From a Changeling Star [Paperback]

Jeffrey A. Carver (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1999

Across the galaxy, tensions are rising between the authoritarian Tandesko Triune and the free-marketeers of the Auricle Alliance. Nevertheless, scientists of both sides have come together in Project Starmuse, to observe the giant star Betelgeuse as it goes supernova. At thespace station imbedded inside the roiling star, the team anxiously awaits the return of the one man essential to the success of the project. On Kantano's World, astronomer Willard Ruskin must discover why someone has infected him with nano-agents--artificially intelligent, microscopic computers, which alter his appearance, his memory, his very DNA. Drawn into a conflict from which not even death will free him, Ruskin must find a way to reach Betelgeuse before his enemies sabotage Starmuse...and humankind's future among the stars. A harrowing journey from inside the human cell--to the mind of a dying star.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Starts with a bang and keeps getting better. Carver handles not one, but two hot topics, and presents both vividly." --David Brin "Running from the micro to the macro and back again, redefining sentience, space-time, and perhaps humanity along the way, FROM A CHANGELING STAR is a fast-paced puzzler, rush in invention, and Jeffrey A. Carver's most ambitious book to date." --Roger Zelazny "Carver does an excellent job of tickling your sense of wonder, and in the end he leaves you both satisfied and craving another serving of his considerable talent." --ANALOG "Carver's best book yet! FROM A CHANGELING STAR combines deft characterization and fascinating extrapolation into a complex, compulsively readable thriller. I wish all science fiction novels could be this good." --Craig Shaw Gardner "This is the rare science fiction novel that has everything: a mysterious and exciting story that grabs you from the first page, characters (both alien and human) who will come to matter a great deal to you, and some fascinating scientific concepts (from nanotechnology to hyperstrings). Most of all, it has what only the best science fiction can offer: an almost mystical sense of the wonder and strangeness of this universe and the creatures who inhabit it. If you're not crying at the end, you're a robot. It is Carver's best book." --Richard Bowker, author of REPLICA and DOVER BEACH "As audacious and imaginative as the best of John Varley, with characters as memorable as those of Sturgeon or Zelazny, and with one of the most powerful endings in science fiction." --Spider Robinson --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

About the Author

Jeffrey A. Carver was a Nebula Award finalist for his novel Eternity's End. He also authored Battlestar Galactica, a novelization of the critically acclaimed television miniseries. His novels combine thought-provoking characters with engaging storytelling, and range from the adventures of the Star Rigger universe (Star Rigger's Way, Dragons in the Stars, and others) to the ongoing, character-driven hard SF of The Chaos Chronicles--which begins with Neptune Crossing and continues with Strange Attractors, The Infinite Sea, and Sunborn.

A native of Huron, Ohio, Carver lives with his family in the Boston area. He has taught writing in a variety of settings, from educational television to conferences for young writers to MIT, as well as his ongoing Ultimate Science Fiction Workshop. He has created a free web site for aspiring authors of all ages at writesf.com. Learn more about the author and his work at starrigger.net. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 340 pages
• Publisher: e-reads.com (December 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0759206694
• ISBN-13: 978-0759206694
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,363,731 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kindle readers: Would you like a glimpse behind the scenes of my writing of The Chaos Chronicles? The ebook versions of Neptune Crossing, Strange Attractors, and The Infinite Sea now include all-new Afterwords--my reflections on the evolution of the series and my experience in writing each book. I've kept the prices low on these editions to encourage you to give them a try if you're new to my work. I hope you enjoy them!

Here's a little about me:

A Midwesterner by birth and upbringing (I grew up in Huron, Ohio), I've lived in New England ever since attending college at Brown University, in Rhode Island. Now I live outside Boston with my wife and daughters, and also with a boxer named Hermione and a cat named Moonlight.

