As a beleaguered galaxy fights its way back from the brink of destruction, the Jedi’s most fearsome enemy plots to end the war–and claim victory–with a final act of domination. . . .
The troubles for the embattled living planet Zonama Sekot have just begun. As Luke Skywalker and Jacen Solo negotiate its place in the galactic struggle against the Yuuzhan Vong, one of its organic ships is taken by the alien invaders. Scientist Nen Yim is ordered to use the captive to find weak spots in Zonama Sekot’s technology. But what Nen Yim discovers about the planet and its mysteries shocks her to the core. Clearly her people have gone terribly astray. For the peace-loving planet harbors not only the key to its own destruction, but the long-forgotten secrets of the Yuuzhan Vong themselves.
Meanwhile, General Wedge Antilles, commanding one fleet in a three-pronged campaign to retake the Bilbringi system, is suddenly stranded deep in Yuuzhan Vong space, cut off from all contact. Wedge and his ships must rely on trickery and brilliant battle tactics if they are to survive long enough to ensure the success of one of the deadliest and most crucial missions the Galactic Alliance forces
have ever seen. . . .
Features a bonus section following the novel that includes a primer on the Star Wars expanded universe, and over half a dozen excerpts from some of the most popular Star Wars books of the last thirty years!
Kapcsolódó könyvek
Robert J. Sawyer - The Terminal Experiment
_It Started As An Experiment In Life After Death._
_It Ended In Death._
Dr. Peter Hobson has created a monster. Three of them in fact.
In order to test his theories of immortality and life after death, he has created three electronic simulations of his own personality. The first Hobson has all memory of physical existence edited out. It will simulate life after death. The second Hobson is without knowledge of aging or death. It will simulate immortality. The third Hobson is unmodified. A control. But now all three of them escaped from Hobson's computer into the worldwide electronic matrix.
And one of them is a killer.
H. G. Wells - The Invisible Man
H.G. Wells' great novel of the dangers of science describes a man cast out from society by his own terrifying discovery. THE INVISIBLE MAN tells the story of Griffin, a brilliant and obsessed scientist dedicated to achieving invisibility. Taking whatever action is necessary to keep his incredible discovery safe, he terrorises the local village where he has sought refuge. Wells skilfully weaves the themes of science, terror and pride as the invisible Griffin gradually loses his sanity and, ultimately, his humanity.
Dan Simmons - The Hyperion Omnibus
The Hyperion books are credited with single-handedly reinventing and reinvigorating SF in the 1990s. A broad canvased, hugely imaginative and exciting SF epic, the books draw on the works of Keats and provide a uniquely intelligent and literary approach with cutting edge science, compelling characterisation and edge-of-your-seat excitement. The story is continued in ENDYMION and THE RISE OF ENDYMION, which Gollancz will also be publishing in an omnibus volume.
Douglas Adams - The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
When all questions of space, time, matter and the nature of being have been resolved, only one question remains - 'Where shall we have dinner?' _The Restaurant at the End of the Universe_ provides the ultimate gastronomic experience, and for once there is no morning after to worry about.
Stephenie Meyer - The Host
Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that takes over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed. Wanderer, the invading 'soul' who has been given Melanie's body, knew about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the too-vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind. Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of the man Melanie loves - Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer yearns for a man she's never met. As outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off to search for the man they both love.
Richard Matheson - I Am Legend
Robert Neville is the last living man on earth... but he is not alone. Every other man, woman and child on the planet has become a vampire, and they are all hungry for Neville's blood.
By day he is the hunter, stalking the sleeping undead through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for the dawn.
How long can one man survive like this?
Philip K. Dick - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
World War Terminus had left the Earth devastated. Through its ruins, bounty hunter Rick Deckard stalked, in search of the renegade replicants who were his prey. When he wasn't 'retiring' them with his laser weapon, he dreamed of owning a live animal -- the ultimate status symbol in a world all but bereft of animal life. Then Rick got his chance: the assignment to kill six Nexus-6 targets, for a huge reward. But in Deckard's world things were never that simple, and his assignment quickly turned into a nightmare kaleidoscope of subterfuge and deceit -- and the threat of death for the hunter rather than the hunted...
Peter F. Hamilton - The Naked God
Hell just went quantum... The Confederation is starting to collapse politically and economically, allowing the 'possessed' to infiltrate more worlds. Quinn Dexter is loose on Earth, destroying the giant arcologies one at a time. As Louise Kavanagh tries to track him down, she manages to acquire some strange and powerful allies whose goal does not match her own. The campaign to liberate Mortonbridge from the possessed degenerates into a horrendous land battle, the kind that hasn't been seen by humankind for six hundred years. Then some of the protagonists escape in a very unexpected direction... Joshua Clavert and Syrinx now fly their starships on a mission to find the Sleeping God - which an alien race believes holds the key to finally overthrowing the possessed.
Ray Bradbury - Fahrenheit 451 (angol)
The hauntingly prophetic classic novel set in a not-too-distant future where books are burned by a special task force of firemen. Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to burn books, which are forbidden, being the source of all discord and unhappiness. Even so, Montag is unhappy; there is discord in his marriage. Are books hidden in his house? The Mechanical Hound of the Fire Department, armed with a lethal hypodermic, escorted by helicopters, is ready to track down those dissidents who defy society to preserve and read books. The classic novel of a post-literate future, Fahrenheit 451 stands alongside Orwells 1984 and Huxleys Brave New World as a prophetic account of Western civilizations enslavement by the media, drugs and conformity. Bradburys powerful and poetic prose combines with uncanny insight into the potential of technology to create a novel which over fifty years from first publication, still has the power to dazzle and shock.
