When John Bandicut encounters an alien intelligence on Neptune’s moon Triton, his life changes irrevocably. Urged by the alien quarx now sharing his mind, he accepts an audacious mission—to steal a ship and hurtle across the solar system in a desperate bid for Earth’s survival. Book 1 of The Chaos Chronicles, by the Nebula-nominated author of Eternity’s End—with an Afterword by the author.

Appeared in print from Tor Books.  DRM-free ebook edition.

REVIEWS:

One of the best SF novels of the year — Science Fiction Chronicle

“Masterfully captures the joy of exploration.” — Publishers Weekly

“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

“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, author of the Galactic Center series

“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, author of Dreamships and Trouble and Her Friends

“A roaring, cross-the-solar-system adventure of the first water. The kind of stuff that made us all love science fiction.” —Jack McDevitt, author of Seeker and Chindi

“With works such as The Infinity Link... and his popular Star Rigger novels, Carver won acclaim as a master craftsman of compelling hard science fiction. This captivating opener to a new series incorporating the emerging science of chaos theory should keep that reputation flourishing... Carver has created yet another electrifying scenario as well as a winning combination in Bandicut and the sometimes vulnerable yet superintelligent quarx. First-rate entertainment.” — Booklist

A realm at war. The star dragons struggle under the oppression of an unseen foe—a creature of terrible power, who seeks to shape all of space-time into a web of subjugation and death. The Dream Mountain, source of knowledge and life to the dragons, is held by the enemy; and yet, hope burns in the dragons’ hearts. According to ancient prophecy, One will come from outside to challenge the darkness. Star pilot Jael LeBrae may be that savior. Once before, she aided the dragons in their struggle, and now she must return to face at last the terrible wrath of Tar-skel. But if the prophecy holds true, the price of victory over the darkness will be Jael’s own life.

Captivating sequel to Dragons in the Stars, Dragon Rigger is science fiction with mythic dimension, from the Nebula-nominated author of Eternity’s End and The Chaos Chronicles.

REVIEWS:

“Dragon Rigger is a most excellent adventure that would make a grand movie if it were not that the special effects budget would surely be quite brutal even in this age of computer animation.... If there is a motto for this novel, it is solidarnosc, solidarity, the power to be gained by sticking with one’s friends, even by sacrificing for the good of others...there is immense verve, energy, momentum, and power...the reader stays with Carver all the way.” —Thomas A. Easton, Analog

“A refreshingly unique setting and excellently realized characters.” —Publishers Weekly

Blackmailed!

Wrongly discredited as a space pilot, Panglor Balef is doomed to die in space, if sheer luck doesn’t bring him through. But luck has never been in Panglor’s cards. Bad enough to be coerced into a mission of murder and suicide, he must also contend with Alo—a young woman, stowaway, and impossible companion. Neither of them, nor his empathic ou-ralot, could possibly anticipate the journey through space-time they are about to embark on, through a door to an insane reality from which there is almost certainly no return. It could be the discovery of the millennium, but the only way home is to journey even further into the heart of madness.

The stunning prequel to the famed Star Rigger Universe of Jeffrey A. Carver, Nebula-nominated author of Eternity’s End and The Chaos Chronicles.

REVIEWS:

“An original and very charming novel, with a particularly unusual protagonist.” —Publishers Weekly

“Panglor is an interesting and different novel... a fun read.” —Future Life

REVIEWS OF OTHER WORKS BY JEFFREY A. CARVER:

“Masterfully captures the joy of exploration.” —Publishers Weekly 

“Jeffrey Carver imagines wonders and allows us to share his vision.” —Terry Carr, editor of Universe and numerous “Best of the Year” anthologies

“What is evident in Carver’s work is a wonderful ability to deal sensitively with the interrelationships of characters and their environments.” —Galileo Magazine 

“Carver writes powerfully and clearly and has produced a book that is likely to find an audience among hard SF readers.” —Booklist

“Carver is a strong SF writer, with a good feel for both the hard SF elements and the people he populates them with.” —Amazing Stories  

For John Bandicut, Earth is but a memory. Stranded at the edge of the galaxy in a structure populated with beings from a thousand worlds, Bandicut finds unexpected friends—only to be caught up in a cascade of forces that threaten the Shipworld itself. Confronting an entity known as the boojum, Bandicut discovers greater peril than ever in his journey into the unknown.

