Stephen Baxter follows up his Arthur C. Clarke Award nominee Manifold: Time with the second book in the Manifold series, Manifold: Space. In this novel, former shuttle pilot and astronaut Reid Malenfant meets his destiny once again in a tale that stretches the bounds of both space and time.

The year is 2020 and the Japanese have colonized the moon. The 60-year-old Malenfant is called there by a young scientist named Nemoto who has discovered something in the asteroid belt that can only mean humans are not alone in the universe. The aliens seem robotic in nature and appear to be building something in Earth's backyard. The Gaijin, as they are called by humans, don't respond to communication efforts so an unmanned ship is launched to investigate. In the meantime, Malenfant decides answers are only possible by mounting an expedition to Alpha Centauri, which may be where the Gaijin come from.

Baxter, who won the John W. Campbell Award and the Philip K. Dick Award for his novel The Time Ships, orchestrates a stunning array of scientific possibilities in Manifold: Space. Each chapter adds a new piece to his mosaic of humanity's future. The novel is admirable in its enormous scope, but it's hard to invest much emotion in the characters. Although they are well drawn, they vanish for long periods of time as Baxter leapfrogs through time and space. Manifold: Space, by its nature, lacks passion but excels in grand ideas.


From Publishers Weekly
Former NASA astronaut Reid Malenfant returns to lead the vanguard for humanity's future in space in this deeply thought-provoking sequel to Manifold: Time. In the year 2020, America's space program has disintegrated, and the Japanese have colonized the moon. A young Japanese lunar scientist invites Malenfant to the moon for a consultation over mysterious sources of infrared she's discovered in the asteroid belt. A couple of enterprising engineers send the first probe to the asteroids to find out just what's there, only to have their probe swallowed up by a huge, artificial ship. Years later Malenfant mounts his own expedition to the solar focus of Alpha Centauri, where he finds a teleport gateway leading to a race of self-duplicating robots that humans eventually call the Gaijin. Centuries pass before Malenfant begins to understand the realities that underlie the existence of all life in the universe. Philip K. Dick Award-winner Baxter packs his gigantic odyssey with innovative hypotheses, fascinating explanations of complex scientific phenomena and gorgeous descriptions of spaceships. That the novel covers far more territory, both in time and distance, than any one person could ever absorb is both a strength and a weakness; suspense is difficult to maintain over the course of centuries. While a large cast of characters helps generate this unwieldy scenario, only their scientific motivations are explored. Science itself is very clearly the star player on this stage. Nonetheless, this focus allows for an exceptionally intricate and original view of the future that both scientists and lay enthusiasts will enjoy. (Jan.)Forecast: Manifold: Time was nominated for the 2000 Arthur C. Clarke Award. This one could garner its own nominations--with a consequent boost in sales for both titles.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-A sequel to Manifold: Time (Del Rey, 2000) that stands on its own. Reid Malenfant lives an incredible life in fantastic settings throughout the universe. Nemoto, a Japanese researcher, persuades her company to invite him to the moon to deliver a lecture. Shortly upon arrival, he finds out that she really wants him to check out what she's found looking at an asteroid. The only thing they know is that it's the work of sentient beings. A probe encounters an alien vessel and Malenfant takes a look for himself; eventually others make their way into space even as the aliens find their way to Earth. One alien species, the Gaijin, aids Malenfant and the other intrepid travelers in spanning time and space. Their motive: to observe human thought and reaction. Baxter weaves into his story descriptions of the workings of a moon colony, the many wonders of space, and creative ways of exploring and colonizing the galaxy. Readers witness ecological and genetic manipulations on massive scales. The author writes in a matter-of-fact manner-as if he's simply exploring the possibilities. Jumping from character to character and between places and times, the author eventually pulls everything together. Like an amusement-park ride, this style can result in bouts of temporary disorientation. However, if they hold on and stay strapped in, readers will be rewarded with a breathtaking journey.Sheila Shoup, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Former astronaut Reid Malenfant travels to the moon, now a colony of Japan, to meet with a woman who presents him with evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence and offers him the chance of a lifetimeDto explore the origins of life in the universe. Revisiting themes and characters from Manifold: Time (LJ 12/99), Baxter embarks on an ambitious tale that spans the stars. He balances the individual stories of his human protagonists against the panoramic scale of his setting in a landmark work of cosmic speculation that belongs in most libraries. Highly recommended. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
The second volume of the trilogy Baxter launched in Manifold: Time [BKL N 1 99] is more an alternative than a sequel. Earth is back in space, thanks to Reid Malenfant's success at inspiring Japanese colonization of the moon, but it still seems too late to save Earth's crumbling environment. Soon, contact with extraterrestrials called Gaijin (Japanese for foreigner ) establishes that interstellar travel at slower-than-light speed won't help humanity because any sapient race that doesn't collapse from exhausting the resources of its neighborhood is destroyed by suspiciously well timed supernovas. So dimension-traveling Malenfant, now millennia old, and various descendants of early twenty-first-century humanity help the Gaijin and other sapient races overcome that barrier to the spread of intelligent life. This book, though not as tightly plotted as its predecessor, is full of wonders--mining the liquid resources of the moon's interior, the interaction of the Gaijin and Aboriginal Australians, and the genetic revival of Neanderthal. Malenfant is as much message-bearer as character this time, and his message directly targets believers in humanity's destiny in space. Baxter develops the probable complexity of that destiny with formidable intelligence, which may impress many readers who aren't space advocates. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
"Baxter's work reminds us all what science fiction is truly about."
--GREG BEAR
   Author of Darwin's Radio