Isaac Asimov - The Robots of Dawn
A puzzling case of roboticide sends New York Detective Elijah Baley on an intense search for a murderer. Armed with his own instincts, his quirky logic, and the immutable Three Laws of Robotics, Baley is determined to solve the case. But can anything prepare a simple Earthman for the psychological complexities of a world where a beautiful woman can easily have fallen in love with an all-too-human robot...?
Frank Herbert - Dune (angol)
This Hugo and Nebula Award winner is widely to be considered the most prescient SF novel ever. It tells the sweeping tale of a desert planet called Arrakis, the focus of an intricate power struggle in a byzantine interstellar empire. Arrakis is the sole source of Melange, the "spice of spices." Melange is necessary for interstellar travel and grants psychic powers and longevity, so whoever controls it wields great influence. The troubles begin when stewardship of Arrakis is transferred by the Emperor from the Harkonnen Noble House to House Atreides. The Harkonnens don't want to give up their privileges, however, and through sabotage and treachery they cast young Duke Paul Atreides out into the planet's harsh environment to die. There he falls in with the Fremen, a tribe of desert dwellers who become the basis of the army with which he will reclaim what's rightfully his. Paul Atreides, though, is far more than just a usurped duke. He might be the end product of a very long-term genetic experiment designed to breed a super human; he might be a messiah. His struggle is at the center of a nexus of powerful people and events, and the repercussions will be felt throughout the Imperium.
Isaac Asimov - I, Robot
The Three Laws of Robotics
1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Isaac Asimov changed our perception of robots forever when he formulated the classic laws governing their behavior. In _I, Robot_ Asimov chronicles the development of the robot from its primitive origins in the present to its ultimate perfection in the not-so-distant future - a future in which humanity itself may be rendered obsolete.
Here are stories of robots gone mad, mind-reading robots, robots with a sense of humor, robot politicians, and robots who secretly run the world, all told with the dramatic blend of science fact and science fiction that has become Asimov's trademark.
Douglas Adams - Mostly Harmless
Arthur Dent hasn't had a day as bad as this since the Earth was blown up. Depressed and alone, Arthur settles on the small planet Lamuella and becomes a sandwich maker. Looking forward to a quiet life, his plans are thrown awry by the unexpected arrival of his daughter.
Cherie Priest - Boneshaker
In the early days of the Civil War, rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska’s ice. Thus was Dr. Blue’s Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born.
But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead.
Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue’s widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenaged boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history.
His quest will take him under the wall and into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords, and heavily armed refugees. And only Briar can bring him out alive.
George Lucas - Donald F. Glut - James Kahn - The Star Wars Trilogy
For the first time, here is a Special Omnibus Edition of the complete texts of the three novels that tell the complete story of everyone's favorite adventure: The Star Wars Trilogy. Including: STAR WARS, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, and RETURN OF THE JEDI.
Frank Herbert - Children of Dune
Book Three in the original Dune series relies heavily upon the events and the background of the first two books. Leto and Ghanima, twin children of Paul Atreides, are old beyond their years, as they hold the genetic memories of their ancestors. Climate change on the planet Arrakis threatens the desert life of the Fremen, the sandworms, and the production of spice. Simon Vance anchors this full-cast production. He is engaged with the characters and the complex plot. His presentation of the many characters is skillful, and the narrative passages never lag. Vance has a serious but light touch and deals adeptly with suspense, dissension, philosophical musings, and fanatical ravings.
Isaac Asimov - I, Robot (Oxford Bookworms)
A human being is a soft, weak creature. It needs constant supplies of air, water, and food; it has to spend a third of its life asleep, and it can't work if the temperature is too hot or too cold.
But a robot is made of strong metal. It uses electrical energy directly, never sleeps, and can work in any temperature. It is stronger, more efficient - and sometimes more human than human beings.
Isaac Asimov was one of the greatest science-fiction writers, and these short stories give us an unforgettable and terrifying vision of the future.
Isaac Asimov - Buy Jupiter and Other Stories
From backyard miracles to cosmic conundrums, enter the incredible world of Isaac Asimov. Spanning twenty-three years of Asimov's amazing career, these stories display to the full the exhilarating power of one of science fiction's most astonishing writers. Each tale is accompanied by Asimov's own intriguing account of how and why it came to be written.
Nagaru Tanigawa - The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya
Gorgeous, confident, and demanding, Haruhi Suzumiya is the leader of the SOS Brigade, a club comprised of her high school’s most extraordinary students. So when Haruhi is bored, it’s up to the SOS Brigade to do something about it. In this sequel to the clever and uniquely witty The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, the SOS Brigade goes along with Haruhi’s scheme to make a movie for the school’s upcoming cultural festival. But when filming begins, strange things start to happen, and Haruhi — who has no idea she’s a goddess with the ability to destroy the world — starts to show her devastating powers. Could the end be near? Or is it just another day at high school? You never know when Haruhi is involved!
Nagaru Tanigawa - The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya
Haruhi is the bossy and beautiful leader of the SOS Brigade, a club comprised of her high school’s most extraordinary (and strangest) students. On a typical day, the SOS Brigade must struggle to keep Haruhi happy and occupied because, unbeknownst to her, Haruhi has the power to destroy the world. This third volume in the Haruhi Suzumiya series features a collection of four wildly unpredictable and fun short stories that cover everything from baseball and time travel to alternate dimensions. It even includes an intriguing murder mystery — when it comes to Haruhi, you never know what you’re going to get!