In 2026, the Earth faces an unexpected disaster. A supernova in the nearby Alpha Centauri system has apparently wiped out nearly every electronic component on the planet, leaving human civilization paralyzed. Phones don't work, transportation grinds to a halt, and essential services such as medical care are thrown back into the Stone Age. As the world tries to cope with this technological cut-off, a man dying of cancer begins a journey to save his life and that of his fellow patients, a master criminal escapes a sentence of "judiciary sleep," a returning Mars expedition faces what looks like certain death, and U.S. president Saul Steinmetz strives to keep his country from falling apart. Author Charles Sheffield has taken a classic hard-SF concept, applied it to the real world, and created a gripping story of survival. --Craig E. Engler


From Publishers Weekly
Ho-hum: it's another global disaster. This time, a supernova has caused disastrous climatic effects and, if that's not enough, it has also sent out a massive electromagnetic pulse that has disabled all electrical devices worldwide. Sheffield centers his tale on the personal rather than the global?three people with a very specific problem: their experimental cancer treatment has been disrupted, and the only chance they have for a cure lies with a man who has been sentenced to "judicial sleep"?the humane alternative to imprisonment?for serial murder. In addition, there's the crew of the first manned expedition to Mars, struggling to return to Earth; a powerful cult known as the Eye of God; and one Saul Steinmetz, the anguished president of the United States. Most of the main characters are one-dimensional and seem at least as interested in their love lives and personal relationships as they are in the state of the world. Still, Sheffield (Tomorrow & Tomorrow), who has won Hugo, Nebula and John W. Campbell awards, has taken an often-used scenario and given it enough of a twist to keep the pages turning. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
The unexpected supernova of Alpha Centauri affects Earth with catastrophic climatic events and the total failure of advanced technology, driving the planet to the brink of environmental and societal collapse. Sheffield (Tomorrow and Tomorrow, LJ 12/96) uses the familiar plot device of disaster fiction to tell a fascinating and complex tale of human determination and survival. Using the merged destinies of a small group of cancer patients, a renegade terrorist cult, the survivors of humanity's first expedition to Mars, and U.S. President Saul Steinmetz and escaped psychopath Oliver Guest as his touchstones, Sheffield provides a variety of unique voices that add a distinctive perspective to his story. Most libraries should add this well-written sf thriller to their collections.Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Hard-science sf meets the disaster novel, and since the matchmaker is the accomplished Sheffield, the science is not hard going, and the novel is anything but disastrous. In 2026, Alpha Centauri, the sun's nearest stellar neighbor, has gone supernova and has already fried the southern hemisphere with the increased heat. It follows that assault with a sleet of gamma radiation that wipes out all microchips and throws civilization back a century. Meanwhile, the survivors of the first Mars expedition have to land safely, three cancer patients have to find the serial killer-scientist who alone knows how to treat them successfully, and the president has to keep the U.S. together while facing the possibility of further menaces from space. The pacing is less frenzied than usual in this kind of thriller, but the characterization and writing are superior. This is Sheffield's longest novel to date and, though probably not his best, definitely will please his well-earned readership and perhaps expand it. Roland Green


From Kirkus Reviews
Big, bustling post-disaster yarn from the author of Tomorrow and Tomorrow (1997), etc. In 2026, our nearest stellar neighbor, Alpha Centauri, goes supernova; the heat generated by this colossal explosion scorches the Earth's southern hemisphere and distorts climate worldwide. Later, an unexpected electromagnetic pulse destroys all unshielded computer chips, plunging the planet back to a mid20th-century technological level. Saul Steinmetz, the first Jewish president of the US, struggles to rebuild a tottering Union, but the enemies he faces are now internal, not external. With most of the rest of the globe wiped out, ambitious slimeball Senator Nick Lopez and his Representative henchperson, Sarah Mander, urge Saul to declare a Pax Americana and conquer the globe. Elsewhere, cancer victims Art Ferrand, Dana Berlitz, and Seth Parsigian, their life-prolonging therapy destroyed and its originators dead, must locate the one person who maybe can help them, biology whiz Oliver Guest. Unfortunately, Guest is a serial child murderer and has spent the last five years unconscious and unaware, in ``judicial sleep.'' And in space, four survivors of the first expedition to Mars, led by Celine Tanaka, fight their way back to Earth only to be captured by the persuasive, possibly precognitive, certainly crazy cult leader Pearl Lazenby, whose followers are preparing to wipe out all non- whites and take over the US. Finally, Saul's scientists report that, in 50 years time, a particle bombardment from the supernova will blast the planet; more ominously still, the supernova was not a natural event. Professionally handled and ingeniously extrapolated, and with engrossing plot elements, this entry is complete in itself but clearly anticipates sequels. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Review
"Charles Sheffield is one of the very best hard science fiction writers in the world."
--Kim Stanley Robinson, author of the Mars Trilogy and Antarctica