From the Hardcover edition.


Review
"Baxter's work reminds us all what science fiction is truly about."
--GREG BEAR
   Author of Darwin's Radio


From the Hardcover edition.


Book Description
The year is 2020. Fueled by an insatiable curiosity, Reid Malenfant ventures to the far edge of the solar system, where he discovers a strange artifact left behind by an alien civilization: A gateway that functions as a kind of quantum transporter, allowing virtually instantaneous travel over the vast distances of interstellar space. What lies on the other side of the gateway? Malenfant decides to find out. Yet he will soon be faced with an impossible choice that will push him beyond terror, beyond sanity, beyond humanity itself. Meanwhile on Earth the Japanese scientist Nemoto fears her worst nightmares are coming true. Startling discoveries reveal that the Moon, Venus, even Mars once thrived with life?life that was snuffed out not just once but many times, in cycles of birth and destruction. And the next chilling cycle is set to begin again . . .



From the Inside Flap
The year is 2020. Fueled by an insatiable curiosity, Reid Malenfant ventures to the far edge of the solar system, where he discovers a strange artifact left behind by an alien civilization: A gateway that functions as a kind of quantum transporter, allowing virtually instantaneous travel over the vast distances of interstellar space. What lies on the other side of the gateway? Malenfant decides to find out. Yet he will soon be faced with an impossible choice that will push him beyond terror, beyond sanity, beyond humanity itself. Meanwhile on Earth the Japanese scientist Nemoto fears her worst nightmares are coming true. Startling discoveries reveal that the Moon, Venus, even Mars once thrived with life?life that was snuffed out not just once but many times, in cycles of birth and destruction. And the next chilling cycle is set to begin again . . .

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
The second in Baxter￯﾿ﾽs Manifold trilogy, Manifold: Space might be the author￯﾿ﾽs most ambitious and mind-boggling novel to date. Filled with elaborate scientific theory about the nature of human existence and first contact with alien civilizations, this complex tale warps the very edges of the universe itself. Not only does Baxter come through with his usual large-in-scope hard-science savvy; he also merges eschatological concepts that come into play when one toys with the time-space continuum and the fabric of reality.

At the end of the previous book in the series Manifold: Time, our protagonist, former astronaut Reid Malenfant, travels into space and through a wormhole where he learns that several realities exist in parallel dimensions but only one particular existence will ensure the survival of humanity. At the start of Manifold: Space, we are in an alternate universe with a different Reid Malenfant. Here, Malenfant is something of a joke among his peers in the scientific community, where his obsession to discover alien life among the stars is regarded with a complete lack of enthusiasm. The Japanese are now the most technologically advanced people in the world, having built a lunar base where Malenfant gives lectures to polite but dismissive audiences. Only Nemoto, a scientific rebel of sorts, happens to believe in his theories.

Nemoto has made a startling discovery in a distant asteroid belt. She￯﾿ﾽs found that alien beings nicknamed the Gaijin are mining the asteroids for some unknown purpose. Although probes are sent to the field, Nemoto and Malenfant discover that the real action is taking place at the ￯﾿ﾽsolar focus￯﾿ﾽ aimed toward Alpha Centauri. After a great deal of wheeling and dealing with the world's governments, Malenfant eventually gets the green light to fly to the solar focus in the hopes of making first contact. There, he learns that the Gaijin are self-replicating robots and that the real aliens are an even greater mystery. After going through a teleportation device that literally destroys and remakes him, Malenfant takes the first step towards becoming something greater than human as he searches for the true aliens in the hope of learning their purpose.

