Since his debut in Terry Carr's legendary Ace Specials of the 1980s,
Carter Scholz has occupied an enviable, if demanding, position on the
cutting edge of modern speculative literature (vulgarly called SF).
Proudly debuting in this volume, Gypsy is his first major work since
his 2002 nuclear thriller Radiance. An interstellar adventure grounded
in the hard science of accurate physics and biology, Gypsy soars far
beyond the heliosphere of conventional science fiction. Jettisoning the
easy warp-drives of fantasy and space opera, Scholz chronicles with
chilling realism the epic voyage of a team of far-seeing scientists, who
crowdsource a secret starship and abandon the doomed Earth for the Alpha
Centauri system, our nearest stellar neighbor and last desperate chance.
Heartbreak and hope collide in this moving and visionary tale.
Plus...
An epistolary story about a story, "The Nine Billion Names of God," uses
a classic SF text to deconstruct literary deconstruction itself, with
hilarious results. In the wickedly droll "Bad Pennies," a spy tasked
with trashing a foreign economy testifies before a complacent Congress.
Quietly furious, "The United States of Impunity" is an alarming look
under the tent of today's political sideshow. Adults only.
And Featuring: "Gear. Food. Rocks."--our Outspoken Interview, in which
a postmodern Renaissance man charts the synergies and dissonances of a
career that embraces both literary and musical composition, reveals the
hidden link between winemaking and deep space astronomy, and tells you
how to steal his car.
