Transformation: A Novel

by James Gunn

Overview

Transformation continues the high-minded space opera by science fiction grandmaster James Gunn which began with Transcendental.

Riley and Asha have traveled across the galaxy, found the Transcendental Machine, and been translated into something more than human. They’ve returned to Earth and won over the artificial intelligence which once tried to destroy the Transcendental Machine.

Now they must save the fringes of the Federation.

Planets at the edge of the Federation have fallen silent. The arrogant Federation bureaucracy grudgingly send Riley and Asha to investigate. They join forces with a planetary A.I., a paranoid Federation watchdog, and a member of a splinter group who vows to destroy the A.I. No one trusts anyone or their motives.

They need to find common ground and the answer in order to confront an enemy more ancient and powerful than the Transcendentals.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780765386663
Publisher:	Tom Doherty Associates
Publication date:	06/20/2017
Series:	The Transcendental Machine , #3
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

James Gunn (1923-2020) was an Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Kansas and published more than a dozen novels and half a dozen collections of stories, and edited more than a dozen and a half books.

His best-known novels are The Immortals, The Dreamers, The Listeners, Kampus and The Joy Makers. The Immortals was filmed as The Immortal and became a TV series. His academic publications include Alternate Worlds: The Illustrated History of Science Fiction, The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, the six-volume anthology The Road to Science Fiction, The Science of Science-Fiction Writing, Speculations on Speculation: Theories of Science Fiction and Inside Science Fiction.

Editorial Reviews

07/03/2017
Gunn’s sequel to Transcendental is very much a mid-series book that dutifully advances the plot arc launched by its predecessor and sets the stage for future installments. It brings back ex-soldier Riley, who, having realized his full human potential by passing through an alien race’s transcendental machine, now pilots a spaceship to the far reaches of the galaxy to investigate whether planets that have stopped communicating with the Galactic Federation have been invaded. This setup allows Gunn to revel in the mode of space opera that he has perfected in his seven decades as a writer, introducing his characters to a variety of colorfully rendered alien civilizations (a winged race, a bird-riding matriarchy, and so on), all of which, for reasons unknown, have mysteriously degenerated. The novel ends with several subplots unresolved and questions posed at the outset still unanswered. It’s strictly for fans who hope to go the distance with Gunn’s evolving SF saga. (July)

Publishers Weekly