With an amazing amount of ingenuity, the author winds elements of space-time, teleportation, multigenerational space travel, and the manipulation of evolution and reality itself into a tight, fast-paced story line. Baxter is highly skilled at keeping the suspense level high even while the action speeds along. The wild scientific theories of universal destruction, paradoxes, and the natural ￯﾿ﾽsterilization￯﾿ﾽ of species create a real sense of anxiety. The author never lets up on the staggering and often haunting themes that drive the bizarre narrative engine of the Manifold books.

Baxter manages to provide yet another enthralling novel that presents our deepest questions on the nature of existence in a rare mixture of hard-SF debate and spiritual contention. Despite the novel￯﾿ﾽs large cast, all the characterization is first rate, even for those who die early on as the millennia pass. In Manifold: Space, Stephen Baxter offers an intricate series of moving explorations of human existence that will keep you reading, and thinking, for long nights to come.

--Tom Piccirilli

Tom Piccirilli is the author of eight novels, including Hexes and Shards, and his Felicity Grove mystery series, consisting of The Dead Past and Sorrow's Crown. He has sold more than 100 stories to the anthologies Future Crimes, Bad News, The Conspiracy Files, and Best of the American West II. An omnibus collection of 40 stories titled Deep into That Darkness Peering is also available. Tom divides his time between New York City and Estes Park, Colorado.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In Manifold: Time, space explorer Reid Malenfant journeyed to the edge of time. Now, in this second installment to the Manifold series we find him embarking on a grand tour of the universe, while the fate of earth itself appears threatened by the tow-pronged menace of an emerging alien presence and out-of-control environmental degradation.

Following Malenfant's journey of millions of light years, we find him once more faced with a choice both impossible and necessary—a choice that will push him beyond terror, beyond sanity, beyond humanity itself.

About the Author:
Stephen Baxter is a trained engineer with degrees from Cambridge (mathematics) and Southhampton Universities (doctorate in aero-engineering research). Baxter is the winner of both The British Science Fiction Award and the Locus Award, as well as being a nominee for the Arthur C. Clarke Award. He has won the Sidewise Award for Best Alternate History Novel, the John W. Campbell Award, and tow Phillip K. Dick Awards.

FROM THE CRITICS

Don D'Ammassa - Science Fiction Chronicle

As always, Baxter plays with space and time with consummate skill, giving us two separate but related plots and a large cast of interesting characters. He continues to be one of the leading writers of hard science fiction.

Publishers Weekly

Former NASA astronaut Reid Malenfant returns to lead the vanguard for humanity's future in space in this deeply thought-provoking sequel to Manifold: Time. In the year 2020, America's space program has disintegrated, and the Japanese have colonized the moon. A young Japanese lunar scientist invites Malenfant to the moon for a consultation over mysterious sources of infrared she's discovered in the asteroid belt. A couple of enterprising engineers send the first probe to the asteroids to find out just what's there, only to have their probe swallowed up by a huge, artificial ship. Years later Malenfant mounts his own expedition to the solar focus of Alpha Centauri, where he finds a teleport gateway leading to a race of self-duplicating robots that humans eventually call the Gaijin. Centuries pass before Malenfant begins to understand the realities that underlie the existence of all life in the universe. Philip K. Dick Award-winner Baxter packs his gigantic odyssey with innovative hypotheses, fascinating explanations of complex scientific phenomena and gorgeous descriptions of spaceships. That the novel covers far more territory, both in time and distance, than any one person could ever absorb is both a strength and a weakness; suspense is difficult to maintain over the course of centuries. While a large cast of characters helps generate this unwieldy scenario, only their scientific motivations are explored. Science itself is very clearly the star player on this stage. Nonetheless, this focus allows for an exceptionally intricate and original view of the future that both scientists and lay enthusiasts will enjoy. (Jan.) Forecast: Manifold: Time was nominated for the 2000 Arthur C. Clarke Award. This one could garner its own nominations--with a consequent boost in sales for both titles. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Former astronaut Reid Malenfant travels to the moon, now a colony of Japan, to meet with a woman who presents him with evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence and offers him the chance of a lifetime--to explore the origins of life in the universe. Revisiting themes and characters from Manifold: Time (LJ 12/99), Baxter embarks on an ambitious tale that spans the stars. He balances the individual stories of his human protagonists against the panoramic scale of his setting in a landmark work of cosmic speculation that belongs in most libraries. Highly recommended. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal