Ark [Paperback]

Stephen Baxter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 8, 2010

As the waters rose in FLOOD, high in the Colorado mountains the US government was building an ark. Not an ark to ride the waves but an ark that would take a select few thousand people out into space to start a new future for mankind. Sent out into deep space on a journey lasting years, generations of crew members carry the hope of a new beginning on a new, incredibly distant, planet. But as time passes knowledge and purpose is lost and division and madness grows. And back on earth life, and man, find a new way. This is the epic sequel to the acclaimed FLOOD; a stirring tale of what mankind will do to survive and the perfect introduction for new readers to one of SF's greatest tropes; the generation ship. Written by one of the most significant SF writers of the last 30 years, a man considered to be the heir of Arthur C. Clarke as a writer with a unique ability to popularize science and science fiction for the largest possible audience FLOOD and ARK together form a landmark in modern SF.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Baxter's riveting follow-up to bestseller Flood tempers the hope of humanity coming together in the face of a crisis with an often brutal undercurrent of realism, resulting in a sequel that surpasses the original in almost every way. Set during the later years of the earth-destroying flood, the book follows Holle Groundwater and her friends as they go from being six-year-old students of an experimental space academy to a years-long trip through the cosmos in search of Earth 2. The best-laid plans are often, and unexpectedly, disrupted at almost every stage; the ship must deal with stowaways, unqualified applicants, infighting, and even mutiny. Characteristic of Baxter's writing, the novel can be depressing at times but still serves as a study of humanity's ability to adapt and make painful decisions for the greater good. With an almost completely new cast, readers old and new will be engaged by the strength and scope of Baxter's vision, and the all-too-human characters he creates.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"Never has Baxter presented a more thrilling and moving glimpse of a possible future: Ark could well be his masterpiece." -- Eric Brown THE GUARDIAN "A seam of realism runs through the novel, making it more compelling than most shiny, happy dreams of space travel. Even when the equations and technology work, there is no escaping the human factor that fouls up the best-laid plans. This is a grim but exciting tale of the ultimate in pioneering adventure, in the most unforgiving environment of all." -- Lisa Tuttle THE TIMES "An excellently executed novel that dealt in everything from the mundane daily tasks of the crew as they seek out another world brought together with almost impeccable execution. Add to the mix emotional conflict, political infighting and it's a novel that could well be his best work to date." FALCATTA TIMES "[He] writes brilliantly about what it might be like to experience space travel. This capacity for mixing awe-inspiring vistas with gnarly day-to-day details hasn't diminished." -- Jonathan Wright SFX "... all too convincing as he imagines the terrible dangers and tensions of such a journey. He shows us that, while it may be easy to preserve Mother Earth as a benign home, it's a simple task compared to colonising new worlds." -- Jonathan Wright BBC FOCUS "Baxter is the natural heir to the hard sci-fi crown of Arthur C Clarke and he shares Clarke's generous imagination and ability to extrapolate a plausible future technology from the cutting-edge theories of today. Imaginative appeal is what counts with Baxter and in that he delivers reliably." -- Peter Ingham THE DAILY TELEGRAPH "Beyond the science and technicalities - which are wonderful, informative, and completely believable - Ark is a story about characters. I loved the writing, the blend of physics, hard science fiction, and compelling plot lines. I loved the emotional turmoil, the self-destructive nature of humanity, and the messiness of survival. Simply put: I loved this book." THE BOOK SMUGGLERS "A page turning disaster sequel that shows us a fascinating, terrifying and ultimately hopeful view of humanity's chances in the face of terrific adversity." SCI FI NOW "Science fiction told very realistically, through the characters and the science. Perhaps Ark lacks the sheer sense of wonder of some of Baxter's previous galaxy-spanning fiction, but this is recession fantasy, with no impoverishment of the imagination. " TOTAL SCIFI --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Gollancz (July 8, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0575094133
• ISBN-13: 978-0575094130
• Product Dimensions: 4.4 x 1.3 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,484,727 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of Baxter's darker themed works, November 20, 2009

By 

Brian K. Ralli (Roseville, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ark (Paperback)

I really enjoyed this novel having read most of Baxter's other works including "Flood". As other reviewers have mentioned, you just have to except the plot device that we could actually develop a faster-than-light starship within the next generation. Much like "Flood", this is a very dark story following people living out their entire lives in the most dismal of situations. Like his novel, "Titan", Baxter portrays space travel as a very miserable and uncertain endeavor. It's not a complete downer, however, with an overriding theme that human ingenuity can conquer all, albeit a little implausibly sometimes. The novel leaves open room for at least 3 sequels following the continuing stories left open in this universe.

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good read and a great sequel to Flood, October 24, 2009

By 

J. Åstrøm (Lillehammer, Norway) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ark (Paperback)

Having read several other Baxter books, I found this now two-book SF series to be quite refreshing considering how other series he's either fully authored or co-authored. What I do like about the future Baxter paints in both Flood and Ark is that technological advancement seems to freeze in a not too far future, making this personally for me very believable. Although some of the technology presented later on (such as the collection of anti-matter, creation of the warp bubble and superluminal interstellar flight) may seem a little far-fetched - yet! - the author uses much of older and recent scientific research and discussion as background for his book. In other words, he has blended imagination and science in a very successful way.

Unlike another customer review here, I actually do think you should read the previous book, Flood, to understand Ark. Flood sets the desperate, gruesome and gloomy mood of the everflooding Earth and an apparent dying humanity. Ark represents the faint hope that is presented at the very end of the first book. I feel the stories are inextricably intertwined and equally important to understand the series.

The only reason why I don't give this book 5 stars is that I found it too short (!) and that it was a tiny bit less exciting than Flood.

But if you like a believable story about exploration of exo-planets, a play on how we might escape the solar system with a semi-current level of technology well mixed with a good human drama - Ark is for you.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An allegory for our times, January 14, 2011

By 

Joanne Marinelli (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ark (Flood) (Kindle Edition)

Let me enter into ARK by noting some minor difficulties that Baxter is not able to overcome. The sheer number of characters involved threatens to leave them undifferentiated. Some of the dialogue from Gordo, the old NASA right stuff archetype, and from President Vasquez might be interchangeable, for instance, and Vasquez herself is a model for most of the old women who surface and disappear in this ongoing catastrophe, but this novel is one of those rare works of science fiction that transcends genre, nearly the equal of more traditional literary forms, and it took my breath away from sheer relief to find someone who is a master of his science, with plausible if unlikely scenarios to dog our heels as we travel onward into this century.

Liu Zheng's sacrifice as the aeronautics engineer who left an entire life behind in China for the sake of his belief in a spaceship sanctuary, brought the magnitude of the flood crisis home to me with particular force, but the entire novel is grounded in a disaster that could happen, and Baxter rightly spares us little about the price tag for our own lack of humility and gratitude for this stable terra firma planet.

I also find ARK a telling political allegory about the end of American Exceptionalism, and the mythology deployed to sustain it for so long, and the hidden ugliness beneath our so-called civil convictions. This is without a doubt a masterwork, one which I hope to continue to enjoy as I buy up the prequel FLOOD, and Baxter's other spin offs in the franchise.