Three Science Fiction Thrillers

Book excerpt: Three excursions through time, outer space, and imaginary worlds from “one of the most intellectually astute SF writers of his generation” (The Washington Post). Michael Swanwick is a legend in the science fiction and fantasy universe, having won five Hugos, a Nebula, a World Fantasy Award, and many more honors for his mind-bending work. This trio of acclaimed sci-fi thrillers showcases the versatility of an author who can build a world, foresee a future, and alter reality. Bones of the Earth: A remarkable scientific breakthrough presented to humankind by an enigmatic future race enables a team of paleontologists to travel back in time to study dinosaurs in their natural prehistoric habitat. But the greatest discovery in history threatens to foment terrorism and create dangerous time paradoxes that could alter tomorrow’s world in this Hugo and Nebula Award–nominated novel. In the Drift: On an alternate Earth, the meltdown at Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island nuclear power plant created a radioactive wasteland and caused the collapse of the US government. A century later, the mutants, monsters, and untouchables of the no-man’s-land called “the Drift” are descending on the city of Philadelphia. Vacuum Flowers: In this futuristic cyberpunk thriller, Rebel Elizabeth Mudlark is a recorded personality owned by a corporate giant. When Rebel’s personality is uploaded to an unsuspecting persona tester and burned into her brain, she escapes the corporation by hijacking her host’s body and embarking on a mad dash to freedom across the solar system.