* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
While walking down the street in Chicago, Joseph Schwartz, a retired tailor, is the unwitting victim of a nearby nuclear laboratory accident, by means of which he is instantaneously transported tens ... (Wikipedia)
The story takes place in the context of Trantor 's rise from a large regional power to a galaxy-wide empire , unifying millions of worlds. The approximate date is around the year 11,000 AD ... (Wikipedia)
Detective Elijah Baley of Earth is training with his son and others to overcome their socially ingrained agoraphobia when he is told that the Spacer world of Aurora has requested him to investigate a ... (Wikipedia)
A mysterious alien civilization uses a tool with the appearance of a large crystalline monolith to investigate worlds across the galaxy and, if possible, to encourage the development of intelligent ... (Wikipedia)
The novel is divided into three parts, following a third-person omniscient narrative with no main character. , In some editions, the short first chapter is a separate prologue rather than the ... (Wikipedia)
After an asteroid falls in Northeast Italy in 2077, creating a major disaster, the government of Earth sets up the Spaceguard system as an early warning of arrivals from deep space. The "Rama" of the ... (Wikipedia)
Sidney Harris , the Hereditary President of the People's Republic of Haven, discusses the economic and military situation with his cabinet. Secretary of the Economy Walter Frankel presents the latest ... (Wikipedia)
Emperor Cleon I wants to appoint Hari Seldon as the First Minister of the Galactic Empire. Powerful Trantor High Council member Betan Lamurk opposes the independent Seldon's appointment. Seldon ... (Wikipedia)
As with later Gibson works, there are multiple story-line threads which eventually intertwine: Thread One : In the southwestern US, Turner, a corporate mercenary soldier , has been hired by former ... (Wikipedia)
The novel is the second part of The Second Foundation Trilogy and takes place almost entirely in the same time frame as " The Psychohistorians ," which is the first part of the novel, Foundation, . ... (Wikipedia)
Eighteen years have passed since Shaddam IV succeeded his father as Padishah Emperor of the Known Universe. However, his rule is precarious as his wife Anirul has been instructed by her Bene Gesserit ... (Wikipedia)
The story takes place on the Discworld, a planet-sized flat disc carried through space on the backs of four gargantuan elephants – Berilia, Tubul, Great T'Phon and Jerakeen – who themselves stand on ... (Wikipedia)
Hiro Protagonist is a hacker and pizza delivery driver for the Mafia. He meets Y.T. (short for Yours Truly), a young skateboard Kourier ( courier ) who refers to herself in the third person , during ... (Wikipedia)
"The Grail Brotherhood has built the most powerful, sophisticated simulation network imaginable. At the same time, they have manipulated ad injured the minds of thousands of children." This ... (Goodreads)
Otherland. In many ways it is humankind's most stunning achievement: a private, multidimensional universe built over two generations by the greatest minds of the twenty-first century. But this most ... (Goodreads)
One year after the War of Assassins , Duke Leto Atreides sponsors an assault on Ix to reclaim the planet for House Vernius , while his concubine Jessica is pregnant with his son. Emperor Shaddam IV ... (Wikipedia)
Nine years after Emperor Paul Muad'Dib walked into the desert, blind, the ecological transformation of Dune has reached the point where some Fremen are living without stillsuits in the less arid ... (Wikipedia)
The Final Empire is in turmoil as various regions descend into anarchy following the Lord Ruler's death and the disappearance of the Steel Ministry. Elend Venture has claimed the crown of the capital ... (Wikipedia)
As a teenager, Mort has a personality and temperament that makes him unsuited to the family farming business. Mort's father Lezek takes him to a local hiring fair in the hope that Mort will land an ... (Wikipedia)
Douglas Adams changed the face of science fiction with his cosmically comic novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and its classic sequels. Sadly for his countless admirers, he hitched his own ... (Goodreads)
The previous volume saw Simon wound a dragon with the mystical sword Thorn, splashing himself in dragon’s blood, leaving himself deeply scarred (physically and emotionally). Now bearing the sobriquet ... (Wikipedia)
Duke Leto Atreides of the House Atreides , ruler of the ocean planet Caladan, is assigned by the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV to serve as fief ruler of the planet Arrakis . Arrakis is a harsh and ... (Wikipedia)
The story opens some time after the end of the American Civil War . The Baltimore Gun Club, a society dedicated to the design of weapons of all kinds (especially cannons), comes together when Impey ... (Wikipedia)
The novel opens with Rico aboard the corvette transport Rodger Young (named after Medal of Honor recipient Rodger Wilton Young ), , serving with the platoon known as "Rasczak's Roughnecks". The ... (Wikipedia)
The novel follows Menolly , now apprenticed into the Harper Hall, a type of music conservatory for harpers ( minstrels /educators) and other music professionals, as she begins her musical training to ... (Wikipedia)
The war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction, cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random. The Idirans ... (Goodreads)
Henry Dorsett Case is a low-level hustler in the dystopian underworld of Chiba City , Japan. Once a talented computer hacker , Case was caught stealing from his employer. As punishment for his theft, ... (Wikipedia)
'At this game, whoever does not kill is killed.' Twenty Years After (1845), the sequel to The Three Musketeers , is a supreme creation of suspense and heroic adventure. Two decades have passed since ... (Goodreads)
Ten tales, from the computer-enhanced hustlers of Johnny Mnemonic to the technofetishist blues of Burning Chrome . Johnny Mnemonic (1981) The Gernsback Continuum (1981) Fragments of a Hologram Rose ... (Goodreads)
George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series has become, in many ways, the gold standard for modern epic fantasy. Martin—dubbed the "American Tolkien" by Time magazine—has created a world that ... (Goodreads)