Titan - Softcover

Baxter, Stephen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0061057134 ISBN 13: 9780061057137

Publisher: Harper Voyager, 1998

Synopsis

Learning about the possible existence of organic life on one of Saturn's moons, a group of NASA visionaries plans a daring one-way, decade-long space flight that will test their survival skills both before and after arrival. Reprint.

About this title

Review:

Take some archetypal sci-fi characters (ageing moonwalker, several bright young astronauts and a dedicated but reclusive scientist), throw in the near future scenario of a declining space programme following a catastrophic fatal accident, mix well with some unusual plot twists and you have the foundations for Baxter's eighth novel.

Baxter novices may be wary of such a clichéd plot, but don't despair--his reputation as one of the UK's best sci-fi writers is well founded. Titan is an enjoyable novel, well-written, with just the right mixture of hard science fiction, strong characters and a believable, if undesirable, vision of the future. Reminiscent of 2001 and its sequel 2010, the plot unfolds against the backdrop of a declining world civilization. America is sinking into the mire of Christian fundamentalism and turning against technology, whilst a desperate NASA expends all it's remaining energy and resources on a manned mission to Titan--one- way--with the faint hope of reigniting the public's interest in space exploration. The mission is a technical success, but is ignored by the masses, leaving the astronauts stranded on the outskirts of the solar system with no hope of rescue.

But of course, that's not the end of the story... --Dave Mutton

Review:

‘Baxter handles a complex and gripping plot with his customary aplomb... The ending will blow your mind. Buy Titan, read it – and then go out and buy everything else that Baxter has ever written’
New Scientist

‘This is a tale of equivalent scope to 2001, while the visions of Titan life have that sense of Clarke-style cosmic sorrow’
SFX

‘A plausible tale of America’s last gasp at interplanetary exploration... Stephen Baxter proves what a cosmic thinker he is’
Washington Post Book World

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Voyager
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0061057134
• ISBN 13: 9780061057137
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback