Print edition of Book Two of Henry Gee's incredible Sigil Trilogy! The Brethren of a remote and lonely monastery are preparing for the Apparition of the Goddess, a festival that happens once every 2,058,416 years. But will the Goddess arrive in time to save them from an apparition of an altogether more hostile kind? Mr Haraddzjin Khorare, Trader in Textiles from the Very Great and Ancient City of Axandragor, is on a routine business trip. But when his vessel is attacked by pirates, his adventure takes an altogether more astonishing turn. The discoveries of Jack Corstorphine and Jadis Markham have stunned the world. But more is to come, With their adopted son Tom, their student Shoshana Levinson, their colleague Avram Malkeinu, and their mentor, scientist-priest Domingo, they are about to witness at first hand the full horror of the War of the Last Days. Scourge of Stars is the second volume of The Sigil Trilogy, Henry Gee's epic tale that explores the nature of humanity, religion and love. Praise for THE SIGIL TRILOGY: "Great stuff. Touches of Douglas Adams, Barrington Bayley, David Britton and Steve Ayelet only emphasise the splendid originality of this book. Henry Gee is thoughtful, funny, original. And pretty thoroughly mind-expanding in the tradition of Wells, David Lindsay, Stapledon and Clarke. In fact everything you yearn to find in a very good contemporary SF novel. Really enjoyed it!" -SFWA Grandmaster Michael Moorcock "Siege is compelling, grandiose, and breathtaking in its spacetime and its characters are intriguing, personal, and complex....This book of Henry's is going to be high on the charts." -Greg Laden, scienceblogs.com "Echoes of Olaf Stapledon and Arthur C. Clarke, with more interesting characters than either of them." - John Gribbin Cosmically deep and sensually rich, here is a very warm, enthusiastic and human book about great issues of our own world and of the whole universe, beautifully written. What can I say but: Gee Whiz! (unless somebody already has...) - Ian Watson "One of the very best books I've ever read." -Critique.org "Henry Gee serves up a tasty stew of sex, science and space opera. Or should that read romance, rationality and retro-SF? Either way, the book is great entertainment." -Vaughan Stanger, author of Alternate Apollos "A great very-wide-screen story, with many interesting characters I cared about...the writing-and the palaeontology-are beautifully executed" -Jack Cohen, author of Wheelers and Heaven Reminiscent of Peter F. Hamilton's SF epics in its scope and ambition, "The Siege of Stars" is a wildly imaginative book set against the vivid locales scattered throughout time and space. Gee masterfully paints his protagonists in engaging, realistic and very human light. Their personalities and relationships drive the story forward as much as its grandiose scale, making "Siege" difficult to put down. - Alex Shvartsman "Henry Gee's crackling prose and fast-paced storytelling pull the reader right in, but it's the vividness of his characters that creates such a sense of intimacy in this large-scale cosmic tale. It's an impressive fiction debut, a page-turner that delivers the goods!" -Mercurio D. Rivera "Henry Gee paints a stunning, thriving universe in which readers will delight." -Shelly Li "Siege of Stars is terrific - a highly original mash-up of wild archaeology and advanced aliens, with sympathetic characters, comedy and tragedy. Scientists (and Nature editors) can write science fiction." - Ian Stewart "The Sigil Trilogy is magnificently panoramic in breadth - a quirky, erudite and often hilarious tale of adventure mingling epic science fiction, archaeology, palaeontology and romance. Vividly entertaining!" -Cecilia Dart-Thornton, bestselling author of the Bitterbynde series "SIEGE OF STARS is a fascinating story from start to finish, with great ideas, neat set pieces, and interesting characters. Gee knows his stuff." - Eric Brown, author of Engineman

Book Two of Henry Gee's incredible Sigil Trilogy!The Brethren of a remote and lonely monastery are preparing for the Apparition of the Goddess, a festival that happens once every 2,058,416 years. But will the Goddess arrive in time to save them from an apparition of an altogether more hostile kind?Mr Haraddzjin Khorare, Trader in Textiles from the Very Great and Ancient City of Axandragór, is on a routine business trip. But when his vessel is attacked by pirates, his adventure takes an altogether more astonishing turn.The discoveries of Jack Corstorphine and Jadis Markham have stunned the world. But more is to come, With their adopted son Tom, their student Shoshana Levinson, their colleague Avram Malkeinu, and their mentor, scientist-priest Domingo, they are about to witness at first hand the full horror of the War of the Last Days.Scourge of Stars is the second volume of The Sigil Trilogy, Henry Gee's epic tale that explores the nature of humanity, religion and love.

