Bloom - Hardcover

McCarthy, Wil

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0345408578 ISBN 13: 9780345408570

Publisher: Del Rey, 1998

Synopsis

Wil McCarthy dares to combine two branches of scientific study--space-travel technology and biotechnology--to create a chilling and very believable future as Bloom pits humankind against an enemy of its own creation, grown rampantly out of control.

In the late twenty-first century, man-made, self-replicating organisms called mycora--smaller than the tiniest bacteria--mutated and swept across the globe in a chain reaction so swift and deadly there was no time to act. No time to do anything but flee an Earth destroyed by the very science created to nurture and sustain it. Soon the entire inner solar system was consumed, incorporated into the lethal psychedelic bloom of the Mycosystem.

Scant years later, the remnants of humanity cling to the asteroid belt and the inhospitable moons of Jupiter. As the society known as the Immunity ekes out a precarious existence, fighting off the invasion of deadly mycospores while working feverishly to build a starship that will carry them to safety, an ominous discovery alters everything. Mycora are incorporating gene sequences to elude Immunity defenses--perhaps even to thrive in the harsh environment of the outer system. The only way to be sure is to journey into the diseased heart of the Mycosystem, from which no one has ever returned.

The starship is readied and a crew is selected on the basis of expertise--and expendability. But when sabotage forces an early launch, suspicions arise among the crew. Someone--or something--doesn't want the mission to succeed. As the starship rockets toward Earth, under relentless attack from without and within, the questions and the terror multiply faster than a contagion. Who--or what--is the true enemy? When is change something to fight--or something to embrace? And how can humanity forge a future for itself in the face of an unstoppable foe seemingly destined to overwhelm the cosmos . . . ?

With both deep insight into the human condition and a far-reaching understanding of science, Bloom offers a compelling--and frightening--peek into one of our possible futures.

About this title

Review

In the distant future, nanotechnology has gotten out of control. The inner solar system has been overrun by Mycora, atom-size machines that devour everything they touch. Humanity has long since fled Earth for the cold reaches of the outer system, where the lack of heat and sunlight make it difficult--but not impossible--for the Mycora to bloom. Life in the Immunity is hard, and the survivors of humanity face the constant onslaught of the ever-evolving Mycora. But if they are to survive, the remaining humans must try to learn what happened to Earth, and whether the Mycora are finding ways to overcome their susceptibility to cold. When the Immunity mounts an expedition to plant probes on Earth's polar caps, shoemaker and aspiring journalist John Stasheim is asked to come along to chronicle the journey. He soon learns that the trip will be fraught with as many political dangers as nanotech ones, and that the Mycora are both more and less than they seem. An excellent SF novel along the lines of Greg Bear's Blood Music, but with more action and plot. Wil McCarthy is a writer to watch. --Craig E. Engler

From the Publisher

As Arthur C. Clarke's editor, I'm not easy to wow. I expect vast ideas and real-life characters grappling with the ramifications of those ideas. All too often, though, I find myself disappointed in so-called "hard science fiction," as it tends either to be science-heavy (I'll read Scientific American for that!) or plodding in its actual story elements, as if someone who understands science can't truly visualize fiction. Wil McCarthy's Bloom did not disappoint me--not through all my readings of it in its various incarnations, and not in the end. The concept of the spore bloom that eats our solar system scared the pants off me, and when our shipload of characters had to actually travel right into the heart of it, I feared for them. And that's what I expect from a good science fiction novel: I need to believe that our sciences can actually lead to incredible situations, and then I need to be either wowed or terrified. Wil McCarthy delivers on all fronts, and I can't wait till his next book--which I can't talk about, because the science in it is just too cutting edge!
                        --Shelly Shapiro, Executive Editor

*Science Fiction Book Club Alternate Selection

Great Quotes for BLOOM!!!
"Bloom is tense, dynamic, intelligent, offering a terrifyingly vivid view
of how technology can rocket out of our control."-- David Brin

"What clever and compelling science fiction! The 'Bloom' future is all too
believable." -- James Gleick

"Wil McCarthy makes ideas jump. BLOOM grabs you from very first scene and doesn't let go till the last page. It's irresistible." -- Walter Jon Williams

Edition details

• Publisher: Del Rey
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0345408578
• ISBN 13: 9780345408570
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 310