Stephen baxter manifold mobi

A remarkable collection of short fiction from one of our greatest SF authors, including two brand new short stories. There are also a selection of. Stephen Baxter Series. Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: An epic science fiction adventure by the award-winning author of the Manifold trilogy dramatizes some million years of human evolution, from the prehistoric world to the quest for outer space.

Has the congresswoman risked her career by getting involved at all? Did she ever get to pee? Apr 03, Ian rated it liked it. I am a fan of Stephen Baxter's. And I was looking forward to diving into a meaty trilogy of his that I could be reading for awhile. However whereas those two novel's took some fascinating contemporary science and built interesting conflicts and narratives on top of them, this book drowns beneath them.

Too often the action gets bogged down in a scene where one scie I am a fan of Stephen Baxter's. Too often the action gets bogged down in a scene where one scientist or mathematician is standing in a room with one of the protagonists who were neither scientists nor mathematician explaining some scientific principle or another which Baxter feels is imperative to the story.

And just as the protagonists, through one cliche or another, express their confusion "In English" - "X This happens over and over again to the point where I just got bored and ended up getting bogged down in this one for quite awhile.

It's a pity because this past weekend I finally made a concerted effort to finish it and, where the first pages were like a pushup drill, the last were a lot of fun and I flew through them. In typical Baxter style, the story was elevated from interesting straightforward premises to questions about the very nature of the universe and what could be our place in it's present, beginning, and ultimate end. Even in the midst of the climax there was STILL that convention of the smart characters stopping to explain what was happening to the dullards in the story, but at that point the action had reached a level that I didn't care.

Even though I found this one excruciating at points I'm surprisingly still interested in the sequels, if only because I have no idea how this one could carry on. If you can soldier through the first half this one gets a hesitant recommendation. Recommended to Velma by: the serendipity of the universe grabbed in a bag o' books sale.

Shelves: apocalyptic-dystopian-spec-fic , reads , fiction , sci-fi. I'd lead off with 'squids in space' but it's been done. Unlike others, however, for me this is a positive attribute of Manifold: Time , not a liability.

I love learning why else do people read, seriously? Think of all those new neuronal connections I created with Baxter's help. My brain is feeling pretty damn pleased with itself, smug even. But if you don't like your space opera packaged in a course on quantum physics, this probably isn't the book for you.

Baxter crams eschatology, metaphysics, cosmology, and ontology in a story of political intrigue, human foible, interstellar time travel, and post-apocalyptic enviro disaster even a little love - with a hero anti-hero? And a serious page-turner I flew the almost pages in about 2. What's not to love??? Up next: companion Manifold: Space. Jan 20, Eugene Yokota rated it it was amazing. The movie 'Interstellar' came out in , and I told my then-coworker Jim that I liked it, and I thought some scenes reminded me of ' A Space Odyssey' down to the bad ending.

I may have mentioned about the notion of humanity's survival and the universe, some such. In any case, Jim told me that he thought the people who made the film must have read this book 'Manifold: Time' as some of the theme overlapped, and if I'm interested in this topic, I'd like it.

I lost my book in Ireland halfway The movie 'Interstellar' came out in , and I told my then-coworker Jim that I liked it, and I thought some scenes reminded me of ' A Space Odyssey' down to the bad ending.

I lost my book in Ireland halfway through reading it, but recently picked it up again on Kindle, so it took me a while finish. The first half the book is lead character Reid Malenfant setting up space travel in Mojave dessert on the cheap. It's amazing that this book was published in Another thing introduced early on is a culty group called Eschatology, a group of scientists studying the end of things.

The details around this less realistic, but it does become a vehicle to introduce us to terms like Carter catastrophe probabilistic prediction for human extinction , downstreamers, etc. This is a great book that makes you think about the scale of universe, time, and our purpose as sentient being that is humankind.

Aug 20, Becky rated it liked it Shelves: set-in-the-digital-age , apocalypses-and-dystopias , set-in-the-near-future , scifi-serious. I seem to have had a similar experience to many who have struggled doggedly through Stephen Baxter's novels: the ideas he presents generally hard science in the form of current theoretical physics, mathematics, bioengineering, etc. However, the writing itself is totally unengaging with a few sparkling moments of exception , and all of the characters fall pretty flat.

I I seem to have had a similar experience to many who have struggled doggedly through Stephen Baxter's novels: the ideas he presents generally hard science in the form of current theoretical physics, mathematics, bioengineering, etc. It's a bit like a doctoral student was assigned a "creative final" and chose to write his thesis on apocalyptic astrophysical models as a novel.

Actually, it's a LOT like that. I will, of course, be reading the remainder of the trilogy This one took me a couple of years to finish, though, in stops and starts, so Coda: Another reader has posted a review to the effect that this is a "fast-paced summer read". Oct 27, Leo rated it did not like it Shelves: dnf. A squid with enhanced intelligence is trained to land a spacecraft on an asteroid orbiting the Earth.

She has kept her pregnancy secret from her trainer. Her offspring build an interlinking series of aquariums across the asteroid. With their tentacles? Nov 28, Evelyn rated it it was ok Shelves: science-fiction , read-in , fantasy. It's always fun when you read a Sci-Fi novel and it starts off in the year , where mankind is on the edge of extinction due to overpopulation and environmental damage.

It does make you wonder if any politicians have ever read any Sci-fi, doesn't it?! This fast-paced, space adventure centres around Reid Malenfant, a man who realises that ti It's always fun when you read a Sci-Fi novel and it starts off in the year , where mankind is on the edge of extinction due to overpopulation and environmental damage.

This fast-paced, space adventure centres around Reid Malenfant, a man who realises that time has run out for the human race on Earth and the only way to survive is by colonizing somewhere in space. Cue lots of stats, crazy complicated mathematical theories, time travel, black hole energy theories, and you're taken on a serious physics trip to the depths of outer space with Malenfant and his team.

I had to re-read a lot of paragraphs to try and make sense of it all, but ultimately, I felt like I did need a Stephen Hawkins level of knowledge to fully appreciate the concepts presented here.

Jun 04, Jonathan rated it really liked it Shelves: sf , read This was my first Baxter and really enjoyed it, despite being slightly dated. The squid stuff was right for me and I would have liked more of that and from the cephalopod POV. I would recommend Children of Ruin and vice versa to fans of either, although Tchiavoksky's books are equally as dense, but quicker, fresher reads. To be clear: this is hard sf and the science dumps are sensibly plotted. Exciting space stuff: rockets, This was my first Baxter and really enjoyed it, despite being slightly dated.

Exciting space stuff: rockets, astronomy, ect. There was some heavy time theory stuff I did not exactly understand, but didn't get in the way of the plot. Would I have given it 5 stars had I read it 20 years ago when it came out? Maybe, if I wanted this and wasn't so fascinated with Mieville and Stross. There is something very one-sided and dated to this. I can't put my finger on it From someone who keeps up with contemporary 21st century SF from around the globe these days, you can still smell the white guy, Western-voice of Manifold Time.

But I knew what I was getting into. The inclusion of world-wide cultures' voices in the narrative was a plus. This was well written for what it is.

Recommendations always accepted. I lost touch a bit and wandered off in the realms of the fantasy genre but I still get an urge for some proper sci-fi and frequently revisit Azimov, Pohl, Harrison and other cosy old favourites. Apart from Iain M. I have always been a fan of the more space opera kind of science fiction like Star Wars, Star Trek or Dune. This book which is apparently the first in a series is very well written and is more hard scifi than anything else.

The story bends around the idea that within years the earth and humanity would cease to exist and the result of this idea on society. There is one person responsible for changing the face of space exploration and space flight and he gets hindered by those in power who have I have always been a fan of the more space opera kind of science fiction like Star Wars, Star Trek or Dune.

There is one person responsible for changing the face of space exploration and space flight and he gets hindered by those in power who have a larger responsibility to the human society and do not see anything happening. In a sense this book is about humanity with his mind set to the smallest sense as possible and about the human adventure in exploration even if another animal of the planet Earth seems to fare much better in spaceflight than humans and their internal politics ever would manage.

An exciting read that offers new ideas about limitations and the importance of spaceflight and our own humanity. This book does not carry the positivism of Gene Roddenberry's vision. But is a heck of a read and the pages were like miles in race-car, the finish came way too quickly and perhaps fast enough.

Anybody can read this book and does not have to have any special knowledge, the story explains all. Well worth your time. Nov 15, ash spaceyreads rated it it was amazing Shelves: science-fiction , space-time-weirdness.

Deep, hypnotizing, grand. I have not come across an interpretation of the creation of the universe, the multiverse, and the purpose of Man as ambitious as Baxter's, though. He had grand ideas. What if black holes, by their nature, were portals to universes close to ours? What if we could find out if these universes were similar to, or vastly different from ours Deep, hypnotizing, grand. What if we could find out if these universes were similar to, or vastly different from ours?

I loved the exploration of humanity's response to knowing that the world that they know it might be coming to an end in a few hundred years. It was a nice apocalyptic aspect to the story. The predictability of human nature is a noticeable juxtaposition to the unknown and scary cosmic events that were happening around them. Reading and then finishing the book felt like being plunged into a deep sea of water and then surfacing - everything is slow in the water and you can't see because it is murky, and then you burst into the bright light with some confusion, but mostly relief.

