2004 Campbell Finalists for best SF
Discover the 2004 Campbell Award finalists for best science fiction books. Explore the top contenders and acclaimed authors in this prestigious SF literary competition.
Book
Jennifer Government
by Max Barry
In the near future, corporations rule the world and the one who defies them is pursued relentlessly.
Book
The X President
by Philip Edward Baruth
In the year 2055 America is entangled in a devastating world war, and as the threat of homeland invasion grows stronger, Sal Hayden, official biographer of a former president, attempts to influence the future by changing the past.
Book
Darwin's Children
by Greg Bear
Greg Bear’s Nebula Award–winning novel, Darwin’s Radio, painted a chilling portrait of humankind on the threshold of a radical leap in evolution—one that would alter our species forever. Now Bear continues his provocative tale of the human race confronted by an uncertain future, where “survival of the fittest” takes on astonishing and controversial new dimensions. Eleven years have passed since SHEVA, an ancient retrovirus, was discovered in human DNA—a retrovirus that caused mutations in the human genome and heralded the arrival of a new wave of genetically enhanced humans. Now these changed children have reached adolescence . . . and face a world that is outraged about their very existence. For these special youths, possessed of remarkable, advanced traits that mark a major turning point in human development, are also ticking time bombs harboring hosts of viruses that could exterminate the “old” human race. Fear and hatred of the virus children have made them a persecuted underclass, quarantined by the government in special “schools,” targeted by federally sanctioned bounty hunters, and demonized by hysterical segments of the population. But pockets of resistance have sprung up among those opposed to treating the children like dangerous diseases—and who fear the worst if the government’s draconian measures are carried to their extreme. Scientists Kaye Lang and Mitch Rafelson are part of this small but determined minority. Once at the forefront of the discovery and study of the SHEVA outbreak, they now live as virtual exiles in the Virginia suburbs with their daughter, Stella—a bright, inquisitive virus child who is quickly maturing, straining to break free of the protective world her parents have built around her, and eager to seek out others of her kind. But for all their precautions, Kaye, Mitch, and Stella have not slipped below the government’s radar. The agencies fanatically devoted to segregating and controlling the new-breed children monitor their every move—watching and waiting for the opportunity to strike the next blow in their escalating war to preserve “humankind” at any cost.
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Star Dragon
by Mike Brotherton
An astounding new talent takes readers on a thrilling journey to the heart of a star. "A dramatic, provocative, utterly convincing hard-science sf novel that includes an ironic twist that fans will love."--"Booklist" (starred review).
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Omega
by Jack McDevitt
A civilization-destroying omega cloud has switched direction, heading straight for a previously unexplored planetary system--and its alien society. And suddenly, a handful of brave humans must try to save an entire world--without revealing their existence.
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Sister Alice
by Robert Reed
Millions of years in the future, mankind is on the brink of self-destruction. The creation of a genetically enhanced super-race saves mankind and makes the future safe for the rest of the galaxy. But one of these beings, Sister Alice, soon becomes part of an experiment that destroys countless worlds.
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Natural History
by Justina Robson
A human and a half-human-half-machine woman must work together to discover the reasons behind a long-lost past civilization, and must fight to make a decision for the future.
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Book
Red Thunder
by John Varley
Seven suburban misfits are constructing a spaceship out of old tanker cars. The plan is to beat the Chinese to Mars--in under four days at three million miles an hour. It would be history in the making if it didn't sound so insane.