The Forge of God

Author	John Barnes
ISBN	0812533453

In the middle of the Pacific, a gigantic hurricane accidentally triggered by nuclear explosions spawns dozens more in its wake.

A world linked by a virtual-reality network experiences the devastation first hand, witnessing the death of civilization as we know it and the violent birth of...

Author	Kathleen Ann Goonan
ISBN	1857988884

What would it feel like to live through a biological revolution? Many science fiction writers chronicling a vast technological shift lose sight of the people who would have to deal with it. Not so Kathleen Ann Goonan, whose Crescent City Rhapsody is the third of her Nanotech Cycle novels. Each of her...

Author	Larry Niven
ISBN	0345418425

They first appear as a series of dots on astronomical plates, heading from Saturn directly toward Earth. Since the ringed planet carries no life, scientists deduce the mysterious ship to be a visitor from another star.

The world's frantic efforts to signal the aliens go unanswered. The first...

Author	David Brin
ISBN	0553258397

I put off reading this book for a very long time, for mathematical reasons. David Brin is one of my absolute favorite writers; let's say my opinion of him is a 9 out of 10 (and nobody gets a 10). Gregory Benford was an unknown quantity, but probability told me that I wouldn't like his writing as much as Brin's....

Author	Poul Anderson
ISBN	0765310244

Others have written SF on the theme of immortality, but in The Boat of a Million Years, Poul Anderson made it his own. Early in human history, certain individuals were born who live on, unaging, undying, through the centuries and millenia. We follow them through over 2000 years, up to our time and beyond-to...

Author	Gregory Benford
ISBN	0446611557

After the events of Across the Sea of Suns, small groups of humans have settled on other star systems. However, there is a constant threat from the Mechs, a civilization of machines left over from other civilizations and evolved to see all biological civilization as unstable and dangerous.

Great...

Author	Stephen Baxter
ISBN	0061056944

Michael Poole's wormholes constructed in the orbit of Jupiter had opened the galaxy to humankind. Then Poole tried looping a wormhole back on itself, tying a knot in space and ripping a hole in time. It worked. Too well. Poole was never seen again. Then from far in the future, from a time so distant that...

Author	Mack Maloney
ISBN	0821720155

This has to be the single worst book I have ever had the misfortune to read.
The sole purpose of the book seems to be to show off the authors knowledge of planes.
The first two chapters were nothing but exposition in a conversation between two characters. The was not an ounce of character development...

Author	William C. Dietz
ISBN	0759202060

Colonel Stell and his band of mercenaries yearn for a place to call home. To them Freehold is like a bright diamond in the vast universe. But its desert conditions, economic instability, social disarray, and political turmoil render the planet perfect for takeover. Willing to fight anything that stands...

Author	Buzz Aldrin
ISBN	0446604046

If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.



Tiberian Baldies: "Encounter with Tiber" by Buzz Aldrin, John Barnes



“’First of all, the burst of base eight numbers are coming in groups of 16,769,021, with a longer break between each group. Ad what...

Author	Lewis Shiner
ISBN	0553354574

Years ago, Eddie Yates disappeared into the rainforests of the Yucatan, a burned-out visionary in search of cosmic truth. A mysterious photo sends Lindsey, his ex-wife, on a quest to bring him back and puts her on a collision course with Eddie's brother Thomas, whose desire for her has never faded. Their...

Author	Jack McDevitt
ISBN	0061051128

It's the 21st century, and all is right with the world. Or so it seems.

Vice President Charlie Haskell, who will travel anywhere for a photo op, is about to cut the ribbon for the just-completed American Moonbase. The first Mars voyage is about to leave high orbit, with a woman at the helm. Below,...

Author	Timothy Zahn
ISBN	0879978430

The Blackcollar marks the beginning of Timothy Zahn's career that would culminate in the creation of the best Star Wars trilogy on the market. As he is my favorite author, I couldn't miss out on this one.

ETA 06/09/14: After reading more books and thinking back on my feelings for this book, I have...

Author	Charles Sheffield
ISBN	0553577387

It's 2026, and catastrophe has struck from an unexpected source. The Alpha Centauri supernova has risen like a second sun, rushing Earth toward its last summer. Floods, fires, starvation, and disease paralyze the planet. In a blue aurora flash of gamma rays, all microchips worldwide are destroyed,...