Step into Chaos: Quest for Tomorrow #3 - Hardcover

Shatner, William

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0061052760 ISBN 13: 9780061052767

Publisher: Harper Voyager, 1999

Synopsis

Jim Endicott is a hero--and he hates it.

Using the cybernetic secret weapon encoded in his DNA, he defeated the dreaded Hunzza fleet, but at a terrible cost in lives, both human and alien. Now Jim wants only to live a "normal" life and forget the horrors he witnessed and the heroic destiny he despises.

But a new and even more terrible conflict is stirring. Earth's former ally, the Alban Packlord, suspects that humans are about to "Leap"--transcend to another level of existence in a mysterious and cataclysmic process that sweeps away entire star systems, laying waste to vast sectors of the universe.

To prevent this cosmic disaster, the Packlord has made a secret alliance with his former enemies, the Hunzza. Their Armada is gathering to wipe out humanity before it can Leap. Meanwhile, the mysterious immortal known as Outsider is determined to stop the slaughter, even if it means luring Jim back into the cyberworld of the Mind Arrays.

But where is Jim?

Fleeing from his troubled conscience, Endicott has lost himself among the "wire-heads" and outcasts of grim Plebtown. But even here, destiny marks him. When he saves a spirited runaway from a drive-by shooting, he finds himself entangled in a troubling relationship with a girl as amoral as she is irresistible.

The outlaw beauty, Char, is not Jim's only problem. The Alban Packlord has sent an assassin to hunt him down, knowing that Endicott, through the Mind Arrays, is the key to human powers--and possibly the dreaded Leap. And the assassin is Jim's friend, Korka!

Jim's only hope lies with the mysterious Leaper cultures themselves. What happens to them after they disappear from our universe? Where do they go? To find out, he must hijack the most powerful warship in the Empire, find the charred worlds the Leapers ruined, and make the Leap himself: the step into chaos that will save humankind or turn the universe itself into a graveyard of burned-out stars.

In this third Quest for Tomorrow novel, the famed Star Trek veteran and bestselling author continues an action-packed series that is rich with memorable characters and bright with the glow of a legend in the making. Each adventure is complete with a special bibliography to document scientific accuracy, provide educational guidance, and suggest new directions for readers to explore.

About this title

About the Author:

William Shatner's career as an actor, director, producer, screenwriter, recording artist, author, and horseman has spanned more than fifty years. One of pop culture's most recognizable figures, he is also a major Hollywood philanthropist. Shatner and his wife and three married children live in Los Angeles.

From Publishers Weekly:

Fast on the retro-rockets of Delta Search and In Alien Hands, Shatner's third, warp-paced entry in his Quest for Tomorrow series finds Jim Endicott under scrutiny by the Hunzza and the Albans, alien races who fear humanity will suddenly make the leap to godhood via Jim's genetic encoding, which was secretly altered at birth. The superintelligence known as Outsider also has an interest in Jim, teleporting him and his friends Char and Harpy to the starship Albagens Pride. No sooner does the transport-hum fade than an Albagensian star fleet sweeps into the solar system; before Jim can assume command of the ship, he is killed by an assassin. Outsider easily defeats the rest of the invading fleet, however. While the aliens distract Earth with overtures of peace, Char and Harpy learn that millennia ago, the Hunzza transplanted Neanderthals to another planet, Gelden, where they eventually evolved into god-like beings. Jim suddenly appears on deck, back from the dead, and agrees to work with Outsider; the pair have detected another superentity, the god that evolved on Gelden. Now Jim must decide whether to force Terra to make the dangerous leap to godhood. Shatner's narrative is breathless and often perplexing, but it's peppered with enough bar brawls, gun fights and space chases to satisfy his fans.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Voyager
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0061052760
• ISBN 13: 9780061052767
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256