Stephen Baxter strana 3 z 3

It has been 14 years since the Martians invaded England. The world has moved on, always watching the skies but content that we know how to defeat the Martian menace. Machinery looted from the abandoned capsules and war-machines has led to technological leaps forward. The Martians are vulnerable to earth germs. The Army is prepared. So when the signs of launches on Mars are seen, there seems little reason to worry. Unless you listen to one man, Walter Jenkins, the narrator of Wells' book. He is sure that the Martians have learned, adapted, understood their defeat. He is right. Thrust into the chaos of a new invasion, a journalist - sister-in-law to Walter Jenkins - must survive, escape and report on the war. The Massacre of Mankind has begun

2070-71. Nearly six decades after Step Day and in the Long Earth, the new Next post-human society continues to evolve. For Joshua Valiente, now in his late sixties, it is time to take one last solo journey into the High Meggers: an adventure that turns into a disaster. Alone and facing death, his only hope of salvation lies with a group of trolls. But as Joshua confronts his mortality, the Long Earth receives a signal from the stars. A signal that is picked up by radio astronomers but also in more abstract ways - by the trolls and by the Great Traversers. Its message is simple but ts implications are enormous: JOIN US. The super-smart Next realise that the Message contains instructions on how to develop an immense artificial intelligence but to build it they have to seek help from throughout the industrious worlds of mankind. Bit by bit, byte by byte, they assemble a computer the size of a continent - a device that will alter the Long Earth's place within the cosmos and reveal the ultimate, life-affirming goal of those who sent the Message.Its impact will be felt by and resonate with all - mankind and other species, young and old, communities and individuals - who inhabit the Long Earths...The Long Cosmos serves as a fabulous, powerful and affecting drawing down of the curtain on this remarkable science fiction sequence.show less

2040-2045: In the years after the cataclysmic Yellowstone eruption there is massive economic dislocation as populations flee Datum Earth to myriad Long Earth worlds. Sally, Joshua, and Lobsang are all involved in this perilous work when, out of the blue, Sally is contacted by her long-vanished father and inventor of the original Stepper device, Willis Linsay. He tells her he is planning a fantastic voyage across the Long Mars and wants her to accompany him. But Sally soon learns that Willis has ulterior motives...Meanwhile U. S. Navy Commander Maggie Kauffman has embarked on an incredible journey of her own, leading an expedition to the outer limits of the far Long Earth. For Joshua, the crisis he faces is much closer to home. He becomes embroiled in the plight of the Next: the super-bright post-humans who are beginning to emerge from their 'long childhood' in the community called Happy Landings, located deep in the Long Earth. Ignorance and fear are causing 'normal' human society to turn against the Next - and a dramatic showdown seems inevitable...

Trapped on an alternate Earth, the combined crews of a crashed Russian spaceship, a British expeditionary force and a group of strays from the future must work together to survive, escape, and discover what led them to this point. All are from parallel universes where small changes in history led to different realities, and the tensions between the groups are rising. But some changes were not small. The solar system has been altered, changed, shaped in the various realities, and the World Engineers - unspeakably powerful, completely unknown - are still active. Why have they populated this planet with humanity's ancestors and dinosaurs? What is on the moon of Saturn that gives off such an odd light? And even if they can be found, can they be stopped - and should they be? Malenfant, Deidra and the rest of their party must find a way off the planet, back into space, and into the many dimensions seeking the answer...

Trapped on an alternate Earth, the combined crews of a crashed Russian spaceship, a British expeditionary force and a group of strays from the future must work together to survive, escape, and discover what led them to this point. All are from parallel universes where small changes in history led to different realities, and the tensions between the groups are rising. But some changes were not small. The solar system has been altered, changed, shaped in the various realities, and the World Engineers - unspeakably powerful, completely unknown - are still active. Why have they populated this planet with humanity's ancestors and dinosaurs? What is on the moon of Saturn that gives off such an odd light? And even if they can be found, can they be stopped - and should they be? Malenfant, Deidra and the rest of their party must find a way off the planet, back into space, and into the many dimensions seeking the answer...

2070-71. Nearly six decades after Step Day and in the Long Earth, the new Next post-human society continues to evolve. For Joshua Valiente, now in his late sixties, it is time to take one last solo journey into the High Meggers: an adventure that turns into a disaster. Alone and facing death, his only hope of salvation lies with a group of trolls. But as Joshua confronts his mortality, the Long Earth receives a signal from the stars. A signal that is picked up by radio astronomers but also in more abstract ways - by the trolls and by the Great Traversers. Its message is simple but its implications are enormous: JOIN US. The super-smart Next realise that the Message contains instructions on how to develop an immense artificial intelligence but to build it they have to seek help from throughout the industrious worlds of mankind. Bit by bit, byte by byte, they assemble a computer the size of a continent - a device that will alter the Long Earth's place within the cosmos and reveal the ultimate, life-affirming goal of those who sent the Message. Its impact will be felt by and resonate with all - mankind and other species, young and old, communities and individuals - who inhabit the Long Earths...

Středozemní moře se stává klíčovou oblastí pro zdánlivě nekonečnou válku mezi islámem a křesťanstvím. Křižáci bojují proti muslimům na Iberském poloostrově i ve Svaté zemi. Španělská inkvizice čistí zemi od vyznavačů Alláha i Židů a někteří inkvizitoři sní o naplnění strašlivého proroctví, jež by znamenalo definitivní vítězství křesťanů. K němu jim má dopomoci jeden mořeplavec.

Trapped on an alternate Earth, the combined crews of a crashed Russian spaceship, a British expeditionary force and a group of strays from the future must work together to survive, escape, and discover what led them to this point. All are from parallel universes where small changes in history led to different realities, and the tensions between the groups are rising. But some changes were not small. The solar system has been altered, changed, shaped in the various realities, and the World Engineers - unspeakably powerful, completely unknown - are still active. Why have they populated this planet with humanity's ancestors and dinosaurs? What is on the moon of Saturn that gives off such an odd light? And even if they can be found, can they be stopped - and should they be? Malenfant, Deidra and the rest of their party must find a way off the planet, back into space, and into the many dimensions seeking the answer...

Poslední díl Baxterovy volné tetralogie je spíše virtuální historií, neboť Británie v jeho podání čelí za druhé světové války invazi německých vojsk. Wehrmacht se vyloďuje v jižní Anglii a Britové se zoufale a z posledních sil snaží tuto invazi zadržet. Británie zažívá hrůzy mechanizované války a propadá se do chaosu. Tomu, kdo tkal plátno času, se konečně podařilo splést nitky historie do nové podoby. Tkadlec plátna času konečně uspěl a utkal z nitek historie nový děj – Luftwaffe nemilosrdně ničí RAF a k plážím Sussexu i Kentu dorazily německé invazní čluny. Británie se probouzí do hrůzné reality – jih Anglie obsazuje Wehrmacht. Historická tetralogie Stephena Baxtera nás v románu Tkadlec dovedla do druhé světové války, během níž zuří v Anglii zoufalá bitva, která má zastavit německé invazní jednotky. Několik jedinců se v nastalé panice a chaosu snaží zjistit, co se vlastně stalo – je to vyvrcholení nějakého plánu, který se chystal celá staletí, nějakého záhadného spiknutí, jež má navždy změnit historii?

Hladina oceánu stoupá o stovky metrů, lidé se dávají na útěk… Ocitne se naše civilizace za třicet let pod vodou? Rok 2016. Další vlhké léto, další rok plný bouří a přílivových vln. Tentokrá ale protipovodňová bariéra na Temži povolí a střed Londýna je zaplaven. Voda ustoupí a život jde dál, ekonomika se začíná vzpamatovávat, zatímco obyvatelstvo sleduje zprávy o dalších záplavách odehrávajících se po celém světě. A pak začne mořská hladina znovu stoupat. A stoupá dál. Lily, Helen, Garry a Piers jsou rukojmí propuštěnÍ na svobodu po pěti letech zajetí ve Španělsku. Vracejí se do Británie a dozvídají se o prvních projevech potopy přímo biblických rozměrů… Hladina moří začíná stoupat závratnou rychlostí. Svět mizí ve vlnách. Začíná zoufalý závod s časem s cílem zjistit, co se vlastně děje.

In 2145AD John Hackett's adventure is just beginning. In Year 30, Mela's story is coming to a close. Hackett, in his trusty ship the Perseus, is not just a space traveller - beginning his travels with an expedition to Neptune and back - but, thanks to the time-dilation effect, a time traveller as well. His new mission will take him to Andromeda, to get a close-up look at the constellation which will eventually crash into the Milky Way, and give humanity a heads-up about the challenges which are coming. A mission which will take him five million years to complete. Not only is Hackett exploring unknown space, but he will return to a vastly different time. Mela's world is coming to an end. Erosion is eating away at the edges of every landmass - first at a rate of ten metres a year, but fast accelerating, displacing people and animals as the rising Tide destroys everything in its path. Putting more and more pressure on the people - and resources - which remain. She and her people have always known that this long-predicted end to their home, one of the Thousand Earths, is coming - but that makes their fight to survive, to protect each other, no less desperate . . . and no less doomed. A beautiful, page-turning story which interweaves the tale of these two characters, separated by both space and time, in a hopeful exploration of humanity's future, this is Stephen Baxter at his best.

Hladina oceánu stoupá o stovky metrů, lidé se dávají na útěk… Ocitne se naše civilizace za třicet let pod vodou? Rok 2016. Další vlhké léto, další rok plný bouří a přílivových vln. Tentokrá ale protipovodňová bariéra na Temži povolí a střed Londýna je zaplaven. Voda ustoupí a život jde dál, ekonomika se začíná vzpamatovávat, zatímco obyvatelstvo sleduje zprávy o dalších záplavách odehrávajících se po celém světě. A pak začne mořská hladina znovu stoupat. A stoupá dál. Lily, Helen, Garry a Piers jsou rukojmí propuštěnÍ na svobodu po pěti letech zajetí ve Španělsku. Vracejí se do Británie a dozvídají se o prvních projevech potopy přímo biblických rozměrů… Hladina moří začíná stoupat závratnou rychlostí. Svět mizí ve vlnách. Začíná zoufalý závod s časem s cílem zjistit, co se vlastně děje.

Za éry Římské říše začne v Británii jedna žena během strašných porodních bolestí náhle mluvit latinsky, přestože tuto řeč nikdy předtím neslyšela. Až později se ukáže, že pronesla proroctví, které – pokud se naplní – přinese smrt jednomu římskému císaři a změní zásadně osud impéria. Stephen Baxter ve svém historickém románu, jehož ústředním bodem je právě toto proroctví, vypráví mimořádný příběh z dávné minulosti o válkách mezi britskými kmeny a římskými legiemi a životě ve starém Římě, který je plný napětí a nečekaných zvratů.