★ 03/09/2015
Stephenson’s remarkable novel is deceptively complex, a disaster story and transhumanism tale that serves as the delivery mechanism for a series of technical and sociological visions. When the moon explodes, it doesn’t take long for scientists (including Doc “Doob” Dubois, who bears no small resemblance to Neil DeGrasse Tyson) to realize that the debris will soon cause the destruction of Earth. The residents of the International Space Station, including roboticist Dinah MacQuarie and commander Ivy Xiao, immediately begin working with their colleagues on Earth to turn the ISS into a viable habitat for as many people as possible. The next two years are filled with heroic sacrifices, political upheavals, and disasters, most of which are only exacerbated when Earth finally succumbs to the “Hard Rain,” meteorite bombardment that last for millennia. The survivors—seven fertile women—are destined to repopulate the human race, and it’s only here, over halfway through the story, that Stephenson (the Baroque Cycle) really shows his hand, moving ahead 5,000 years to explore the moral and political implications of the earlier events. There’s a ton to digest, but Stephenson’s lucid prose makes it worth the while. Agent: Liz Darhansoff, Darhansoff and Verrill. (May)
Thanksgiving, like all holidays, means different things to different people. An immense amount of food and drink? Probably. Awkward conversations with people you don’t see often? Almost certainly. Vast stretches of empty time spent in places with sketchy or nonexistent WiFi, like airports, grandma’s house, and possibly your entire hometown? Sadly, the Magic 8 Ball […]
Most holidays, by dint of sheer repetition, become pretty predictable, and Father’s Day is no exception. Every year there will be an incompetently prepared breakfast, perhaps a special dinner out, and then a small gift offered as a token of appreciation for everything Dad does. There is a statistical probability this gift will be a […]
Neal Stephenson has been one of the defining voices in speculative fiction ever since he disassembled and rebuilt the cyberpunk thriller with his instant-classic breakthrough Snow Crash. These days, the release of a new Stephenson novel is a special event, to be anticipated and cherished. His latest lengthy future epic, Seveneves, arrives this month. Here are, […]
For over a decade, Jim Killen has served as the science fiction and fantasy book buyer for Barnes & Noble. At the end of each month, he’ll be sharing the lists of B&N’s bestsellers in the genre, from new hardbacks, to trade paperbacks, to mass markets and media tie-ins, to graphic novels and manga. These are the […]