Dit is de geschiedenis van de levende schepen van Beijerstad, handelscentrum en havenstad, vanwaar de talrijke geslachten van zeevarende kooplieden al eeuwenlang hun schepen uitsturen naar verre exotisch oorden. opvallend aan deze uit toverhout bewrochte schepen is dat ze na drie generaties door dezelfde familie bevaren te zijn, op magische wijze tot leven komen. Dit is ook het verhaal van Althea Vestrit, dochter van een van de oudste families van Beijerstad, de meedogenloeze piraat Kennis, en hun strijd om het bezit van het juist tot leven gekomen schip van de Vestrits, de Vivacia.
"The great tale of The children of Húrin, set during the legendary time before the Lord of the Rings. Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwells in the vast fortress of Angband in the North; and within the shadow of the fear of Angband, and the war waged by Morgoth against the Elves, the fates of Túrin and his sister Nienor will be tragically entwined. Their brief and passionate lives are dominated by the elemental hatred that Morgoth bears them as the children of Húrin, the man who dared to defy him to his face. Against them Morgoth sends his most formidable servant, Glaurung, a powerful spirit in the form of a huge wingless dragon of fire, in an attempt to fulfil the curse of Morgoth and destroy the children of Húrin."--Cover verso.
Best-known for his seminal sf novel NEUROMANCER, William Gibson is also a master of short fiction. Tautly-written and suspenseful, BURNING CHROME collects 10 of his best short stories with a preface from Bruce Sterling, co-Cyberpunk and editor of the seminal anthology MIRRORSHADES. These brilliant, high-resolution stories show Gibson's characters and intensely-realized worlds at his absolute best. Contains 'Johnny Mnemonic' (filmed starring Keanu Reeves) and title story 'Burning Chrome' - both nominated for the Nebula Award - as well as the Hugo-and-Nebula-nominated stories 'Dogfight' and 'The Winter Market'.
bevat: Robert A. Heinlein - Aan zijn veters omhoog (by his bootstraps, 1941)Jack Vance - De wereld tussenin (The world between, 1963)Larrry Niven - Neutronster (Neutron star, 1968)Peter Cuijpers - God op aardeWim Gijsen- Hoedt u voor protocollen!Tanith Lee - De ring vaarwel (Perfidious amber, 1979)Orson Scott Card - De porseleinen salamander (The porcelain salamander, 1981)Greg Bear- Rotssteen (Petra, 1982)Peter Schaap - De markt van MendesarchBruce Sterling & William Gibson - Rode ster, winterse omloopbaan (Red star, winter orbit, 1985)
The setting is an Earth where the monetary standard is "plasm," an energy which can be transmitted by wireless. It can help one to be more clever, it can heal, it can move objects. The novel deals with an attempt to acquire lots of this energy to stage a revolution.
Alle soglie del Duemila, considerare la fantascienza solo come un’ipotesi sui probabili futuri non basta più. Il progresso tecnologico, l’incessante bombardamento dei media, l’avvento dei computer, hanno trasformato in realtà le più apocalittiche delle previsioni. William Gibson, alfiere della new wave letteraria conosciuta come Cyberpunk, descrive proprio questo mondo supertecnologico eppure decadente, miscelando, con gusto quasi cinematografico, la realtà più cruda e la fantasia più sfrenata. L’atmosfera che si respira in "Giù nel ciberspazio" è quella famosa e rarefatta di Blade Runner; un universo popolato da avventurieri e lottatrici, prostitute e mercenari disposti a tutto per il proprio profitto. In questa umanità composita, schiava del sistema televisivo Simstin quanto della droga, emerge una nuova razza di eroe, anarchico e scanzonato: il cow boy della consolle. Solo lui può sfidare il potere delle Zaibatsu, megalitiche compagnie commerciali giapponesi, legate alla Yakuza, e penetrare nella matrice per carpirne i segreti. Questo romanzo, dallo stile crudo e insolito, ci coinvolge in una lotta senza quartiere tra le multinazionali e un manipolo di irriducibili avventurieri per il controllo del mercato nero dell’informatica. Una visione del futuro che è già storia contemporanea.
