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Ascending Neurons
''Ascending'' is a science fiction novel by the Canadian writer James Alan Gardner, published in 2001 by HarperCollins Publishers under its various imprints.HarperCollins, Avon, HarperCollins Canada, SFBC/Avon; paperback edition 2001, Eos Books. It is the fifth novel in Gardner's "League of Peoples" series. It is a direct sequel to the first novel in the series, ''Expendable'', in that it picks up the dual story of Festina Ramos, Explorer turned admiral, and the transparent glass woman Oar, where the earlier novel left off. Backstory Through the course of ''Ascending'', Gardner adds depth, detail, and perspective to the conceptual background he has established for the "League of Peoples" series. In particular, he explains how human beings and other species in the galaxy are contacted by, and become a part of, the larger galactic community. Sometime in the middle of the 21st century, humanity encounters a mysterious group of beings who call themselves merely "citizens of the Lea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Alan Gardner
James Alan Gardner (born January 10, 1955) is a Canadian science fiction author. Early life and education Born in Simcoe, Ontario, he attended the University of Waterloo, where he published his first story, "The Phantom of the Operator", in 1984. Career Gardner has published science fiction short stories in a range of periodicals, including ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'' and ''Amazing Stories''. He has written a number of novels in a "League of Peoples" universe in which humans encounter highly advanced aliens that define murderers as "dangerous non-sentients" and kill them if they try to leave their solar system. He has also explored themes of gender in novels including ''Commitment Hour'' in which people reaching adulthood must choose their gender, and ''Vigilant (novel), Vigilant'', in which group marriages are traditional. Gardner is also an educator and technical writer, and published the textbook ''Learning UNIX'' in 1991. Awards In 1989, Gardner's s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Science Fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space exploration, time travel, Parallel universes in fiction, parallel universes, and extraterrestrials in fiction, extraterrestrial life. The genre often explores human responses to the consequences of projected or imagined scientific advances. Science fiction is related to fantasy (together abbreviated wikt:SF&F, SF&F), Horror fiction, horror, and superhero fiction, and it contains many #Subgenres, subgenres. The genre's precise Definitions of science fiction, definition has long been disputed among authors, critics, scholars, and readers. Major subgenres include hard science fiction, ''hard'' science fiction, which emphasizes scientific accuracy, and soft science fiction, ''soft'' science fiction, which focuses on social sciences. Other no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Novels By James Alan Gardner
A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ''novellus'', diminutive of ''novus'', meaning 'new'. According to Margaret Doody, the novel has "a continuous and comprehensive history of about two thousand years", with its origins in the Ancient Greek and Roman novel, Medieval Chivalric romance, and the tradition of the Italian Renaissance novella.Margaret Anne Doody''The True Story of the Novel'' New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1996, rept. 1997, p. 1. Retrieved 25 April 2014. The ancient romance form was revived by Romanticism, in the historical romances of Walter Scott and the Gothic novel. Some novelists, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Ann Radcliffe, and John Cowper Powys, preferred the term ''romance''. Such romances should not be confused with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2001 Canadian Novels
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sports, where it commonly denotes the first, leading, or top thing in a group. 1 is the unit of counting or measurement, a determiner for singular nouns, and a gender-neutral pronoun. Historically, the representation of 1 evolved from ancient Sumerian and Babylonian symbols to the modern Arabic numeral. In mathematics, 1 is the multiplicative identity, meaning that any number multiplied by 1 equals the same number. 1 is by convention not considered a prime number. In digital technology, 1 represents the "on" state in binary code, the foundation of computing. Philosophically, 1 symbolizes the ultimate reality or source of existence in various traditions. In mathematics The number 1 is the first natural number after 0. Each natural nu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interstellar Travel
Interstellar travel is the hypothetical travel of spacecraft between star systems. Due to the vast distances between the Solar System and nearby stars, interstellar travel is not practicable with current propulsion technologies. To travel between stars within a reasonable amount of time (decades or centuries), an interstellar spacecraft must reach a significant fraction of the speed of light, requiring enormous energy. Communication with such interstellar craft will experience years of delay due to the speed of light. Collisions with cosmic dust and gas at such speeds can be catastrophic for such spacecrafts. Crewed interstellar travel could possibly be conducted more slowly (far beyond the scale of a human lifetime) by making a generation ship. Hypothetical interstellar propulsion systems include nuclear pulse propulsion, fission-fragment rocket, fusion rocket, beamed solar sail, and antimatter rocket. The benefits of interstellar travel include detailed surveys of habitable exop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genetic Engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of Genetic engineering techniques, technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including the transfer of genes within and across species boundaries to produce improved or novel organisms. New DNA is obtained by either isolating and copying the genetic material of interest using recombinant DNA methods or by Artificial gene synthesis, artificially synthesising the DNA. A Vector (molecular biology), construct is usually created and used to insert this DNA into the host organism. The first recombinant DNA molecule was made by Paul Berg in 1972 by combining DNA from the monkey virus SV40 with the Lambda phage, lambda virus. As well as inserting genes, the process can be used to remove, or "Gene knockout, knock out", genes. The new DNA can either be inserted randomly or Gene targeting, targeted to a spe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terraforming