"Sheffield clothes the most advanced speculations of modern science in alluring forms of beauty and danger."



From the Trade Paperback edition.


Review
"Charles Sheffield is one of the very best hard science fiction writers in the world."
--Kim Stanley Robinson, author of the Mars Trilogy and Antarctica

"Sheffield clothes the most advanced speculations of modern science in alluring forms of beauty and danger."



From the Trade Paperback edition.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

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, U.S. President Saul Steinmetz, who faces a crucial decision that will affect the fate of his own people ... and the world.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Ho-hum: it's another global disaster. This time, a supernova has caused disastrous climatic effects and, if that's not enough, it has also sent out a massive electromagnetic pulse that has disabled all electrical devices worldwide. Sheffield centers his tale on the personal rather than the global--three people with a very specific problem: their experimental cancer treatment has been disrupted, and the only chance they have for a cure lies with a man who has been sentenced to "judicial sleep"--the humane alternative to imprisonment--for serial murder. In addition, there's the crew of the first manned expedition to Mars, struggling to return to Earth; a powerful cult known as the Eye of God; and one Saul Steinmetz, the anguished president of the United States. Most of the main characters are one-dimensional and seem at least as interested in their love lives and personal relationships as they are in the state of the world. Still, Sheffield (Tomorrow & Tomorrow), who has won Hugo, Nebula and John W. Campbell awards, has taken an often-used scenario and given it enough of a twist to keep the pages turning. (Aug.)

Library Journal

The unexpected supernova of Alpha Centauri affects Earth with catastrophic climatic events and the total failure of advanced technology, driving the planet to the brink of environmental and societal collapse. Sheffield (Tomorrow and Tomorrow, LJ 12/96) uses the familiar plot device of disaster fiction to tell a fascinating and complex tale of human determination and survival. Using the merged destinies of a small group of cancer patients, a renegade terrorist cult, the survivors of humanity's first expedition to Mars, and U.S. President Saul Steinmetz and escaped psychopath Oliver Guest as his touchstones, Sheffield provides a variety of unique voices that add a distinctive perspective to his story. Most libraries should add this well-written sf thriller to their collections.

Kirkus Reviews

Big, bustling post-disaster yarn from the author of Tomorrow and Tomorrow (1997), etc. In 2026, our nearest stellar neighbor, Alpha Centauri, goes supernova; the heat generated by this colossal explosion scorches the Earth's southern hemisphere and distorts climate worldwide. Later, an unexpected electromagnetic pulse destroys all unshielded computer chips, plunging the planet back to a midþ20th-century technological level. Saul Steinmetz, the first Jewish president of the US, struggles to rebuild a tottering Union, but the enemies he faces are now internal, not external. With most of the rest of the globe wiped out, ambitious slimeball Senator Nick Lopez and his Representative henchperson, Sarah Mander, urge Saul to declare a Pax Americana and conquer the globe. Elsewhere, cancer victims Art Ferrand, Dana Berlitz, and Seth Parsigian, their life-prolonging therapy destroyed and its originators dead, must locate the one person who maybe can help them, biology whiz Oliver Guest. Unfortunately, Guest is a serial child murderer and has spent the last five years unconscious and unaware, in "judicial sleep." And in space, four survivors of the first expedition to Mars, led by Celine Tanaka, fight their way back to Earth only to be captured by the persuasive, possibly precognitive, certainly crazy cult leader Pearl Lazenby, whose followers are preparing to wipe out all non- whites and take over the US. Finally, Saul's scientists report that, in 50 years time, a particle bombardment from the supernova will blast the planet; more ominously still, the supernova was not a natural event. Professionally handled and ingeniously extrapolated, and with engrossing plot elements, this entry iscomplete in itself but clearly anticipates sequels.