Civilization Starship

" Meet Alice Hope, official spokesperson for the end of the world. Our planet Earth is about to self-destruct and humanity must find a new home. Around the world, thousands receive the invitation: You are hereby officially invited to be a crew member on Civilization Starship, mankind's first voyage to the stars. Upon acceptance all debts, financial obligations and life insurance policies will be paid in full. If you accept, you will be obligated to fulfil your commitment without exception. Those who join the crew will never return to Earth. Those who decline will not get asked again. Human civilization is at stake. And failure is beyond imagining. Would you go? "

Meet Alice Hope, official spokesperson for the end of the world.

Our planet Earth is about to self-destruct and humanity must find a new home. Around the world, thousands receive the invitation: You are hereby officially invited to be a crew member on Civilization Starship, mankind’s first voyage to the stars. Upon acceptance all debts, financial obligations and life insurance policies will be paid in full. If you accept, you will be obligated to fulfil your commitment without exception. Those who join the crew will never return to Earth. Those who decline will not get asked again. Human civilization is at stake. And failure is beyond imagining. Would you go?

A new wave of cutting-edge, risk-taking science fiction has energized twenty-first-century Chinese literature. These works capture the anticipation and anxieties of China’s new era, speaking to a future filled with uncertainties. Deeply entangled with the politics and culture of a changing China, contemporary science fiction has also attracted a growing global readership. Fear of Seeing traces the new wave’s origin and development over the past three decades, exploring the core concerns and literary strategies that make it so distinctive and vital. Mingwei Song argues that recent Chinese science fiction is united by a capacity to illuminate what had been invisible—what society had chosen not to see; what conventional literature had failed to represent. Its poetics of the invisible opens up new literary possibilities and inspires new ways of telling stories about China and the world. Reading the works of major writers such as Liu Cixin and Han Song as well as lesser-known figures, Song explores how science fiction has spurred larger changes in contemporary literature and culture. He analyzes key topics: variations of utopia and dystopia, cyborgs and the posthuman, and nonbinary perspectives on gender and genre, among many more. A compelling and authoritative account of the politics and poetics of contemporary Chinese science fiction, Fear of Seeing is an important book for all readers interested in the genre’s significance for twenty-first-century literature.

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In a futuristic military adventure a recruit goes through the roughest boot camp in the universe and into battle with the Terran Mobile Infantry in what historians would come to call the First Interstellar War

Predictably unpredictable, normally abnormal. Watson combines science fiction and fantasy into an eclectic mix that includes stories about fallen angels in Hell rebelling and mounting a breakout, about the inconvenience of keeping aging parents in your brain instead of a nursing home, about Jesus' immortal brother as solo passenger on the first starship, about alien coffins bombarding the solar system, about right-wing U.S. militias stealing a quantum computer to commit nuclear blackmail, about a computer games designer haunted by the cyber-ghost of his murdered wife, about frozen heads and strange mind-changes, and how a cake decorator defeats a vampire with a sweet tooth. De-evolution, treasure-hunting via hang glider, dark animal fantasies, humanity as hive-entity, Hercules Poirot on a starship - Watson takes the strange, the eerie the weird, mixes his seasoned writing skills, and produces a potpourri of the fantastic. These nineteen stories are sure to amuse, bemuse and entertain.

Mainstream SETI scientists and ancient alien theorists don’t agree on much, but one opinion they share is that the undisputed authority on the possibility of alien existence was the late Carl Sagan (1934—1996), whose voluminous writings on the subject have had a profound influence on ETI research.But how many Carl Sagan fans know that while the renowned scientist was at Stanford University, he produced a controversial paper, funded by a NASA research grant, that concludes ancient alien intervention may have sparked human civilization? Author Donald Zygutis lays out a compelling case that points to a cover-up by the Pentagon and NASA, who may have buried it soon after it was written. How significant is the Stanford Paper? The answer may lie in another question: How would a science-backed theory and search strategy to guide the discovery of alien artifacts among our own ancient civilizations impact the worldwide institutions of government, religion, and culture?Recently rediscovered by the author, Sagan’s lost Stanford paper is the central theme of The Sagan Conspiracy. Groundbreaking research and paradigm-changing material challenges conventional thinking about the People’s Scientist—and maybe even the origins of human society. Sagan even conceived of the likelihood that the ancient Sumerian civilization had been visited and influenced by beings from other worlds as evidenced by ancient manuscripts, among other artifacts.As we celebrate the 20-year anniversary of Carl’s death, The Sagan Conspiracy is sure to fundamentally alter how the world thinks about extraterrestrials.

Elon Musk is one of the most influential and successful entrepreneurs of our time. He is best known for co-founding PayPal, Tesla Motors, and SpaceX, as well as having a hand in other innovative companies such as SolarCity and Neuralink. Born in South Africa in 1971, Musk moved to the United States in the early 1990s and began studying physics and economics at the University of Pennsylvania. After completing his undergraduate degree, he founded his first company, Zip2, which was later sold for over $300 million. Since then, Musk has become a household name for his bold vision and determination to make the world a better place with his groundbreaking inventions, like the Tesla electric car, the SpaceX reusable rocket, and the Hyperloop transportation system. Although Musk has faced many challenges and criticisms throughout his career, including facing bankruptcy and multiple failed launches, he has remained resilient and passionate about his mission. He continues to push the boundaries of technology and innovation and has become an advocate for sustainable energy and space exploration. Through his companies and philanthropic efforts, he has inspired countless individuals and has become a symbol of hope for those who seek to make a positive impact on the world.

The final two books in “the most important series in science fiction” from the New York Times–bestselling author of Dreamsnake (Ursula K. Le Guin, author of the Earthsea series). Metaphase Cast out from interstellar civilization, the crew of the Starfarer encounters an extraterrestrial whose reputation is equally bad: the squidmoth. Contact specialist J.D. Sauvage risks her life to befriend the creature, trusting her instincts instead of the warnings of the alien human. The welcome Sauvage receives and the connection she makes will help her overcome her innate fears and prejudices, and she will be given a gift that will save her from being left behind in an empty star system—as well as redeem the Starfarer and its mission . . . Nautilus After their encounter with the squidmoth, and with their ecosystem immunized by the alien human, the crew of the Starfarer makes contact with representatives from the Four Worlds. J.D. Sauvage is sent to meet the furry creatures—as large as lions and as lithe as otters. They have been waiting for humans for a long time. But there is something they want from the Starfarer team: Earth’s one advantage over space civilization—a new, faster algorithm for interstellar navigation. Praise for the Starfarers Series “McIntyre is a master SF stylist, creating well-rounded, believable and distinctive characters, and she excels at lush descriptions that allow the reader to visualize the action.” —Publishers Weekly “The series features a diverse cast, especially for its 1989 debut date, and a series of interstellar hijinks, the likes of which only McIntyre could conjure.” —Tor.com