I've loved science fiction since I first began to read, and from the time I began writing, I always knew my first love was going to be SF. I'm not sure where you'd place me as a writer: I love astronomy and cosmology and hard SF concepts, and yet the characters are the most important thing to me in any story, whether it's a story I'm reading or a story I'm writing. It's the people, and the sense of wonder, that have always made science fiction--and science!--so awe-inspiring to me. Basically, I have always tried to write stories that I would want to read myself.

Some years ago, I developed and hosted on the air an educational TV series fo r middle-school classrooms, called Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy--teaching kids the basics of how to turn ideas into stories. That later turned into a computer-based course called, oddly enough, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing. In 2005, I decided it was about time to put the information online as a public service, available for free to any aspiring writer. It's online now, and you can use it anytime you like, just by going to http://www.writesf.com.

I also invite you to stop by and read my regular blog, at http://starrigger.blogspot.com, or my web site at http://www.starrigger.net.

Thanks for visiting! And please take a look at the video trailer for my novel Sunborn. If you'd like to view it in full-screen for full effect, you can do that at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K03RMcSeiY4.

--Jeffrey A. Carver

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well, _I_ liked it...., October 19, 1999

By 

"noctros" - See all my reviews

This review is from: From a Changeling Star (Mass Market Paperback)

There are very few books that I will read in one sitting, and this is one of them. It literally begins with a bang (gunshot) and ends with the biggest bang of them all (a supernova). Nanotechnology has always fascinated me, and this book gives a far-future look at the applications of it. I enjoyed the internal battle of the main character as he attempts to rediscover who (and what) he is. About the only thing I was disappointed by was the fact that it actually ended. It is a very fast-paced book that kept me on edge the whole time. Unfortunately, my copy of the book was destroyed by water damage after it went out of print. There are also very few books that I would go on an all-out crusade to find, but this is one of them. I give it 5 of 5 stars.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great stuff here, keeps you on your toes!, July 9, 2006

By 

Marco Clupper "self-proclaimed sci-fi/fantasy... (Gas City, IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From a Changeling Star (Paperback)

There's something to be said for a good story that actually makes you use your brain. It seems to be a sad state of entertainment that if everything isn't laid right out in front of you in black and white right in your face that people won't pay attention because they just wan't mindless entertainment and i've seen plenty of this in movies, tv and books. It's actually funny (in a sad kind of way) that i've actually seen people dismiss intelligent entertainment as being boring or that it "sucks" because it's their way of trying to deflect from the fact they don't want to admit that the real problem is that they don't want to have to think while being entertained. You can tell that this is their real issue because they'll be the same people that tell you how the movie with the biggest explosions and little or no plot is "awesome". Anyway now that i've completely gone off a tangent, let's bring it back: Thank goodness for authors like Jeffrey A. Carver. Now here's an intelligent man that takes pride in actually putting the "science" in science fiction. He also takes seriously doing research of the scientific ideas in his books. This book is a perfect example of that, afterall it's nearly 20 years old now and it doesn't suffer like some sci-fi books and feel dated. It still reads like it could've been written yesterday. He quite simply does his best to get it right and that is refreshing. Now on top of that he has an interesting story going on here that combines the best of sci-fi, adventure and mystery. Ultimately I think it's amazing how Mr. Carver manages to give the reader the sci-fi goods and keep the story moving along at a brisk pace that keeps you turning the pages. There are authors out there that use sci-fi as a backdrop to tell their stories. There are authors out there that get so caught up in the future tech minutia that they forget to tell a good story. Jeffrey A. Carver is one of the few out there who seems to get the balance right and because of that I think he's one of the most underapprecicated authors we have writing today.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Blow up a star, no problem. Who am I?...Hmmm, April 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: From a Changeling Star (Mass Market Paperback)

Is our protagonist a psychotic, amnesiac destroyer of stars or a brilliant research scientist reaching for the ultimate prize? While nanotechnology plays an important part in this story it is not the central issue. How can a man stay true to his convictions when he is the pinned between galactic empires and his own body is rebelling against him?