Is this the greatest discovery of all time â€¦ or the biggest hoax? Bob Hanson, the chief scientist of a major aerospace corporation, has made an incredible discovery: a wrecked alien spacecraft adrift in the Asteroid Belt. The evidence is compellingâ€”video images from the Prospector space probe he himself had created. The military enthusiastically embraces an investigation of the extraterrestrials, remarkably indifferent to the inconsistencies that begin to appear. Undeterred, Hanson keeps digging â€¦ and finds much more than he had ever bargained for. Soon on the lam, he, and everyone to whom he turns, is hunted. Before long only one conclusion remains unassailableâ€”that his mysterious opponents play for keeps. Are aliens manipulating events on Earth? Did unscrupulous corporate executives invent the aliens in search of giga-buck government contracts? Has the Pentagon fabricated an alien menace for its own purposes? Or is the truth something really unimaginable?

Probe

Lerner, Edward M.

GRAND CENTRAL PUB.

Is this the greatest discovery of all time … or the biggest hoax? Bob Hanson, the chief scientist of a major aerospace corporation, has made an incredible discovery: a wrecked alien spacecraft adrift in the Asteroid Belt. The evidence is compelling—video images from the Prospector space probe he himself had created. The military enthusiastically embraces an investigation of the extraterrestrials, remarkably indifferent to the inconsistencies that begin to appear. Undeterred, Hanson keeps digging … and finds much more than he had ever bargained for. Soon on the lam, he, and everyone to whom he turns, is hunted. Before long only one conclusion remains unassailable—that his mysterious opponents play for keeps. Are aliens manipulating events on Earth? Did unscrupulous corporate executives invent the aliens in search of giga-buck government contracts? Has the Pentagon fabricated an alien menace for its own purposes? Or is the truth something really unimaginable?

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Authors Choice Pr

Kyle Gustafson had been doing work he loved, with the space program, anemic though it was, until disaster struck and a shuttle was lost on takeoff. There had to be a fall guy, and Kyle was picked-but a few months later, the American space program instantly became a quaint relic when aliens in a gigantic starship orbited the moon and made contact with Earth. They said that they represented a vast federation of intelligent races and they hoped that Earth would prove eligible to join the Federation. Kyle found himself back in good favor, picked to interface with the alien representatives sent to Earth. But there were a few false notes in the utopian front the aliens presented. Surveillance and other satellites were disappearing from orbit in a way that might have made the Americans suspect the Russians and the Russians suspect the Americans, except that each was aware of the other side's disappearances. And when the aliens began handing out small objects of alien art to world leaders as tokens of friendship, Kyle became suspicious. Technicians investigated and found that the items were actually listening devices. Worse, odd events were happening all over the world which seemed deliberately planned to provoke the U.S. and Russia into war, possibly even a nuclear holocaust. Were the aliens trying to get Earth to wipe itself out? And why? Kyle would find that he had an ally among the aliens, but one who was regarded as a freak by her own kind. Her influence was limited, but Kyle had to find a way out of the crisis before the world exploded in nuclear flames, or else the aliens grew impatient and decided to do the job themselves. . . .

Moonstruck

Literature & Fiction

United States

Baen

Fleet of Worlds marks Larry Niven's first full novel-length collaboration within his Known Space universe, the playground he created for his bestselling Ringworld series. Teaming up with fellow SF writer Edward M. Lerner, Fleet of Worlds takes a closer look at the Human-Puppeteer (Citizens) relations and the events leading up to Niven's first Ringworld novel. Kirsten Quinn-Kovacs is among the best and brightest of her people. She gratefully serves the gentle race that rescued her ancestors from a dying starship, gave them a world, and nurtures them still. If only the Citizens knew where Kirsten's people came from…. A chain reaction of supernovae at the galaxy's core has unleashed a wave of lethal radiation that will sterilize the galaxy. The Citizens flee, taking their planets, the Fleet of Worlds, with them. Someone must scout ahead, and Kirsten and her crew eagerly volunteer. Under the guiding eye of Nessus, their Citizen mentor, they explore for any possible dangers in the Fleet's path--and uncover long-hidden truths that will shake the foundations of worlds.

Fleet of Worlds (Known Space)

Niven,Larry

Contemporary

Tor Books

We are not alone, and it’s our own damn fault ... Something demonic is stalking the brightest men and women in the computer industry. It attacks without warning or mercy, leaving its prey insane, comatose--or dead. Something far nastier than any virus, worm, or Trojan horse program is being evolved in laboratory confinement by well-intentioned but misguided researchers. When their artificial life-form escapes onto the Internet, no conventional defense against malicious software can begin to compete. As disasters multiply, computer scientist Doug Carey knows that unconventional measures may be civilization’s last hope. And that any artificial life-form learns very fast ….

Fools' Experiments

Thrillers & Suspense

Garner Nanotechnology is developing nanotech-enhanced protective suits and autonomous first-aid nanobots. It’s cutting-edge stuff, and when it saves Brent Cleary from a pipeline explosion that killed hundreds, the Army takes notice. 
Near-death experience changes a person, so no one is entirely surprised when easy-going Brent turns somber and studious, focused and cold. Not at first. But Kim O’Donnell, Brent’s best friend, cannot get past some of the changes. This just isn’t her friend, and she wonders what’s gotten into him. 
With an Army field trial imminent and the company’s future at stake, possible nanotech side effects aren’t something anyone wants to discuss. The bad news is, Kim’s right. Something has gotten into Brent – and he isn’t the only one changing. 
If Kim can’t stop them … maybe we’ll all change.

