Marooned in Realtime
-
-
4.3 • 82 Ratings
-
-
- $11.99
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
Multiple Hugo Award winner Vernor Vinge takes readers on a fifty-million-year trip to a future where humanity's fate will be decided in a dangerous game of high-tech survival.
In this taut thriller, a Hugo finalist for Best Novel, nobody knows why there are only three hundred humans left alive on the Earth fifty million years from now. Opinion is fiercely divided on whether to settle in and plant the seed of mankind anew, or to continue using high-energy stasis fields, or "bobbles," in venturing into the future. When somebody is murdered, it's obvious someone has a secret he or she is willing to kill to preserve.The murder intensifies the rift between the two factions, threatening the survival of the human race. It's up to 21st century detective Wil Brierson, the only cop left in the world, to find the culprit, a diabolical fiend whose lust for power could cause the utter extinction of man.
Filled with excitement and adventure, Vinge's tense SF puzzler will satisfy readers with its sense of wonder and engaging characters, one of whom is a murderer with a unique modus operandi.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Customer Reviews
Excellent - one of the best
Crosses genres in the best way. Well written unlike a lot of sci fi. And brimming with ideas. I was persuaded to write a review because the featured review I saw on Apple Books was so wrong! The dialog is natural and perfectly fine. The pacing is good - I don’t read as much as I used to but this pulled me in. Written in the 80s but the core of the vision holds (predicting the future is hard but there are few better than Vince at it)
Hi-tech detective novel
I was disappointed in this book for several reasons. First, the iTunes listing shows the date from 2004, it is actually copyrighted 1986. I don't normally read Sf that old unless it's a classic. This isn't. The characterization seemed shallow, the dialogue cliched. The key tech of the "bobble" which allows people and equipment to leap into the future impervious to outside forces is never explained at all. And the murder mystery is "solved" by suddenly bringing in facts hidden from the reader until the detective reveals them. The last few chapters do have a nice space battle and the space woman character was interesting, but overall this book was a disappointment. 1986 must have been a thin year for the Hugo's if this was a finalist.