Hard SF discussion

The Book of the Month for February, 2010 is Across Realtime, published in 1991, by Vernor Vinge:

"The intricately plotted progress of characters from near to farfuture... on an Earth which, like an abandon playground, has long ago been left behind by an evolving humanity... human-scale action within a vast canvas."
-- The Excyclopedia of Science Fiction.

Encompassing time-travel, powerful mystery and the future history of humanity to its last handful of survivors, Across Realtime spans millions of years and is an utterly engrossing SF classic.

"You can hardly turn the pages fast enough. As sheer entertainment, it's a winner"
-- Locus

According to Wikipedia, Across Realtime is an omnibus collection of three related works:

» The Peace War (1984), Hugo Award nominee, 1985
» The Ungoverned (1985), a novella originally published in the collection True Names...and Other Dangers
» Marooned in Realtime (1986), Prometheus Award winner, Hugo Award nominee, 1987

Richard wrote: "Across Realtime is an omnibus collection of three related works:

» The Peace War (1984), Hugo Award nominee, 1985
» The Ungoverned (1985), a novella originally published in the collection True Names...and Other Dangers
» Marooned in Realtime (1986), "

My edition didn't contain "The Ungoverned". Fortunately, a friend of mine passed me an electronic copy.

Per the Wikipedia page for The Ungoverned:

The full text of The Ungoverned is available online as part of the Baen Books collection Freedom!, edited by Mark Tier & Martin H. Greenberg.

Anyone who wants a free peek at Across Realtime before they decide to buy the book can get a look at the Baen Books site. Across Realtime is composed of what had previously been two smaller books (The Peace War and Marooned In Realtime) and an additonal story, The Ungoverned. It's previously been noted that The Ungoverned is available online. The first 1/4 of The Peace War and the first 1/4 of Marooned In Realtime are available at the following URLs:

Peace War
http://www.webscription.net/chapters/...

Marooned In Realtime
http://www.webscription.net/chapters/...

A note to those not familiar with the Baen site: If you want to save the chapters to your PC for later use offline, click on the Frameless option on the page. The chapters will then be displayed without extra frames, making it easier to save the chapters and only the chapters.

David