Continuing the journey of the Dion Chronicles, this installment delves deeper into the lives of its complex characters as they navigate new challenges and alliances. The narrative explores themes of power, loyalty, and betrayal, set against a richly developed world that blends fantasy elements with intricate political intrigue. Readers can expect unexpected twists and emotional depth as the protagonists confront their pasts and shape their destinies. The book promises to captivate with its vivid storytelling and compelling character arcs.
Na de bom gaan zes mensen door de tijdpoorten naar het mythische Ierland, waar ze betrokken raken bij de strijd van de Wolfkoning om zijn troon te heroveren.
Het Terraanse onderzoeksschip Schicht , met aan boord een van de belangrijkste ontdekkingen in de galactische geschiedenis, stort, na een wilde achtervolging door diverse galactische rassen, neer op de onontwikkelde waterwereld Kithrup. Terwijl in de ruimte de Galakken vechten over wie de Schicht krijgt, vecht de bemanning van het schip -- mensen en verheven dolfijnen -- tegen de planeet en de tijd om hun ontdekking veilig te stellen.
The second book in the breathtaking epic fantasy of heritage, vengeance, and destinyA decade has passed since the barbarian Loethar brutally conquered the last remaining, most powerful realm in the Denova Set--though the coveted Valisar Enchantment, the irresistible ability to coerce and control, eludes him still. Ten years since the warlord butchered the Set's royals and feasted on their blood.But he did not kill them all.Having secretly escaped Loethar's wrath, the young Valisar prince Leonel has grown to manhood under the protection of the notorious highwayman Kilt Faris. Now the boy king wants more than his rightful throne of Penraven--he wants revenge. But not all of enslaved Penraven wishes for Leonel's rule; indeed, Loethar has spent the past ten years uniting the Set's realms into a peaceful, prosperous empire. And unbeknownst to all, the true inheritor of the Valisar Enchantment is awakening--and a dark threat, far more sinister than even the invasion of the barbarian horde a decade earlier, is poised to threaten the Crown and reveal the most shocking Valisar secret of all.
One day Mankind disappeared... A few human beings were left on the deserted earth along with countless robots. The human beings - including a small tribe of American Indians - made do. The Indians returned to ancient tribal ways, the others stubbornly tried to rebuild technology. The robots - some stayed with the humans performing their service functions, some went off to create a religiously-based society of their own. Millennia later, a star-traveler returns from the center of the universe. The people of earth had been found and were planning to return. But something else had been found, too - the central intelligence of the universe!
In a gripping tale of cosmic confrontation, humanity faces an impending alien invasion as mysterious objects approach Earth. Scientists and ordinary people grapple with the implications of these extraterrestrial forces, leading to a race against time to understand their purpose. Themes of survival, the fragility of civilization, and the essence of humanity are explored through a diverse cast of characters, each responding differently to the looming threat. The narrative weaves together suspense and philosophical questions, making it a thought-provoking science fiction experience.
With the publication of The Gate to Women's Country, Sheri S. Tepper came to be recognized as a major science fiction writer. Now the author of Raising the Stones and Grass -- a New York Times Notable Book and Hugo Award finalist -- turns to Beauty, a fantasy with a story that is more, much more than fable. Drawing on the wellspring of much-loved, well-remembered fairy tales, Tepper delivers a thought-provoking and finely crafted novel that thoroughly involves the reader in the life of one of the most captivating heroines in modern fantasy -- Beauty. On her sixteenth birthday Beauty is seemingly able to sidestep her aunt's curse. Instead she is transported to the future. Here begin her adventures as she travels magically back and forth in time to visit places both imaginary and real. Finally she comes to understand what has been her special gift to humanity all along. For in Beauty, there is beauty. And in beauty, magic. Without our enchanted places, humanity is no more than an upstart ape. And this, we realize, is why Beauty must be saved, both in the fantastical world of Tepper's novel and in the actual world in which we live
Cover artist: A. Pedro Ironically, for Gilbert Snook who considered himself the human equivalent of a neutrino, a particle able to travel through the Earth without disturbing any other particle it all started with the panic that followed the sighting of the anti neutrino planet as it approached Earth. Earth was unaffected but Snook ended up in a small African Republic teaching English to diamond miners. Then the miners started seeing ghosts and Snook found himself at the centre of a bizarre and far reaching scientific discovery and in the middle of some very dirty political infighting.
The eagerly awaited, mind-bending new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Virtual Light and Neuromancer. Set in the 21st-century, postquake city of Tokyo, Idoru tells, with trademark Gibsonian innovation, the story of Rei Toei, the idoru, a media star loved by all Japan. But does she really, physically exist?
