Book description
Stories set in a variety of futures from the award-winning heir of
Arthur C. Clarke: Traces gives a kaleidoscopic vision of the
possibilities for humankind.
There are vision of histories which differ from our own, either through
small changes - what if Germany had won WWI ('Mittelwelt') - or through
a fundamental difference in physical laws - what if Archimedes had been
right in his clockwork-like cosmological vision ('No Longer Touch the Earth').
There are visions of futures in which people struggle to survive in a
variety of bizarre environments ('Downstream', 'The Blood of Angels'),
or, weakened and powerless, inhabit the end of worlds ('Inherit the
Earth', 'George and the Comet').
There are explorations of astonishing events of our own lifetimes, in
particular the grand expansion into space ('Zemlya', 'Moon Six',
'Pilgrim 7').
These visions give an impression of the contingency of our everyday
here-and-now, surrounded as it is by an infinite array of possible
pasts, presents, and futures. 'A luminous collection… Baxter can
overwhelm you with a traditional SF
“sense of wonder”
until your jaw drops'
SFX on Vacuum Diagrams 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.