Small Miracles

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Science Fiction

Worlds closer to the galatic core than Known Space are --or were-- home to intelligent speciers. Some learned of the core explosion in time to flee. Destroyer of Worlds opens in 2670, ten years after Juggler of Worlds closes; with refugee species fleeing in an armada of ramscoops in the direction of the Fleet of Worlds. The onrushing aliens are recognized as a threat; they have left in their trail a host of desolated worlds: some raided for supplies, some attacked to eliminate competition, and some for pure xenophobia. Only the Puppeteers might have the resources to confront this threat--but the Puppeteers are philosophical cowards... they don't confront anyone. They need sepoys to investigate the situation and take action for them. The source of the sepoys? Their newly independent former slave world, New Terra.

Destroyer of Worlds

Fleeing the supernova chain reaction at the galactic core, the cowardly Puppeteers of the Fleet of Worlds have---just barely---survived. They?ve stumbled from one crisis to the next: The rebellion of their human slaves. The relentless questing of the species of Known Space. The spectacular rise of the starfish-like Gw?oth. The onslaught of the genocidal Pak. Catastrophe looms again as past crises return---and converge. Who can possibly save the Fleet of Worlds from its greatest peril yet?Louis Wu? Trapped in the Wunderland civil war, all he wants is to go home---but the only possible escape will plunge him into unknowable danger. Ol?t?ro? The Gw?oth ensemble mind fled across the stars to establish a colony world free from tyranny. But some problems cannot be left behind, and other problems---like the Fleet of Worlds itself---are racing straight at them. Achilles? Despite past disgrace, the charismatic Puppeteer

Betrayer of Worlds (Known Space)

Fleet of Worlds marks Larry Niven's first full novel-length collaboration within his Known Space universe, the playground he created for his bestselling Ringworld series. Teaming up with fellow SF writer Edward M. Lerner, Fleet of Worlds takes a closer look at the Human-Puppeteer (Citizens) relations and the events leading up to Niven's first Ringworld novel.
Kirsten Quinn-Kovacs is among the best and brightest of her people. She gratefully serves the gentle race that rescued her ancestors from a dying starship, gave them a world, and nurtures them still. If only the Citizens knew where Kirsten's people came from….
A chain reaction of supernovae at the galaxy's core has unleashed a wave of lethal radiation that will sterilize the galaxy. The Citizens flee, taking their planets, the Fleet of Worlds, with them.
Someone must scout ahead, and Kirsten and her crew eagerly volunteer. Under the guiding eye of Nessus, their Citizen mentor, they explore for any possible dangers in the Fleet's path―and uncover long-hidden truths that will shake the foundations of worlds.

Fleet of Worlds: 200 Years Before the Discovery of the Ringworld (Known Space, 2)

For decades, the spacefaring species of Known Space have battled over the largest artifact -- and grandest prize -- in the galaxy: the all-but-limitless resources and technology of the Ringworld. But without warning, the Ringworld has vanished, leaving behind three rival war fleets. Something must justify the blood and treasure that have been spent. If the fallen civilization of the Ringworld can no longer be despoiled of its secrets, the Puppeteers will be forced to surrender theirs. Everyone knows that the Puppeteers are cowards. But the crises converging upon the trillion Puppeteers of the Fleet of Worlds go far beyond even the onrushing armadas: Adventurer Louis Wu and the exiled Puppeteer known only as Hindmost, marooned together for more than a decade, escaped from the Ringworld before it disappeared. And throughout those years, as he studied Ringworld technology, Hindmost has plotted to reclaim his power ... Ol't'ro, the Gw'oth ensemble mind -- and the Fleet of Worlds' unsuspected puppet master for a century -- is deviously brilliant. And increasingly unbalanced ... Proteus, the artificial intelligence on which, in desperation, the Puppeteers rely to manage their defenses, is outgrowing its programming -- and the supposed constraints on its initiative ... Sigmund Ausfaller, paranoid and disgraced hero of the lost human colony of New Terra, knows that something threatens his adopted home world -- and that it must be stopped ... Achilles, the megalomaniac Puppeteer -- twice banished, and twice rehabilitated -- sees the Fleet of Worlds' existential crisis as a new opportunity to reclaim supreme power. Whatever the risks ... One way or another, the fabled race of Puppeteers may have come to the end of their days.

Fate of Worlds: Return from the Ringworld (Known Space)

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Lerner, Edward M.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Lerner, Edward M.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Lerner, Edward M.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Probe

Probe

Moonstruck

Fleet of Worlds (Known Space)

Fools' Experiments

Small Miracles

Destroyer of Worlds

Betrayer of Worlds (Known Space)

Fleet of Worlds: 200 Years Before the Discovery of the Ringworld (Known Space, 2)

Fate of Worlds: Return from the Ringworld (Known Space)