"The Universe is dying from within. No one knows how to save it, so the Elders give a young Drover a last ditch chance to stop the rot. If only she knew where to begin. Unaware of the threat to the universe, Ruxhana Fengen Kraa, Admiral of the 17th Rigel Fleet, is about to be cashiered for a stupendous tactical error. But Special Ops has an important and most bizarre job for him. Eons away in time, Jack Corstophine is an archaeologist on Earth with an intuition about the land that he can't put into words--until the beautiful and brilliant Jadis Markham comes into his life. Together, they discover that the landscape of Europe is far from natural. The Earth bears the scars of an ancient civilization that goes back millions of years--and has terrible implications for the future of mankind."--Cover, p.4.

The concluding volume of Henry Gee's incredible Sigil Trilogy!The Universe is still dying from within and the young Drover tasked with stopping the rot is still racing against time.For fifty years, former textile merchant Mr Haraddzjin Khorare has been Chancellor of a Kingdom unequalled in brutality. And it's about to get a whole lot worse.Dogfinger is a boy orphaned when his village is razed by Stoners. One day, he knows, the time will come for revenge.Domingo--scientist, Priest and Pope--is watching, helpless, as the world circles to its doom. What we need, he thinks, is a miracle. Will his prayers be answered?The Plague has forced Jadis Markham and Jack Corstophine to give up their research in favour of survival. But there are always questions left to answer.Their son, Tom, now himself a noted anthropologist, has an encounter that will force him to confront his own nature--and the very nature of the universe, as the stars themselves begin going dark.Rage of Stars is the climactic third volume of The Sigil, Henry Gee's epic tale that explores the nature of humanity, religion and love.

Henry Gee, Senior editor for what many have called the most important magazine in science today - Nature - has written a spellbinding, fun, and accessible book explaining the scientific basis for how all that wizardy, sorcery, and magic really works in JRR Tolkien's fantasy epic, The Lord of the Rings and his other fictional books featuring Middle-earth. The author explores just how elves might be able to see much further than humans, why Frodo's sword turns blue at the sight of evil orcs, how the rings of power do their thing, and just about every other conundrum or piece of 'elvish magic' that have puzzled and delighted Tolkien fans for years. Throughout, Gee makes the point that science, fantasy , and nature are really more similar than one might think. Gee writes in a popular tone and style, fully explaining all science concepts and convincingly demonstrating how Tolkien's world of fantasy makes sense in a very real - scientific - way.

NOW THE ACCLAIMED HBO SERIES GAME OF THRONES—THE MASTERPIECE THAT BECAME A CULTURAL PHENOMENON Winter is coming. Such is the stern motto of House Stark, the northernmost of the fiefdoms that owe allegiance to King Robert Baratheon in far-off King’s Landing. There Eddard Stark of Winterfell rules in Robert’s name. There his family dwells in peace and comfort: his proud wife, Catelyn; his sons Robb, Brandon, and Rickon; his daughters Sansa and Arya; and his bastard son, Jon Snow. Far to the north, behind the towering Wall, lie savage Wildings and worse—unnatural things relegated to myth during the centuries-long summer, but proving all too real and all too deadly in the turning of the season. Yet a more immediate threat lurks to the south, where Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, has died under mysterious circumstances. Now Robert is riding north to Winterfell, bringing his queen, the lovely but cold Cersei, his son, the cruel, vainglorious Prince Joffrey, and the queen’s brothers Jaime and Tyrion of the powerful and wealthy House Lannister—the first a swordsman without equal, the second a dwarf whose stunted stature belies a brilliant mind. All are heading for Winterfell and a fateful encounter that will change the course of kingdoms. Meanwhile, across the Narrow Sea, Prince Viserys, heir of the fallen House Targaryen, which once ruled all of Westeros, schemes to reclaim the throne with an army of barbarian Dothraki—whose loyalty he will purchase in the only coin left to him: his beautiful yet innocent sister, Daenerys.

Appearing in book form for the first time, these 100 short stories, originally published in the science journal "Nature," speculate on the state of the future and what it might be like.