—Charles Stross
“The heart of the mystery is worthy of Bear in its bravura extrapolations into far-future science and moral ambiguity… a testament of faith both in human beings and in something beyond them, divine or indistinguishable from it, and it seems directed as much toward the world of today, with all its sinful affections and deceits, as it is toward the far future.”
—Locus
“A menacing wonderland of a ship.”
—Marc Laidlaw
“I loved Hull Zero Three—this book reminds me of why I fell in love with science fiction in the first place. Searing questions or humanity, a good old-fashioned riddle of a plot, and excellent conceptualization make Hull Zero Three more than worth the effort.”
—thebooksmugglers.com
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Contents
COVER
TITLE PAGE
WELCOME
DEDICATION
DOWN TO EARTH
BACKGROUNDER, PART 1
I HATE PHYSICS
JOURNEYS END IN LOVERS MEETING
MARS WILL BE HEAVEN, SOMEDAY
GOD SAVES DRUNKARDS AND BAKA DUDES
EVERY SKYRINE IS SOMEBODY’S BASTARD
THE WAY IT SPOZED TO BE
HEAVY HAND
NOT YET A HERO, HUH?
NOT DEAD YET
THE STRAIGHT SKINNY—OR NOT
BRIEF HOPE
BLONDE ON A BUGGY
PARADISE LAID UP
WHAT THE LOCALS RECOMMEND
NOT YOUR FATHER’S FUTURE
HOBOS AND DRIFTERS
PATRIOTS AND PIONEERS ALL
BACKGROUNDER, PART 2
HOPE IS THE THING THAT FLOATS
IN HEAVEN AS IT IS ON EARTH
BACKGROUNDER, PART 3
WAKEFUL THOUGHTS FOR SLEEPLESS GRUNTS
COMES THE HEAT
SHIT ALSO FLOATS, SOMETIMES
DRIFTERS AND HOBOS
GO DOWN IN HISTORY, DAMN YOU ALL
ZULU TIME
LAST EXIT TO HELL
SKY BASIC
BACKING UP NOW
MOVING FORWARD AGAIN
TWO BALLS, ONE HEAD—YOU’RE GOOD TO GO
ANT FARM
NEWS OF JOE
DEEP PRIDE
COLD COMFORT
TEAL’S WAY
HOW LOW CAN YOU GO BEFORE IT’S UP AGAIN
LARGER ISSUES
MEETINGS, PARTINGS, SWEET SORROW
BIRDS
OFF THE RED
INVALUABLE
COMING HOME AGAIN
OOPS
CAESURA
IN STIR
EXTRAS MEET THE AUTHOR
A PREVIEW OF KILLING TITAN
A PREVIEW OF THE LAZARUS WAR
ALSO BY GREG BEAR
PRAISE FOR GREG BEAR
ORBIT NEWSLETTER
COPYRIGHT
Copyright
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Copyright © 2014 by Greg Bear
Excerpt from Killing Titan copyright © 2015 by Greg Bear
Excerpt from The Lazarus War: Artefact copyright © 2015 by Jamie Sawyer
Cover design by Lauren Panepinto
Cover images © Arcangel Images, © Shutterstock
Cover © 2014 Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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First ebook edition: October 2014
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ISBN 978-0-316-33576-8
E3