Two unlikely heroes…
When John Bandicut sets out across the surface of Triton, he’s hardly ready for the storm of chaos that’s about to blow through his life. The alien quarx that soon inhabits his mind is humanity’s first contact with an alien life—a contact Bandicut can reveal to no one. The quarx, part of an ancient galactic civilization that manipulates chaos theory to predict catastrophic events, seeks to prevent a cometary collision that could destroy the Earth.
But it must have help. If Bandicut chooses to trust the quarx, he must break all the rules—sacrifice his life as he knows it—to prevent humanity’s greatest cataclysm. Leaving friends and lover behind, hurtling across the solar system in a stolen spaceship, Bandicut can only pray that his actions will save the Earth. Even if he doesn’t live to see it again.
From Starstream Publications, with an afterword by the author.
Also available as part of the omnibus collection: The Chaos Chronicles: Books 1-3.
Named one of the best SF novels of the year by Science Fiction Chronicle.
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Reviews
“Jeff Carver is a hard sf writer who gets it right—his science and his people are equally convincing. Neptune Crossing combines his strengths, from a chilling look at alien machine intelligence, to cutting-edge chaos theory, to the pangs of finite humans in the face of the infinite. If you like intriguing ideas delivered in an exciting plot, this is your meat.” —Gregory Benford
“Masterfully captures the joy of exploration…a fiery conclusion sets Bandicut up for further adventures in yet another alien world, where Carver may find greater room to employ his gift for the fine rendering of difficult scientific concepts.” —Publishers Weekly
“Reveals an alien encounter brushing hard against a soul, and takes us from there to the far reaches of the cosmos, all with the sure touch of a writer who knows his science. Jeff Carver has done it again!” —David Brin
“Solid science, a complex and believable protagonist—an ordinary man rising to extraordinary circumstances—and an alien presence that is at once convincingly strange and deeply real. I’m really glad to have read this one.” —Melissa Scott
“A roaring, cross-the-solar-system adventure of the first water. This is a winner, the kind of stuff that made us all love science fiction. Recommended with enthusiasm.” —Jack McDevitt
“One of the very best things Carver has written, a traditional adventure filled with mystery and wonder and featuring a likable and believable protagonist thrust onto a stage for which he is ill prepared.” —Science Fiction Chronicle
“High-octane space adventure: mystery, humor, theoretical physics, and one of the more interesting SF aliens you’ve likely encountered in a long while.” —Allen Steele
Publication History
- Starstream Publications print edition 2020 (reformatted to match series), ISBN: 978-1-95161-297-9
- Starstream Publications print edition 2015 (6″x9″ trim), ISBN: 978-1-61138-562-5
- Tor hardcover 1994, ISBN: 0-312-85640-7
- Tor paperback 1995, ISBN: 0-812-53515-4
- German edition from Bastei Lubbe
- Portuguese edition from Publicacoes Europa-America