Audiobooks by Charles Sheffield

Five novellas of hard science fiction by five modern masters of the form From Nebula Award winner Gregory Benford comes this ambitious hard SF anthology that collects five original novellas. Each one takes the very long view—all are set at least ten thousand years in the future. The authors take a rigorously scientific view of such grand panoramas, confronting the largest issues of cosmology, astronomy, evolution, and biology. The last moments of a universe beseiged occupy Greg Bear’s Judgment Engine. Can something human matter at the very end of creation, as contorted matter ceases to have meaning and time itself stutters to an eerie halt? Genesis by Poul Anderson is set a billion years ahead, when humanity has become extinct. Earth is threatened by the slowly warming sun, and vast machine intelligences decide to recreate humans. Donald Kingsbury contributes Historical Crisis, a starting work on the prediction of the human future that challenges the foundations of psychohistory, as developed in Isaac Asimov's famous Foundation Trilogy. Joe Haldeman’s For White Hill confronts humanity with hostile aliens who remorselessly grind down every defense against them. A lone artist struggles to find a place in this distant, wondrous future when humanity seems doomed. In At the Eschaton by Charles Sheffield, a man tries to rescue his dying wife from oblivion by hurling himself forward, in both space and time, to the very end of the universe itself.

Charles Sheffield, Donald Kingsbury, Greg Bear, Joe Haldeman, Poul Anderson, Various Artists, Various Artists (Author), Alex Hyde-White, Paul Boehmer, Stefan Rudnicki, Susan Hanfield, Various Readers, Various Readers, Vikas Adam (Narrator)

Audiobook

Starfire

Earth has been ravaged by galactic disaster-but the real devastation is yet to come. The end draws nigh... The year is 2053, and Earth has barely recovered from the Alpha Centauri supernova that destroyed much of the planet's infrastructure. Now the supernova's residual effect-a storm of high-energy particles-is racing toward it, and an international effort has been launched out of the Sky City space colony to save the planet. But the controversial plan to build a giant protective shield is falling dangerously behind schedule. A series of unexplained murders has disrupted the Sky City workforce, so much so that a brilliant but monstrous criminal has been enlisted to track down the Sky City killer. Then more startling news arises. Evidence indicates that the supernova was deliberately engineered and that the lethal particle storm will arrive sooner than anyone expected. But who-or what-tried to destroy the Earth? And will the answer come in time to save it from its final apocalypse? "Plenty of action."-Publishers Weekly

Charles Sheffield (Author), Gary Dikeos (Narrator)

Audiobook

Aftermath

It's 2026, and catastrophe has struck from an unexpected source. The Alpha Centauri supernova has risen like a second sun, rushing Earth toward its last summer. Floods, fires, starvation, and disease paralyze the planet. In a blue aurora flash of gamma rays, all microchips worldwide are destroyed, leaving an already devastated Earth without communications, transportation, weaponry, or medicine. The disaster sets three groups of survivors on separate quests. A militant cult seizes the opportunity to free their leader, known as the Eye of God, from the long-term coma to which a court sentenced her. Three cancer patients also search for a man in judicial sleep: the brilliant scientist—and monstrous criminal—who alone can continue the experimental treatment that keeps them alive. From a far greater distance come the survivors of the first manned Mars expedition, struggling homeward to a world that has changed far beyond their darkest fears. And standing at the crossroads is one man, US President Saul Steinmetz, who faces a crucial decision that will affect the fate of his own people—and the world.

Charles Sheffield (Author), Gary Dikeos (Narrator)

Audiobook

Aftermath

It's 2026, and catastrophe has struck from an unexpected source. The Alpha Centauri supernova has risen like a second sun, rushing Earth toward its last summer. Floods, fires, starvation, and disease paralyze the planet. In a blue aurora flash of gamma rays, all microchips worldwide are destroyed, leaving an already devastated Earth without communications, transportation, weaponry, or medicine. The disaster sets three groups of survivors on separate quests. A militant cult seizes the opportunity to free their leader, known as the Eye of God, from the long-term coma to which a court sentenced her. Three cancer patients also search for a man in judicial sleep: the brilliant scientist-and monstrous criminal-who alone can continue the experimental treatment that keeps them alive. From a far greater distance come the survivors of the first manned Mars expedition, struggling homeward to a world that has changed far beyond their darkest fears. And standing at the crossroads is one man, US President Saul Steinmetz, who faces a crucial decision that will affect the fate of his own people-and the world. "Charles Sheffield is one of the very best hard science fiction writers in the world."-Kim Stanley Robinson, award-winning author of the Mars Trilogy

Charles Sheffield (Author), Gary Dikeos (Narrator)

Audiobook

Divergence

For millennia, humankind and the other intelligent races have studied the bizarre and unfathomable constructs of the legendary beings known as the Builders. But still, they are no closer to figuring out who'or what'the Builders were, or where they have gone. For Darya Lang, who has single-handedly catalogued their artifacts for the rest of the universe, finding the Builders has been a life-long dream. To Louis Nenda and the Cecropian Atvar H'sial, the Builder artifacts represent a once-in-a-lifetime shot at untold wealth, and adventurer Hans Rebka has his own dreams of unraveling their mystery. Then, on the world called Quake, during a period of planetary upheaval known as Summertide, a small group of humans and aliens witness the culmination of all those years of watching and waiting, as the planet opens up'and something comes out. 'Excitement builds rapidly in this fast-paced sequel to Summertide.''Library Journal

Charles Sheffield (Author), Geoffrey Howard, Ralph Cosham (Narrator)

Audiobook

Summertide

It was just before Summertide, when the planet Quake would orbit closest to its sun, subjecting itself to vast tidal forces. It was to be the most violent Summertide ever, creating something that only happened every 350,000 years. Access to the unstable Quake was supposed to be prohibited, but some very insistent travelers were determined to make the trip. Professor Darya Lang, who studied artifacts left by the long-vanished aliens called the Builders, had a hunch that she might find the Builders themselves. And Councilor Julius Graves was hunting murderers. Planetary Administrators Hans Rebka and Max Perry had no choice but to go to Quake, risking their lives to protect the others—and to learn, just maybe, the secret of Summertide and the Builders. "The vaults of space echo to another epic voice"— Times

Charles Sheffield (Author), Geoffrey Howard (Narrator)

Audiobook

Transcendence

Charles Sheffield (Author), Geoffrey Howard, Ralph Cosham (Narrator)

Audiobook