Volume 2 of The Chaos Chronicles, from the Nebula-nominated author of Eternity’s End. Original print publication by Tor Books.

REVIEWS:

“A dazzling, thrilling, innovative space opera…probably Carver’s best effort to date.” —Kirkus Reviews

“An irresistibly readable story line reinforced by fascinating speculative science. Readers who come this far will be hooked for the series’ duration.” —Booklist

“Carver’s latest novel showcases his own fertile imagination and his talent for creating a host of engagingly sympathetic characters.” —Library Journal

“Carver is at his rousing best in this wild ride into the heart of an enigmatic world beyond the Milky Way. This is science fiction out at the frontier. Maybe beyond the frontier.” —Jack McDevitt

It was started by an AI, and few humans even knew there was a war at all. But now people are dying, not just robots and aliens—and the AI wants it to stop. But a war is easier to start than to stop, and the computer can't alter its course without outside help. When the Gnostic Control System searches for conspirators, it chooses its friends carefully...

A thought-provoking novel of the not-too-distant future, from the Nebula-nominated author of Eternity’s End and The Chaos Chronicles.

REVIEWS:

“The story is meaty and satisfying. I enjoyed this one greatly.” —Analog Science Fiction

“An absorbing, suspenseful novel of first contact and interstellar war. It’s a complex book, requiring concentration from the reader, and is well worth the effort.”—Aboriginal SF

“A lively dance of ideas—first contact, interstellar war, artificial intelligence, alien culture—and it moves at a rapid pace, from Earth through cyberspace to the Horsehead Nebula, and various points between. It’s well-worth the trip ticket.” —Roger Zelazny

Originally published by Tor Books

Flung to an alien ocean world, John Bandicut and his companions find themselves plunged into the deep-sea realm of the Neri. What will they find in the Neri’s failing undersea city, or in the terrifying object of the deep abyss? Book 3 of The Chaos Chronicles continues the hard-SF saga inspired by chaos theory–with an all-new Afterword by the Nebula-nominated author of Eternity’s End.

Print publication by Tor Books.

REVIEWS:

“Another splendid adventure, with intriguing puzzles, first-rate problem-solving, and an impressive array of alien characters, motives, and methods.” —Kirkus Reviews

“An absolutely terrific book. Carver is heir apparent to Larry Niven as the king of hard SF: his stories revolve around ideas that are every bit as big as Niven’s, and his aliens are every bit as fascinating. Chaos theory says outcomes are unpredictable, but here’s one that’s a sure thing: if you start reading The Infinite Sea, you won’t be able to put it down until the very last page.” —Robert J. Sawyer

Carver scores again. Gives us mystery, high adventure, and the sense of wonder in the grand old tradition. —Jack McDevitt, author of Seeker and Chindi

Rigger and star pilot Renwald Legroeder undertakes a search for the legendary ghost ship Impris—and her passengers and crew—whose fate is entwined with interstellar piracy, quantum defects in space-time, galactic coverup conspiracies, and deep-cyber romance. Can Legroeder and his Narseil crewmates find the lost ship in time to prevent a disastrous interstellar war?

An epic-scale novel of the Star Rigger Universe, and a finalist for the Nebula Award, from the author of The Chaos Chronicles. Now with the original cover art by Stephen Youll.

REVIEWS:

“True love, cognitive dissonance, divisions among the enemy, ambitious schemes, another mission—this one deeper than anyone has ever gone before into the substrata of the Flux—and a final resolution that leaves the reader both breathless and satisfied.” —Analog

“You don’t want to wait for the paperback.” —Science Fiction Chronicle

“A mesmerizing tale of human perseverance and courage under pressure that updates the legend of the Flying Dutchman.” —Library Journal

“Carver never runs out of new plot twists to keep the reader coming back for more.” —The Washington Post

John Bandicut and his companions are summoned to a star-cloud called Starmaker, known to humans as the Orion Nebula, to discover what force threatens newborn stars—and possibly every world within a thousand light-years. Their journey takes them not just into the perils of a stellar nursery, but into confrontation with the Mindaru, a billion-year-old AI and adversary of life as they know it. The task is daunting. But with the aid of Deep and Dark, sentient clouds who are perhaps the strangest beings they have met yet in their exceedingly strange journey, there may be hope.

