Mission to Minerva (5) (Giants) - Softcover

Hogan, James P.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1416520902 ISBN 13: 9781416520900

Publisher: Baen, 2006

Synopsis

Earth is adapting to a future of amicable coexistence with the advanced aliens from Thurien, descended from ancestors who once inhabited Minerva, a vanished planet of the Solar System. The plans of the distantly related humans on the rogue world Jevlen to eliminate their ancient Terran rivals and take over the Thurien system of worlds have been thwarted, but the mystery remains of how it was possible for the fleeing Jevlenese leaders to have been flung back across space and time to reappear at Minerva before the time of its destruction. Victor Hunt and a group of his colleagues travel to Thurien to conduct a joint investigation with the alien scientists into the strange physics of interconnectedness between the countless alternate universes that constitute ultimate reality. When their discoveries lead first to bizarre communication with bewildered counterparts in other universes, and thence to the possibility of physical travel, the notion is conceived of sending a mission back to the former world of Minerva with the startling objective of creating a new family of realities in which its destruction is avoided. But Imares Broghuilio, the deposed Jevlenese leader, along with several thousand dedicated followers with five heavily armed starships, are already there. And they have a score to settle.

About this title

About the Author:

James P. Hogan is a science fiction writer in the grand tradition, combining informed and accurate speculation from the cutting edge of science and technology with suspenseful story-telling and living, breathing characters. His first novel was greeted by Isaac Asimov with the rave, ¿Pure science fiction . . . Arthur Clarke, move over!¿ and his subsequent work quickly consolidated his reputation as a major SF author. He has written nearly twenty novels including Cradle of Saturn and Bug Park (both Baen), the Giants series (Del Rey), the New York Times bestsellers The Proteus Operation and Endgame Enigma and the Prometheus Award Winner The Multiplex Man.

From Publishers Weekly:

In Hogan's intriguing fifth SF novel in the series that began with Inherit the Stars (1978), Earth has reestablished contact with the Ganymeans, an alien race that manipulated proto-humans into homo sapiens on Minerva, a planet that once occupied the region of the present asteroid belt. After the Ganymeans migrated to the Giants' Star 20 light-years from Earth, a war on Minerva caused by intelligences from an alternate reality—one of an infinite number suggested by the Multiverse hypothesis—led to the planet's destruction. Now, several decades into the 21st century, people on Earth have developed a means of exploring these realities, including one in which Minerva still exists, and mount a rescue mission to prevent the war on Minerva. While the need to establish the backstory slows the book's first half, Hogan does an excellent job of extrapolating the science from current theories of quantum physics. The second half moves briskly and logically to a satisfying climax, though the villain is straight out of James Bond. Readers who like their science hard will find this one a diamond. (May)
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About this edition

• Publisher: Baen
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1416520902
• ISBN 13: 9781416520900
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 576