The CollapsiumRandom House Publishing Group, 26 aug 2009 - 428 pagina's No writer stretches the boundaries of science fiction like Wil McCarthy does. Now this acclaimed author has crafted his most wildly ambitious and stunningly original novel yet, an unforgettable tale set in a wondrous future in which the secrets of matter have been unlocked and death itself is but a memory. A future also imperiled by a bitter rivalry between two brilliant scientists: one perhaps the greatest genius in the history of humankind, the other, its greatest monster . . . In the eighth decade of the glorious reign of Her Majesty Tamra Lutui, the Queendom of Sol enjoys a peace and prosperity even gods might envy. In fact, two awesome technologies have given human beings all the powers--and caprices--of the gods they once worshiped. The first is wellstone, a form of programmable matter capable of emulating almost any substance: natural, artificial, even hypothetical. The second is collapsium, a deadly crystal, composed of miniature black holes, that allows the virtually instantaneous transmission of information and matter--including humans--throughout the solar system. Bruno de Towaji, royal consort and the inventor of collapsium, dreams of building the arc de fin, an almost mythical device capable of probing the farthest reaches of spacetime. Marlon Sykes, de Towaji's rival in both love and science, is meanwhile hard at work on a vast telecommunications project whose first step consists of constructing a ring of collapsium around the sun. But when a ruthless saboteur attacks the Ring Collapsiter and sends it falling toward the sun, the two scientists must put aside personal animosity and combine their prodigious intellects to prevent the destruction of the solar system . . . and every living thing within it. In his most daring work yet, Wil McCarthy blasts us into a mythical realm--by turns hilarious, magnificent, and deeply moving--where two archmasters of physics compete for love and honor against a backdrop of stellar catastrophe. The Collapsium is a bold work of the imagination. From the Hardcover edition. |
Inhoudsopgave
in which an important experiment is disrupted | |
in which an urgent plea is heard | |
in which a legendary mead hall is christened | |
in which a great mountain is climbed | |
in which an historic ceremony is conducted | |
in which the nature of time is explained | |
in which unexpected hospitality is offered | |
in which the rubble is sifted | |
in which a restless spirit is appeased | |
in which the bravery of houses | |
in which the lawbreaking accelerates | |
in which old demons are faced | |
in which the predictions of a doomsayer | |
in which lives are pledged and traded | |
in which an historic tally is counted | |
glossary | |
in which a strange creature is discovered | |
in which a brilliant first step is taken | |
in which the clarity of hindsight is reaffirmed | |
technical notes | |
Excerpt from The Wellstone | |
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Veelvoorkomende woorden en zinsdelen
actually arc de fin beam beneath black holes Bruno agreed Bruno asked Bruno de Towaji Bruno felt Cheng Shiao collapsium collapson Commandant-Inspector couch couldn’t course Declarant Sykes Declarant-Philander Deliah didn’t dome eyes face fax gate fax machine feel finally fingers floor Girona grapple station gravity hand he’d he’s head Hugo hull hypercomputer I’ve impervium inside Iscog kilometers Krogh Kuiper Belt lattice laughed light looked Majesty Marlon Sykes Maxwell Montes meters minutes Muddy Muddy’s neubles neutronium never nodded once orbit perhaps Philander planet platform probably protons pull Queen Queendom Queendom of Sol Radmer realized replied Ring Collapsiter robots Rodenbeck Sabadell-Andorra seemed ship ship’s shrugged sighed simply slowly solar sort space spaceship spacesuit star suppose sure Tamra There’s thing thought Tongan Tongatapu turned vacuum Vivian voice wall wellstone What’s wondered you’re zero-point field