Exploration Fiction

They were sent to build a utopia, but all they found on Mars was death. Frank Kitteridge has been abandoned. But XO, the greedy - and ultimately murderous - corporate architects of humanity's first Mars base made a costly mistake when they left him there: They left him alive. Using his skills and his wits, he's going to find a way back home even if it kills him. Little does he know that Mars isn't completely empty. Just over the mountain, there's another XO base where things are going terribly, catastrophically wrong.

No one has ever ventured deeper into space than the four astronauts of Shepherd-1. The aim of their mission is to witness the creation of the cosmos. Using the sun as a lens, they are to align a flock of probes in such a way that the moment of the Big Bang becomes visible. For astronomer Christine, this is a dream come true. So she is bitterly disappointed when the first images are obscured by a kind of veil that prevents any insight. She works obsessively to find a solution, but when she finally succeeds in lifting the veil, she sees something that would have been better kept hidden...

A corporate aristocracy descended from Africa rules a colony on a distant planet. Life here is easy—for the rarified and privileged few. The aristocrats enjoy a powerful cybernetic technology that extends their life spans and ensures their prosperity. Those who serve them suffer under a heavy hand. But within this ruthless society are agents of hope and change. In a secret underwater laboratory, a separatist cult has created a threat to the aristocracy. The Primes are highly intelligent, manipulative products of genetic engineering, designed to lead a rebellion.

Jazz pianist Gus Kitko expected to spend his final moments on Earth playing piano at the greatest goodbye party of all time, and maybe kissing rock star Ardent Violet, before the last of humanity is wiped out forever by the Vanguards—ultra-powerful robots from the dark heart of space, hell-bent on destroying humanity for reasons none can divine. But when the Vanguards arrive, the unthinkable happens—the mecha that should be killing Gus instead saves him. Suddenly, Gus's swan song becomes humanity's encore, as he is chosen to join a small group dedicated to saving humanity.

Colton Beck has six months to live. He works for the Angor near Los Angeles, aware that any day could be his last. The Angor arrived 20 years ago, resolved to help mankind survive, but not everyone believes their motives are honorable. When the Angor offer humanity a colony world, Colton is determined to see another planet before his final breath. He’s been diagnosed with Xeno, a rare disorder that surfaced with the Angor’s arrival, but he won’t let this stop him.

Launched to carry the human species across the galaxy, Starship's generations-long journey has crumbled as machines took everything from their human creators, including life itself. Given a mission by humanity's last digital remnants, Gamma must traverse Starship's vast, dangerous bulk in search of a way to preserve Starship's original purpose. Yet Gamma isn't the only intelligent machine on Starship, and some want a very different end as the spacecraft approaches its final destination

The Starship Sa Niro and the Starship Sß Oubliette were in orbit around a black hole, one afternoon...by the end of the day, the crews of both starships were dead, victims of a single killer: Captain Alpha Raine. Raine claims he's acting under the command of a voice emanating from the black hole: Mr Modo. No one believes him.Everyone knows that things go into black holes; nothing comes out. But something inexplicable has been happening to Raine, and whatever it is seems to be spreading.

The revolution that won Coyote's independence from Earth is 20 years past. Coyote's aging computers, aircraft, and medical equipment are badly in need of replacement. And the colony's survival is in question. Now the colony's hard-won independence depends on the descendants of Coyote's original settlers-versus help from Earth that may be more of a detriment than a boon.

Afin de relancer les recherches autour de la planète Solaris, Kris Kelvin, docteur spécialiste de son environnement, rejoint la station spatiale gravitant autour de l’astre aux deux soleils. En arrivant, il apprend que son ami Gibarian, l’un de ses confrères habitant la station, s’est donné la mort, et que des visiteurs, venus des méandres du passé, peuplent également les lieux.

Senior co-administrator of the Norcoast Salmon Research Facility, Dr. Mackenzie Connor was a biologist who studied the spawning habits of salmon. Then, last season, just as she and Dr. Emily Mamani were starting their research, they were interrupted by the arrival of Brymm, the first Dhryn to set foot on Earth. And suddenly everything changed for Mac, Emily, Brymn, the human race, and all the member races of the Interspecies Union. Base was attacked, Em was kidnapped by the mysterious Ro, and Mac and brymn had to flee for their lives to the Dhryn home world.

