unlikely career of Casseia Majumdar of the Majumdar Binding Multiple (a sort of cross between an extended family and a corporation) as she goes from lukewarm student activist to president of the fledgling Federal Republic of Mars. Beginning as a coming-of-age story, with Casseia encountering corruption as well as courage and determination in a student uprising, the narrative then becomes a fine, taut and realistic political novel, as Casseia travels to Earth as part of an ambassadorial retinue, and later serves as second in leader Ti Sandra's push for Martian unification. As conflict heats up between upstart Mars and Mother Earth, Bear introduces a wildly intriguing hard-science idea, and the novel spins into a tense science fiction thriller. Bear offers a fast-moving plot; realistic, appealing characters; a vividly imagined future Earth awash in 'tailored microbes,' nanotechnology and dirty dealing; and the most believable evocation of the workings of politics and science in any recent science fiction novel."—Publishers Weekly