Apr 13, Teri Dluznieski rated it it was amazing. I had already read several of Baxter's books when I read Manifold:Time. After reading this one, I began to search out and order all of his other books.

I really loved how Baxter took on the subject of quantum physics. He takes the space and time, woven into the story to explain many very complex concepts, and he also illustrates and demonstrates them within the context of the story. He both shows us our potential futures- based on very real science, and puts the trivial aspects of our moment in history into perspective. He does this by creating races and histories and stories that span time that we can barely conceive of, in comparison to western human history!

Many of the passages that explain science, I had to read several times. But rather than feeling like a distraction from the story, I felt like it enhanced the stories. Jan 16, Charles Oakley rated it really liked it. Great mind bending sci-fi, very smart.

While some sci-fi lacks a human element, what was good about this book was that all the human elements felt very real and drew me in - I really cared about the characters. The prose was also very evocative at times, poetic even.

The book touched on so many subjects, as if the writer just couldn't stop accessing all the spidery recesses of his mind, and then finding a way to add them to the story In some ways this bloated the story quite a bit, and distra Great mind bending sci-fi, very smart.

In some ways this bloated the story quite a bit, and distracted somewhat from the central narrative - but it was entertaining all the same. Feb 08, Phil rated it really liked it Shelves: science-fiction. I read this about a decade ago and it is still a good read. Baxter struts forth a wide range of big ideas regarding time that make this mildly mind-blowing, but the characters are thin, which over all makes this for me just a good read.

I like Baxter a lot, but this was not one of his best 3. Nov 08, Mike rated it liked it Shelves: scifi. Bootstrap to outer space was a great start. It was a good read at the time but I can't remember anything about it now except it was very strange at the end. Feb 08, Martin Herrin rated it really liked it. Dry characters, but I liked the physics. Not recommended unless you like a lot of numbers in your books. Apr 01, The Professor rated it it was ok.

What we have here — published in — is basically the day journal of Elon Musk and other dreary parties. Our protagonist is one Reid Malenfant and his crashingly unsubtle name is the first hint that Baxter is actually 16 years old. Baxter thinks rule-breaker spaceman Malenfant is Han Solo.

His passive ex-wife Emma Stoney who has no friends or family jets off in one sentence from Vegas to the North Coast of Scotland to investigate some purloined Uranium or other.

She is not. The two merely continue their exposition. I got a terrible sinking feeling when Cornelius, Malenfant, Emma egregiously allowing herself to be passively manipulated on the voyage and child genius Michael launched off into space together and sure enough Baxter breaks out the engineering porn, describing every nut and bolt, listing every element of the personal hygiene packs, dead lists supplanting prose fiction.

What is it with hard SF that seems to excuse the lectures, the cardboard characters, the dead sentences, the lack of humour or sex? Actually, there is. I recommend it. You're beaten. Aug 23, KRK the Unkillable rated it it was ok. Stephen Baxter needs to know his limitations. Want your brain twisted with some crazy hard science? Step right up. Need stories with a scope so huge it borders on mathematical abstraction?

Just ask Uncle Stephen! Want believable characters, realistic dialogue, and a plot worth caring about apart from the science? Keep walking, nerd. On paper, Manifold: Time seems like a slam dunk. Neal Stephenson novels work because in addition to being able to explain all kinds of kooky, complicated stuff, he has interesting characters, writes good sentences, and is hilarious.

Stephen Baxter, on the other hand, excels in writing page novels that bludgeon the reader with mind-bending ideas about space and time but have little in the way of wit, nuance, and compelling characters. A good Baxter novel, in my mind, clobbers the reader with blindingly cool ideas and otherwise gets out of its own way. A good Stephenson novel sprawls and stretches, giving space to all sorts of clever digressions and anecdotes.

Manifold: Time reads like a cargo-cult Stephenson novel. To be fair, the science is quite cool. Suspending disbelief is part of the deal with this stuff. Spurred on by his crazy mathematician friend a fun character, because he guides the plot towards wild science speculation and against the wishes of his ex-wife Emma not a fun character, because she does the opposite , Reid picks up what he believes to be messages from the far future directing him towards an asteroid, where a very strange artifact is waiting.

Sound like fun? Good, because it is. The rest is concerned with boring characters a senator, an army general guy, an astronaut and lots of aimless nonsense only loosely connected to the cool science stuff. The only non-time-related plot that stands on its own is one about genetically-engineered squid being trained to fly spaceships, which is exactly as ludicrous as it sounds and about twice as awesome.

The novel picks up in the middle, when our heroes finally get to interact with the artifact. The roughly page sequence in which a probe explores the future of the universe is terrific, providing the same rush that made the Xeelee Sequence so fun. Coming at about the halfway point, this sequence got my hopes up that this was just a slow-starting novel, but these hopes were dashed when the second half of the book was equally dull.

