- Paperback: 154 pages
- Publisher: BenBella Books (Nov 10 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1932100652
- ISBN-13: 978-1932100655
- Product Dimensions: 22.5 x 16.4 x 1.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 249 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #982,888 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
""A new take on the theme of first contact with alien civilizations. Full of wonder, elegant writing, and thought." --George Zebrowski, author, Brute Orbits
Product Description
The age-old question about alien existence and human contact is explored in a new way in this collection of six novellas, previously anthologized in Analog magazine. When disillusioned aerospace engineer Adrian Mast buys a book at a remainder sale, the last things he expects to find in its appendix are alien spacecraft designs. With the help of the bookstore owner, Adrian tracks down the author—only to find him in a mental institution anguishing over the intentions of the aliens who sent the designs to him. By bluffing a bureaucrat intent on thwarting their progress, the two friends continue their quest for the stars and go ahead with the spacecraft designs. Having successfully launched their ship 15 years later, the questions that remain are What were the intentions of the aliens? and Is mankind ready to face what's out there?
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First Sentence
IT ALL STARTED AT THE LITTLE BOOKSTORE where Adrian liked to browse when he had the time. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
IT ALL STARTED AT THE LITTLE BOOKSTORE where Adrian liked to browse when he had the time. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
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4.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
4.0 out of 5 stars
Plausible and believable, Oct 16 2011
By Paul Lappen - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Gift From The Stars (Paperback)
First Contact with an alien species can happen in a grand moment of scientific discovery, like in the film "Contact." It can also happen in a much more mundane and accidental manner.Adrian Mast is an aeronautical engineer (and frustrated astronaut). Browsing in a local bookstore, he picks up a remaindered book on UFOs. In the Appendix, Adrian finds what look like a legitimate set of plans for an interstellar spaceship. With help from Frances Farmstead, the bookstore's owner, Adrian tracks down the publisher, who nrevously denies that they ever published the book, even though their name is on it. Peter Cavendish, the author, is in a mental hospital in the Midwest, afraid that the government, or the aliens, is out to get him. Somone has gone to a lot of trouble to suppress the book. Adrian and Frances get the plans spread out to the scientific community, before someone "suppresses" them.
The alien machines built from the plans radically change Earth, bringing about an era of really free energy. Adrian and Frances put together a group of people to build a spaceship based on the plans. They get permission from the Energy Board. Cannibalizing an old space station, the ship is finally ready for launch. Mankind still has no idea who the aliens are, where they are or why they sent the spaceship plans. On its maiden voyage, the ship suddenly starts traveling in a very different direction. Before he left the ship, back at Earth, Peter Cavendish programmed the ship's computer to take the ship to the aliens.
The ship enters a wormhole, where the laws of time and space are turned upside down. There is no way to tell how long the wormhole is, or if the ship is even moving. The crew remembers events that haven't yet happened. The ship eventually leaves the wormhole, and reaches a planet with hundreds of spaceships in orbit, of all shapes and sizes. Evidently, humanity was not the only civilization to hear from the aliens. After months of waiting for a reception committee, which never happens, members of the crew land on the surface, find their way into underground tunnels, and get some answers to their questions.
This one is very plausible and rational, and it has believable characters. It is interesting from start to finish, and is very much worth the time.
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