Dion is an innocent adrift in a world of intrigues and treacheries with foul, hungry demons lurking just beyond its borders. She has been called upon to serve her Duke's favorite mistress: the extraordinary Kitten Avignon, Our Lady of Roses. The mesmerizing courtesan is a woman in dire jeopardy, stalked by a fearsome necromancer who will not sleep until his beautiful prey suffers horribly and is destroyed.
When leaving Earth, the crew of the spaceship Discipline was prepared for a routine assignment. Dispatched by the all-powerful State on a mission of interstellar exploration and colonization, Discipline was aided (and secretly spied upon) by Sharls Davis Kendy, an emotionless computer intelligence programmed to monitor the loyalty and obedience of the crew. But what they weren’t prepared for was the smoke ring–an immense gaseous envelope that had formed around a neutron star directly in their path. The Smoke Ring was home to a variety of plant and animal life-forms evolved to thrive in conditions of continual free-fall. When Discipline encountered it, something went wrong. The crew abandoned ship and fled to the unlikely space oasis. Five hundred years later, the descendants of the Discipline crew living on the Smoke Ring no longer remember their origins. Earth is more myth than memory, and no recollection of the State remains. But Kendy remembers. And just outside the Smoke Ring, Discipline waits patiently to make contact with its wayward children.
The Citizens Tree people rescue a family of loggers and learn for the first time of a society known as the Admiralty, which may have maintained intact the original computer library of the ship Discipline
To escape the doom that threatens the rulers of Penraven, the inexperienced, untried Crown Prince Leonel is secretly sent away from his home, accompanied by only a single warrior, in order to protect him and the Valisar dynasty from the ruthless warlord Loethar and his barbarian invaders.
In the 22nd century visionary scientist Vannevar Morgan conceives the most grandiose engineering project of all time, and one which will revolutionize the future of humankind of space: a Space Elevator, 36,000 kilometres high, anchored to an equatorial island in the Indian Ocean.
The story follows Nevare Burvelle, a soldier in Gernia, who faces dire consequences after surviving a devastating enemy sorcery plague. Wrongly accused of murder, he becomes an outcast and fugitive, grappling with a dark alter ego tied to Speck magic that threatens his loved ones. As he seeks to reclaim his life, Nevare contemplates using this curse as a weapon, leading him down a perilous path of self-discovery and transformation. The narrative explores themes of identity, power, and the struggle against inner demons.
Nevare Burvelle was destined from birth to be a soldier. The second son of a newly anointed nobleman, he must endure the rigors of military training at the elite King's Cavalla Academy--and survive the hatred, cruelty, and derision of his aristocratic classmates--before joining the King of Gernia's brutal campaign of territorial expansion. The life chosen for him will be fraught with hardship, for he must ultimately face a forest-dwelling folk who will not submit easily to a king's tyranny. And they possess an ancient magic their would-be conquerors have long discounted--a powerful sorcery that threatens to claim Nevare Burvelle's soul and devastate his world once the Dark Evening brings the carnival to Old Thares.
De familie Braswell bezit nagenoeg alles: geld, status en macht. Hun oudste zoon, een genie, liet echter het leven bij een bizar ongeluk tijdens het vissen op marlijn. Hij nam een zeer verdorven geheim mee dat de gehele familie Braswell, en hun familiebedrijf MicroDyne, in één klap zou kunnen vernietigen. Als Thorn aan het vissen is vlak bij de Florida Keys stort er een vliegtuig neer. Hij biedt de helpende hand bij een reddingspoging van de overlevenden van de vliegtuigramp. Een mysterieus zeewaardig jacht ligt vlak in de nabijheid van het verongelukte vliegtuig maar geen van de opvarenden biedt enige hulp. Thorn vermoed al snel dat er mogelijk sprake is van een samenzwering. Iemand heeft een zeer krachtig, hightech wapen ontwikkeld dat alle elektrische systemen in één keer kan uitschakelen.
From one of the preeminent writers on wine today, the lavishly illustrated and brilliantly told story of wine and civilization, from ancient Rome to the present. Combining extensive research and scholarship with wit and eloquence, Johnson traces the path of the grape from agricultural product to work of art. 200 four-color photos; 20 four-color maps.