Two hundred pages later, we get to the ending. Spending as much time with them as Manifold: Time does is a chore. It gets to the point where even semi-interesting plotlines become a slog, simply because I just want to get to the resolution. Flux was lame. May 18, Wendy A. Not so much a review, as three observations. This first-published book in the series explores one possible solution, on a truly cosmic scale.

Nov 29, Kelly Fugate rated it did not like it. Baxter is compared to Sir Arthur Clarke. NO nopity nope. I wasted my time!! Part of my life I missed reading a good piece of SFF. Hyperintelligent, communist squids! Sightseeing humanity's deep, deep future, the multiverse and the next years of Earth history!

Space Travel! Space soldiers! Elon Musk as a rogue time traveller! What's not to like? Children in current time-line are displaying advanced knowledge. Read s. Readers also enjoyed. Science Fiction. Speculative Fiction. Science Fiction Fantasy. About Stephen Baxter. Stephen Baxter. Stephen Baxter is a trained engineer with degrees from Cambridge mathematics and Southampton Universities doctorate in aeroengineering research.

Clarke Award, most recently for Manifold: Time. His novel Voyage won the Sidewise Award for Best Alternate History Novel of the Stephen Baxter is a trained engineer with degrees from Cambridge mathematics and Southampton Universities doctorate in aeroengineering research. Campbell Award and the Philip K. Dick Award for his novel The Time Ships.

He is currently working on his next novel, a collaboration with Sir Arthur C. Baxter lives in Prestwood, England. Other books in the series. Manifold 4 books. Books by Stephen Baxter. When Dana Schwartz started writing about a 19th-century pandemic ravaging Edinburgh in her latest book, Anatomy: A Love Story, she had no idea Read more Trivia About Time Manifold 1.

Quotes from Time. There were wars, there was love, there was life and death. Minds flowed together in great rivers of consciousness, or shattered in sparkling droplets.

There was immortality to be had, of a sort, a continuity of identity through replication and confluence across billions upon billions of years. Everywhere they found life. Nowhere did they find mind—save what they brought with them or created—no other against which human advancement could be tested.

With time, the stars died like candles. But humans fed on bloated gravitational fat, and achieved a power undreamed of in earlier ages. They learned of other universes from which theirs had evolved. Those earlier, simpler realities too were empty of mind, a branching tree of emptiness reaching deep into the hyperpast.

It is impossible to understand what minds of that age—the peak of humankind, a species hundreds of billions of times older than humankind—were like. They did not seek to acquire, not to breed, not even to learn. They had nothing in common with us, their ancestors of the afterglow. Nothing but the will to survive. And even that was to be denied them by time. The universe aged: indifferent, harsh, hostile, and ultimately lethal.

There was despair and loneliness. There was an age of war, an obliteration of trillion-year memories, a bonfire of identity. There was an age of suicide, as the finest of humanity chose self-destruction against further purposeless time and struggle. The great rivers of mind guttered and dried. But some persisted: just a tributary, the stubborn, still unwilling to yield to the darkness, to accept the increasing confines of a universe growing inexorably old. And, at last, they realized that this was wrong.

It wasn't supposed to have been like this. Burning the last of the universe's resources, the final down-streamers—dogged, all but insane—reached to the deepest past. Watch the Moon, Malenfant. Watch the Moon. This is a fundamental change in the structure of the universe. It will never stop. It will sweep on, growing at light speed, a runaway feedback fueled by the collapse of the vacuum itself.

The Galaxy will be gone in a hundred thousand years, Andromeda, the nearest large galaxy, in a couple of million years. All of it is gone. The colonization of the Galaxy; the settlement of the universe; the long, patient fight against entropy Why have the children done this? Michael looked around the sky. He pointed to the lumpy, spreading edge of the unreality bubble.

Can you see that? It's already starting The growth of the true vacuum region is not even. There will be pockets of the false vacuum—remnants of our universe—isolated by the spreading true vacuum. The fragments of false vacuum will collapse. This is just a better way of making black holes, and budding off new universes. Better than stars, even.

The black holes created as the vacuum decay proceeds will overwhelm by many orders of magnitude the mere billion billion that our universe might have created through its stars and galaxy cores. Mind has assumed responsibility for the evolution of the cosmos. There will be many daughter universes—universes too many to count, universes exotic beyond our imagining—and many, many of them will harbor life and mind.

This was the purpose. Not the long survival of humankind into a dismal future of decay and shadows, the final retreat into the lossless substrate, where nothing ever changed or grew.

The purpose of humankind—the first intelligence of all—had been to reshape the universe in order to bud others and create a storm of mind.