Plongez dans un futur vibrant où la matière programmable, de mortels cristaux semblables à des trous noirs et une rivalité scientifique façonnent le destin. Cette saga se déroule alors que l'humanité colonise le système solaire, faisant face à des menaces existentielles qui poussent l'innovation à ses limites. Suivez des scientifiques brillants dont les efforts épiques pour sauver la civilisation de la catastrophe s'entremêlent à leurs ambitions personnelles. C'est un mélange captivant de science-fiction dure, d'intrigues politiques et de drames à enjeux élevés.
In the eighth decade of the Queendom of Sol, three things form the backbone of civilisation. Wellstone, a programmable matter of almost magical properties. Collapsium, a deadly crystal composed of miniature black holes, and indispensable for the transmission of matter and information through the solar system. And Rivalry, the bitter competition between Her Majesty s two most brilliant scientists.
In his Nebula Award nominated novel The Collapsium, acclaimed author Wil McCarthy introduced a richly imagined future of boundless possibility, where poverty, war, and even death are banished forever. Only now that world's exquisite perfection propels one restless young man toward the ultimate challenge.The WellstoneFor the children of immortal parents, growing up can be hard to do. A prince will forever be a prince--leaving no chance for Bascal Edward de Towaji Lutui to inherit his parents' throne. So what is an angry young blue blood to do? Punch a hole in the shadow he has been living in by rallying his equally disgruntled companions to make an improbable spaceship, busting out of the so-called summer camp in which their parents have stowed them and making a daring escape across the vastness of space. Neer-do-well Conrad Mursk is just along for the joyride--until he realizes this is no typical display of teenage angst. The children are rising up in an honest-to-gods revolution. And, boyo, things are going to get raw.
"Brash and idealistic, they were rebels without a cause in a world governed by science, reason . . . and immortality. Banished for their troubles to the starship Newhope, they now face a bold future: to settle the worlds of Barnard's Star. Now King Bascal Edward de Towaji Lutui, former prince of the Queendom of Sol, together with Captain Xiomara "Xmary" Li Weng and her lover, first mate Conrad Mursk, face a perilous voyage with thousands of their fellow exiles. The journey will last a century, but with Queendom technology it's no problem to step into a fax machine and "print" a fresh, youthful version of yourself. But what this crew of rebels will find is far from the paradise they seek. Before long, their optimistic young colony has started to show signs of strain. And worst of all, death itself has returned with a vengeance"-- Provided by publisher
"Once the Queendom of Sol was a glowing monument to humankind's loftiest dreams. Ageless and immortal, its citizens lived in peaceful splendor. But as Sol buckled under the swell of an immorbid population, space itself literally ran out. . . . Conrad Mursk has returned to Sol on the crippled starship Newhope. His crew are the frozen refugees of a failed colony known as Barnard's Star. A thousand years older, Mursk finds Sol on the brink of rebellion, while a fanatic necro cult is reviving death itself. Now Mursk and his lover, Captain Xiomara "Xmary" Li Weng, are sent on a final, desperate mission by King Bruno de Towaji-one of the greatest terraformers of the ages-to literally crush the moon. If they succeed, they'll save billions of lost souls. If they fail, they'll strand humanity between death and something unimaginably worse. . . "-- Provided by publisher