Book description
'If they existed, they would be here' ENRICO FERMI. In the second
volume in Stephen Baxter's epic Manifold Series Reid Malenfant inhabits
the universe Malenfant kick-started in TIME ('science fiction at its
best' FHM) - and 'they' are here.
When Nemoto, a Japanese researcher on the Moon, discovers evidence of
extraterrestrial intelligence in the solar system, the Fermi Paradox
provokes both Malenfant and Nemoto to question why now? Because,
suddenly, there are signs of intelligent life in deep space in all
directions. Deeper layers of Fermi's paradox unravel as robot-like
aliens, the Gaijin, seem to be e-mailing themselves from star to star,
and wherever telescopes point, far away, other alien races are
destroying worlds… 'Baxter is taking basic sf ideas and rebuilding
them based on current science, technology and politics - a tried and
true method sor sf writers but no less effective for that. Baxter
apparently has the ambition and the energy to reinvigorate hard sf all
by himself'
Locus on SPACE
'Like all good sf, SPACE provokes questions. What kind of species are
we?… the other reason SPACE works well is that Baxter is a good writer…
his format and style are assured and keep you happily suspended and
engrossed. Right up to the satisfyingly vertiginous climax… Malenfant is
one of sf's more memorable characters'
SFX on SPACE 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.