After a galaxy-destroying cataclysm, a devastated Earth cut free from its universe and fell into the Spiral, an endless twist of thousands of orphaned planets, stars, and alien civilizations, fueled by both advanced technology and magic. Among the planet's refugees is Miles Asher, a soft-spoken tutor with a checkered, secret past. Miles needs to find his way in this world—and quickly. When he's hired onto the Starlit Kipper as ship's healer, Miles quickly realizes his Harmonizer-class magic isn't up to the challenge . . . yet.

When Noah sees an advertisement offering him a chance to rent a starship, he’s convinced it has to be a trick. Already having the worst day of his life, he’s willing to do anything for a distraction, including following a random stranger’s directions to the middle of nowhere to see a ship he doubts exists. Except there is no trick. The starship is real. And Noah’s life will never be the same.

Sanda and Tomas are fleeing for their lives after letting the most dangerous smartship in the universe run free. Now, unsure of who to trust, Sanda knows only one thing for certain - to be able to save herself from becoming a pawn of greater powers, she needs to discover the secret of the coordinates hidden in her skull.

2110. Earth is suffering major resource shortages, and the impact of climate change is peaking. Colonies have been established on Mars and the Moon, but these cannot hope to sustain any more than hundreds of citizens. Attention has turned to the need to discover an extra-solar colony world. Scientists have identified the means of creating a wormhole in the space-time continuum, which would allow interstellar travel. However, to do so they must first physically transport one end of the wormhole to where they want it to be, so setting up a wormhole will always rely on physical travel.

Ryo is one of the Thranx, a race of social arthropods. From his larval years to now, his life has been normal, though his love of learning and insatiable curiosity set him apart. He has settled into his work as an agriculture specialist and is premated to a lovely female. Yet Ryo still feels something is missing from his life, and when he heroically defends his colony from the Thranx's reptilian nemesis, Ryo gets a taste of excitement that's hard to forget.

Nearly 100,000 years after first contact with the machines that dominate the universe, only a few hundred humans survive. Trapped on Snowglade, a barren world near the center of the galaxy, Killeen and his child, Toby, of the Bishop Tribe, are primitive scavengers, homeless and hunted by the ruling “mechs”. Then suddenly, a strange cosmic entity – neither organic nor cybernetic or living matter – reaches out from a black hole to speak with Killeen.

Whaling in the Arctic waters off Alaska’s coast was as dangerous as it was lucrative in 1897. In that particular year, winter came early, bringing with it storms and ice packs that caught eight American whale ships and about three hundred sailors off guard. The ships were imprisoned in ice with no hope of escape. With limited provisions on board the ships that hadn’t been crushed by the ice, there was little hope that these men could survive until warmer temperatures arrived at least 10 months later. Martin Sandler tells the incredible true adventure story of three men who were ordered by President McKinley to carry out an overland rescue in the dead of winter.

Opportunity is presented to Admiral Cordelia. Imperium’s Presiding Executor Gaketork sends emissaries to establish communications with her, and she responds by installing a comm system aboard the executor’s transport. The Imperium governor, who has become sentient, uses the new comm system to send her critical data. Cordelia shares the governor’s information with newly assembled Trident squadron commanders. She directs the commanders to scour another executor’s territory and free suborned worlds of mercenary Radags and Krackus overseers.

Tausende von Jahren in der Zukunft und eine fantastische Welt: Arrakis, der Wüstenplanet. Einzigartig, herrlich – und grausam. Und doch haben es die Menschen geschafft, sich dieser lebensfeindlichen Umwelt anzupassen... Vor fünfzig Jahren erschien Frank Herberts Roman "Der Wüstenplanet" – ein Datum, das den Beginn einer großartigen Erfolgsgeschichte markiert: "Der Wüstenplanet" wurde zum weltweiten Bestseller und 2021/2024 von Denis Villeneuve spektakulär neu verfilmt.

Sandstorm: Publisher's Pack 2 contains the final two books in the Sandstorm series: Dustborn, Book 3 and War Torn, Book 4. Tired, dirty, and sick, the Red Rock survivors eke out an existence on the Watchers' cliffs, hoping to avoid the monster. But life up high is almost as bad as life on the ground. Water is scarce, and no meal is guaranteed. And deep inside the tunnels, a new threat is building, something that might consume them all....