The Eternal Flame: Orthogonal Book Two: 02 - Hardcover

Egan, Greg

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 159780293X ISBN 13: 9781597802932

Publisher: Night Shade Books, 2012

Synopsis

Greg Egan’s The Clockwork Rocket introduced readers to an exotic universe where the laws of physics are very different from our own, where the speed of light varies in ways Einstein would never allow, and where intelligent life has evolved in unique and fascinating ways. Now Egan continues his epic tale of alien beings embarked on a desperate voyage to save their world . . . .

The generation ship Peerless is in search of advanced technology capable of sparing their home planet from imminent destruction. In theory, the ship is traveling fast enough that it can traverse the cosmos for generations and still return home only a few years after they departed. But a critical fuel shortage threatens to cut their urgent voyage short, even as a population explosion stretches the ship’s life-support capacity to its limits.

When the astronomer Tamara discovers the Object, a meteor whose trajectory will bring it within range of the Peerless, she sees a risky solution to the fuel crisis. Meanwhile, the biologist Carlo searches for a better way to control fertility, despite the traditions and prejudices of their society. As the scientists clash with the ship’s leaders, they find themselves caught up in two equally dangerous revolutions: one in the sexual roles of their species, the other in their very understanding of the nature of matter and energy.

The Eternal Flame lights up the mind with dazzling new frontiers of physics and biology, as only Greg Egan could imagine them.

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About this title

Book Description:

Classis hard SF from a master. The generation ship the 'Peerless' is running out of space, and fuel -- and prospects for survival ...

From the Back Cover:

The generation ship Peerless has set out on a mission to discover the technology needed to save its home world from annihilation. But the Peerless is facing urgent problems of its own. It does not carry enough fuel to return home, so without a new form of propulsion the explorers will remain stranded in space.

A population explosion has stretched the ship's life support capacity to its limits, and the biology of the travellers offers only the harshest way to prevent further growth: subjecting the women to famine conditions in a drastic attempt to limit the number of children they bear.

When the astronomer Tamara discovers the Object - a massive meteor just within reach- hopes rise that there might finally be a solution to the fuel crisis. As an expedition is organised to explore the Object, a biologist struggles to devise a better way to control fertility, while his partner stumbles on a strange phenomenon that challenges everything she thought she knew about light.

As the three scientists clash with the leaders of the Peerless and the traditions and prejudices of their society, they find themselves swept up in two equally dangerous revolutions: one in their understanding of matter and energy, the other in the radically different roles imposed by their species on women and men. Either change may destroy the ship - together, they might save their world.

The Eternal Flame is the second volume of the Orthogonal trilogy, continuing the story of the Peerless that began with The Clockwork Rocket.

'Clockwork Rocket is the perfect sf novel' Liviu Suciu, Fantasy Book Critic

"[A] hugely ambitious novel ... full of interesting characters with real desires, hopes and flaws, while the plot is multi-layered, complex and gripping." Patrick Mahon, SFCrowsNest.com

[Cover of Clockwork Rocket]

Orthogonal Book 1

www.gregegan.net

About this edition

• Publisher: Night Shade Books
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 159780293X
• ISBN 13: 9781597802932
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 328