In all the universe, no species reached for the stars without "uplift" guidance, except possibly humankind. Did some cryptic patron race begin the job long ago, then abandon us? Or did we leap all by ourselves? That question burns, yet a greater mystery looms ahead, in the furnace of a star. Under the caverns of Mercury, Expedition Sundiver prepares for the most momentous voyage of our history – into the boiling inferno of the sun, seeking our destiny in the cosmic order of life.Th...

In this classic hard science fiction-thriller by the New York Times–bestselling author of Startide Rising, a man-made black hole threatens Earth's future.Hugo and Nebula Award–Winning AuthorScientist Alex Lustig has created a tiny, yet very destructive, problem—a microscopic black hole that he accidentally dropped into Earth's core. Now, racing to keep it from consuming the planet, he begins to suspect something even strange...

He was a survivor—a wanderer who traded tales for food and shelter in the dark and savage aftermath of a devastating war.Fate touches him one chill winter's day when he borrows the jacket of a long-dead postal worker to protect himself from the cold. The old, worn uniform still has power as a symbol of hope, and with it he begins to weave his greatest tale, of a nation on the road to recovery.This is the story of a lie that became the most powerful kind of truth. A timeless...

The Best of Brin's WorldsDavid Brin has thrilled readers in almost thirty languages by presenting vastly imaginative — and well-grounded — challenges set in times that might yet come... along with a sometimes razor-thin hope we'll persevere. In this major retrospective collection of shorter work, gathered from across an extraordinary career spanning decades, you'll find wonder via David Brin's unparalleled talent at imagination, extrapolation, hard...

The Hugo and Nebula award-winning author's complete second Uplift Saga trilogy, featuring a refugee planet, a fugitive Earth ship, and her dolphin/human crew.New York Times–Bestselling AuthorBrightness Reef: Six outcast races hunker down on the off-limits planet Jijo when a mysterious starship lands. However, it doesn't bring the "law" they feared, but something worse—a dark secret the invaders will do anything to keep . . ....

Within these pages lie eighteen stories, from eighteen worlds shaped by some of today’s best writers of science fiction and fantasy, all guests on the Aurora Award-winning podcast The Worldshapers during its first year. Some are international bestsellers. Among them are winners and nominees for the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Aurora, Sunburst, Aurealis, Ditmar, British Science Fiction Association, and Dragon Awards. Some have been writing for decades, others are at the beginning ...

A woman faces danger when she uncovers a mystery that can change her world in this science fiction adventure by a New York Times–bestselling author.Hugo and Nebula award-winning author"One of the most important SF novels of the year." — Washington Post Book WorldOn Planet Stratos, clans of genetically identical females dominate society. Natural conceptions are permitted, but only in s...

In a universe filled with habitable worlds why have we had no contact with extraterrestrial intelligence? David Brin's short story, "The Crystal Spheres," offers a fantastic explanation for the Great Silence. Instead of being late-comers - might humanity have come upon the scene too early? This haunting tale was voted one of the "most beautiful" of the eighties. Winner of the 1985 Hugo Award .

Can a sci fi story alter the course of something ponderous, like the space program? Perhaps. "Tank Farm Dynamo" sure tried! What if we found the nerve, the spirit and daring to use every resource - including those that NASA simply threw away? An unabashedly old-fashioned hard SF story with science and technology as central, problem-solving players... plus a real twist.

From Hugo and Nebula winning author David Brin comes this extraordinary collection of tales and essays about the near and distant future, as humans and other intelligences encounter the secrets of the cosmos – and of their own existence. In Dr. Pak's Preschool, a woman discovers that her baby has been called to work while still in the womb. In Natulife, a married couple finds their relationship threatened by the wonders of virtual reality. In Sshhh… the arrival of benevolent aliens on Eart...

David Brin and Gregory Benford come together again to issue a new edition of their bold collaboration about our near human future in space, planting our boots . . . and staking our destiny . . . on becoming the People of the Comet.Prescient and scientifically accurate, Heart of the Comet is known as one of the great "hard sf" novels of the 1980s. First published in 1986, it tells the story of an ambitious manned mission to visit Halley's Comet and alter its orbit, to mine it for re...

From one of the most critically acclaimed and well-loved authors of contemporary science fiction, a highly imaginative and exciting story as only David Brin can write . . ."High spirits and inventiveness . . . Dennis's adventures, which can only be called rollicking, are legion."—Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction MagazinePhysicist Dennis Nuel was the first human to probe the strange realms called anomaly worlds—alternate universes where the laws of science were unpredictably c...