Book description
In the 1970s astronauts brought rock samples back from the Moon. Many
remained locked away for decades … including one unique piece of
bedrock, the Moonseed. At last exposed to daylight, it proves to be
deadly, though not to people. It kills the Earth.
In his new novel, Stephen Baxter, 'the best SF author in Britain'
(SFX), contemplates rock - living rock. Transported to Earth by Apollo
astronaut Jays Malone in 1972, a single shard of bedrock from the Moon
contains within its innocuous-looking shell the power to destroy worlds.
Geologist Henry Meacher - his career at JPL in ruins, his marriage over
- is given a sample of the Moon bedrock to analyse. He goes with it to
Edinburgh University, the only place that will have him. There the
deadly Moon rock accidentally comes into contact with the Earth's core
in the form of lava from Edinburgh's famous extinct volcanoes. It turns
solid rock to seething Moonseed dust. Soon perhaps the whole world will
be infected.
Inspired, terrified, Henry Meacher is a changed man. If the worst
happens, his plan is to take Earth's displaced peoples from the Earth to
the Moon. Baxter's stunning story is one of disaster, desperate measures
and damage limitation, forcing humanity to an excess of ingenuity and
courage. Ironically, it is a newly terraformed Moon that holds the key
to our survival… Stephen Baxter applied to become an astronaut in
1991. He didn't make it, but achieved the next best thing by becoming a
science fiction writer, and his novels and short stories have been
published and have won awards around the world. His science background
is in maths and engineering. He is married and lives in Buckinghamshire.
