Kube-McDowell, Michael P.

Before the Storm (Star Wars: The Black Fleet Crisis, Book 1)

In the blockbuster bestselling tradition of Heir to the Empire comes this thrilling addition to the Star Wars(r) saga, as peace gives way to a new threat...

It is a time of tranquillity for the New Republic.  The remnants of the Empire now lie in complete disarray, and the reemergence of the Jedi Knights has brought power and prestige to the fledgling government on Coruscant.  Yesterday's Rebels have become today's administrators and diplomats, and the factions that fought against imperial tyranny seem united in savoring the fruits of peace.

But the peace is short-lived.  A restless Luke must journey to his mother's homeworld in a desperate and dangerous quest to find her people.  An adventurous Lando must seize a mysterious spacecraft that has weapons of enormous destructive power and an unknown mission.  And Leia, a living symbol of the New Republic's triumph, must face down a ruthless leader of the Duskhan League, an arrogant Yevetha who seems bent on a genocidal war that could shatter the fragile unity of the New Republic...and threaten its very survival.

Shield of Lies (Star Wars: The Black Fleet Crisis, Book 2)

As Leia must deal with a new threat to the  fragile alliance that binds the New Republic, Lando  becomes a prisoner aboard a runaway spacecraft of  unknown origin. The ship is following an unstoppable  path to its homeworld, destroyed by Imperial  forces. Luke continues his quest to learn more about  his mother among the Fallanassi, where his every  belief about the use of the Force is about to be  challenged. And while Leia ponders a diplomatic  solution to the aggression of the fierce Yevetha race,  Han pilots a spy ship into the heart of Yevethan  space and finds himself a hostage on one of the  vast fleet of warships under the command of a  ruthless leader.

Tyrant's Test (Star Wars: The Black Fleet Crisis, Book 3)

In the wake of a shattered alliance, the New Republic fights a relentless new enemy in an all-new adventure in the bestselling Star Wars saga...

Faced with an alarming image of Han as a battered hostage of the Yevetha, Chewbacca takes on an urgent mission. Meanwhile, Leia calls upon the Senate to take a stand and eliminate the Yevetha threat--even at the cost of Han's life.  As a former Imperial governor takes his battle to the runaway Qella spaceship, Luke's continuing search for his mother brings him dangerously close to Nil Spaar's deadly forces. And as the Yevetha close in on the forces of the New Republic, Luke takes a desperate gamble with an invisible weapon...

Isaac Asimov's Robot City, Volumes 1 and 2

BEYOND AURORA AWAITS A BRAVE NEW WORLD....OF ROBOTS

A man without a memory is stranded in a world-enveloping city filled with robots gone wild. At his side is a mysterious young woman who claims to know who he is but refuses to tell him. According to The Three Laws of Robotics,"A robot may not injure a human being," which narrows the suspects dramatically when the robots find a dead human body.

The man calls himself Derec; the woman is know as Katherine. Their real identities, along with that of the murder victim and the murderer, are just a few of the life-and-death mysteries the unlikely pair are forced to solve to survive on the fantastic streets of Isaac Asimov's Robot City.

The late Isaac Asimov challenged a talented group of science-fiction writers to resolve the conundrums he set for them in this complex robot mystery set early in the timeline of his robot and Foundation universes.

The Trigger

The early 21st century ushers in a revolution in unified field theory, and free-thinking physicist Jeffrey Horton and his team are pushing the cutting edge. Sequestered on a maximum-security research campus, the scientists are testing "Baby," a device they hope will create "a laser for gravity," a tractor beam. But during an early run, every gun in the area (and even a secret stash of fireworks) simultaneously explodes. Follow-up tests soon prove their device was responsible--that it can in fact neutralize every conventional gun, bomb, and explosive--and that's when Baby becomes the "Trigger."

This speculative novel by sci-fi legend Arthur C. Clarke and genre workman Michael Kube-McDowell follows the vast sea changes such an invention would bring, reading as part thriller, part social tract. Horton and his Trigger follow a course not unlike that of Einstein and the A-bomb, but ratcheted up by an order of magnitude--idealistic scientists, overwhelmed politicians, rabid lobbyists, and entrenched generals must deal with the device's deployment and consequences, both political and social, in a gun-rich, gun-dependent culture. A well-researched, plausible plot line keeps The Trigger not just readable but downright engrossing, despite its sometimes distracting lack of subtlety. All in all, a worthwhile, entertaining meditation on how technological progress always proves as unpredictable as it is inevitable. --Paul Hughes

From Arthur C. Clarke, bestselling author of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Creator Of The Rama Series, and Michael Kube-Mcdowell comes a breathtaking new novel of bold scientific speculation and edge-of-your-seat suspense: a riveting thriller in which the fate of humanity depends on whose finger is on...The Trigger

It is the ultimate anti-weapon. A device that can render guns and bombs virtually harmless. At least that is how Dr. Jeffrey Horton, the brilliant young physicist who developed the Trigger, hopes his discovery will be used. Yet, like the scientists who first believed nuclear weapons would be the ultimate deterrent to war, could Horton and his colleagues be wrong? Will this new technology bring peace, or chaos? Will it be used to protect people, or control them? Will it mean the end of war, or a whole new kind of war? Not even Horton could have foreseen the fierce power struggle emerging for control of the Trigger. Soon it becomes clear that no one can be trusted. Not even those closest to him. Someone has already betrayed the project. Others will do anything to stop it--or co-opt it for their own ends. And the greatest enemy may be those with the best intentions.

Empery (Trigon Disunity, Book 3)

Enigma: Book2 of the Trigon Disunity (Book Two of the Trigon Disunity)

Emprise (Trigon Disunity, Book 1)

The devastating Food and Fuel Wars have turned once-powerful nations into isolated farming communities. Barter has replaced currency, and scientists-considered responsible for the world's misery-are burned at the stake. Hidden in the Idaho hills, astronomer Allen Chandliss secretly monitors his radiotelescope, listening for signs of intelligent life, hoping that aliens will come and improve things on Earth. For seventeen years he has waited patiently. His patience is about to pay off. . . .

Alternities

Isaac Asimov's Odyssey: Robot City: Book1 (Isaac Asimov's Robot City, Book 1)

A man without memory, stranded on an icy asteroid. His only chance for survival is locked within a band of mining robots who are dutifully searching the surface for a mysterious object known as the Key to Perihelion.

His name is Derec. His journey will take him to a city different from any he has ever known. A fantastic metropolis beyond his dreams: Robot City.