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The fatal experiment was right at the edge of theoretical physics. Could there be an alternative structure for vacuum itself, the void underlying our cosmos? Unfortunately, yes. Once created, this artificial "novo-vacuum" successfully competes with normal space, expanding at half the speed of light in an all-consuming sphere. Inside, physics is radically, incomprehensibly different...
Six centuries later, thousands of inhabited solar systems have been gobbled. Scientists investigating the novo-vacuum from starship Rindler are split between trying to destroy it with tailored spatial viruses ("Planck worms") and hoping to understand the teeming richness beyond that deadly interface.
In a lonely galaxy where only humans are intelligent, whole planets have been evacuated to give microscopic alien organisms their chance to evolve. The novo-vacuum may be bursting with new orders of life, so that killing it would be a monstrous act of genocide. But frightened people dare dreadful things. Violence erupts on the Rindler.
Building up from ideas of human intelligence in disembodied storage or artificial bodies, Egan finally takes his lead characters on a mind-boggling joyride through novo-vacuum, mapping them into a space where a tense eight-hour flight from deadly predators covers just one millimetre. There's a lot of room in there.
Schild's Ladder makes easy reading out of terrifying physics, generating a real sense of wonder even as your jaw drops at the immensity of its implications. --David Langford
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. Cass has stumbled on something that might be an entirely different type of physics and she's travelled three hundred and fifty light-years to Mimosa Station, a remote experimental facility, to test her theory.The novo-vacuum she creates is predicted to begin decaying the instant it's created, but even so short-lived a microscopic speck could shed new light on the origins of the universe. But instead of decaying, Cass's novo-vacuum is wildly successful and begins expanding, slowly but inexorably taking over the universe.SCHILD'S LADDER is a wild ride through the far future by one of the world's most respected and acclaimed writers. A modern masterpiece from 'One of the genre's great ideas men' (THE TIMES) nelwy packaged for a new audience Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780575082069
Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Language: ENG. Seller Inventory # 9780575082069
Book Description Condition: New. pp. 336. Seller Inventory # 6819736
Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 08e711f8c4aa7ce21a9abceb46c72da2
Book Description Paperback / softback. Condition: New. New copy - Usually dispatched within 4 working days. A modern masterpiece from 'One of the genre's great ideas men' (THE TIMES) nelwy packaged for a new audience. Seller Inventory # B9780575082069
Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. BRAND NEW ** SUPER FAST SHIPPING FROM UK WAREHOUSE ** 30 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. Seller Inventory # 9780575082069-GDR
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 336 pages. 7.76x5.12x0.79 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # __0575082062
Book Description Condition: New. A modern masterpiece from 'One of the genre's great ideas men' (THE TIMES) nelwy packaged for a new audience Num Pages: 336 pages. BIC Classification: FL. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 197 x 133 x 22. Weight in Grams: 280. . 2008. paperback / softback. Paperback. . . . . Seller Inventory # V9780575082069
Book Description Condition: New. A modern masterpiece from 'One of the genre's great ideas men' (THE TIMES) nelwy packaged for a new audience Num Pages: 336 pages. BIC Classification: FL. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 197 x 133 x 22. Weight in Grams: 280. . 2008. paperback / softback. Paperback. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland. Seller Inventory # V9780575082069