Terraforming or terraformation ("Earth-shaping") is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying the atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology of a planet, moon, or other body to be similar to the environment of Earth to make it habitable for humans to live on. The concept of terraforming developed from both science fiction and actual science. Carl Sagan, an astronomer, proposed the planetary engineering of Venus in 1961, which is considered one of the first accounts of the concept. The term was coined by Jack Williamson in a science-fiction short story (" Collision Orbit") published in 1942 in ''Astounding Science Fiction''. Even if the environment of a planet could be altered deliberately, the feasibility of creating an unconstrained planetary environment that mimics Earth on another planet has yet to be verified. While Venus and the Moon have been studied in relation to the subject, Mars is usually considered to be the most likely candidate for terrafor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Expendable
''Expendable'' is a science fiction novel by the Canadian author James Alan Gardner, published in 1997 by HarperCollins Publishers under its various imprints.Avon Books; HarperCollins Canada; SFBC/AvoNova. Paperback edition 1997, Eos Books. It is the first book in a series involving the "League of Peoples", an assemblage of advanced species in the Milky Way galaxy. There is a "sub-series" involving just the character Festina Ramos, and sometimes the female Oar. The novel introduces many concepts in Gardner's "League of Peoples" universe, such as the Explorer Corps, Sentient Citizens, and the League itself. Backstory Through the course of the novel, Gardner provides a framework, background, and conceptual structure for his future narrative. In this backstory, humanity attains a technology of "spacetime distortion" to create an effective "star drive", thus leaving the Solar System to explore and colonize planets orbiting other stars. Through this exploration and colonization effo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trapped (Gardner Novel)
''Trapped'' is a science fiction novel written by the Canadian author James Alan Gardner and published in 2002 by HarperCollins Publishers under its various imprints. The book is the sixth installment in Gardner's " League of Peoples" series of novels, set in the mid-25th century.Following ''Expendable'' (1997), '' Commitment Hour'' (1998), '' Vigilant'' (1999), '' Hunted'' (2000), and '' Ascending'' (2001). While the majority of the novels in the series take place in outer space, ''Trapped'' (like '' Commitment Hour'', the second novel in the series) is set on "Old Earth", and does not feature the series' continuing character Festina Ramos. Backstory ''Trapped'' exploits and develops the same conceptual background that all the novels in the series employ. Around the middle of the 21st century, humanity is contacted by an extraterrestrial race connected with the League of Peoples. These beings, the Shaddills, offer humanity a bargain: humans who accept the League's cardinal rul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luis Royo
Luis Royo (born 1954) is a Spanish artist. He is best known for his fantasy illustrations published in numerous art books, magazines such as '' Heavy Metal'' and various other media including book and music CD covers, video games and Tarot cards. Beginning his career as a furniture designer, he was attracted to the comics industry in the late 1970s by the work of artists like Enki Bilal and Moebius, and in 1979 he turned to art as a full-time career. Within a few years, he was publishing art within and on the covers of such magazines as ''Comix Rambla Internacional'', '' El Vibora'', '' Heavy Metal'', '' National Lampoon'', and '' Comic Art'' as well as providing cover illustrations for several American publishers. Biography Royo was born in Olalla, a village in the Aragonese province of Teruel. In 1983, Royo began working as an illustrator for publishers in the United States such as Tor Books, Berkley Books, Avon and Bantam Books. As his reputation grew, other publishers c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hunted (Gardner Novel)
''Hunted'' is a science fiction novel written by Canadian author James Alan Gardner, and published in the year 2000 by HarperCollins Publishers under its various imprints.HarperCollins, Avon Books, HarperCollins Canada, SFBC/Avon; paperback edition 2000, Eos Books. The novel is the fourth in Gardner's " League of Peoples" series, after ''Expendable'' (1997), '' Commitment Hour'' (1998), and '' Vigilant'' (1999). Synopsis When new Explorer Corps recruit Edward York arrives on board the starship ''Willow'', he abruptly becomes its sole survivor: everyone else simultaneously drops dead, executed by the near-omnipotent League of Peoples for violating its rule that anyone without sufficient respect for life is not allowed to travel between solar systems. Alone on a ship full of corpses, Edward discovers a complex plot involving the alien Mandasars, in whose decades-long civil war he had a cryptic role. Reception At the '' SF Site'', Rich Horton considered it "a very fun novel to re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paperback
A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover, hardback (hardcover) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, leather, paper, or plastic. Inexpensive books bound in paper have existed since at least the 19th century in such forms as pamphlets, yellow-backs, yellowbacks and dime novels. Modern paperbacks can be differentiated from one another by size. In the United States, there are "mass-market paperbacks" and larger, more durable "trade paperbacks". In the United Kingdom, there are A-format, B-format, and the largest C-format sizes. Paperback editions of books are issued when a publisher decides to release a book in a low-cost format. Lower-quality paper, glued (rather than stapled or sewn) bindings, and the lack of a hard cover may contribute to the lower cost of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