Back on Triton, Julie Stone—briefly Bandicut’s lover before he was transported away to a new life at the edge of the galaxy—encounters the enigmatic translator, the alien entity that first drew Bandicut into his extraordinary adventures. Julie must face her own life-or-death decision in defense of the Earth—while for Bandicut and company, whatever chance they have of stopping the terrifying Mindaru will be found only in the fiery heart of an intelligent sun.

Sunborn continues the harrowing journey through the tumultuous worlds of The Chaos Chronicles, from the Nebula-nominated author of Eternity’s End.

REVIEWS:

“Leaps quite madly from pot to kettle to frying pan to fire. The pace never lets up...[a] remarkably expansive vision.” —Analog

“Carver gives us the ultimate cosmic aliens while juggling stars and supernovas. Dazzling.” —Jack McDevitt, author of Seeker and Chindi

“Carver’s latest addition to The Chaos Chronicles... ensures his place among the most inventive of contemporary authors of hard sf and speculative theory. Filled with startling ideas and ingenious plot twists, this sf adventure (along with its series predecessors) belongs in most sf collections. —Library Journal

 “Carver does his usual outstanding job of juggling multiple viewpoints and plot threads while casting his protagonists’ adventures against a sweeping, intergalactic backdrop. Yet Bandicut’s story is ultimately a very human one about determination, seat-of-the-pants ingenuity, and courage in the face of overwhelming danger.” —Booklist

Dragons in space? A preposterous legend. But when star pilot Jael defies an abusive ship’s master and rigs “the mountain route” through the hyperdimensional Flux, the dragons indeed appear—and challenge her to duel. If she escapes, she would be wise never to return. But the currents of the Flux are fickle, and when fate steers her this way again, she finds Highwing the dragon under sentence of death for the kindness he showed her. Only Jael can intervene—and so she must, for the sake of one who risked his life to save hers.

A genre-bending novel of the Star Rigger Universe, from the Nebula-nominated author of Eternity’s End and The Chaos Chronicles.

Original print publication by Tor Books. Also available in Dragon Space: A Star Rigger Omnibus.

“Carver writes powerfully and clearly and has produced a book that is likely to find an audience among hard SF readers.” —Booklist

“An interesting and entertaining blend of genres.” —Science Fiction Chronicle

“Carver's prose effectively lends a spare yet evocative resonance to the draconian realm. Like a good stage performer, this story should leave its audience wanting more.” —John Bunnell, Amazing Stories  

Into a dying star . . .

Beneath the roiling surface of Betelgeuse, scientists anxiously await the one man essential to the success of Starmuse, the greatest engineering project in human history. But on Kantano’s World, Willard Ruskin battles invisible agents for control of his life, his physical form, and even his memories. Drawn into a conflict from which not even death will free him, Ruskin must find a way to reach Betelgeuse before his enemies sabotage Starmuse—and humanity’s future among the stars. A harrowing journey from inside the human cell... to the mind of a dying star.

A stunning blend of hard science fiction with moving characterization, both human and otherwise. Introduces the robot Jeaves, familiar to readers of The Chaos Chronicles. From the Nebula-nominated author of Eternity’s End. 

Original print publication by Bantam Spectra. A Locus bestseller.

“Starts with a bang and keeps getting better. Carver handles not one, but two hot topics, and presents both vividly.” —David Brin, author of Existence and Startide Rising

“Running from the micro to the macro and back again, redefining sentience, space-time, and perhaps humanity along the way, From a Changeling Star is a fast-paced puzzler, rich in invention, and Jeffrey A. Carver’s most ambitious book to date.”  —Roger Zelazny 

“As audacious and imaginative as the best of John Varley, with characters as memorable as those of Sturgeon or Zelazny, and with one of the most powerful endings in science fiction, this book will both hold and reward your attention.” —Spider Robinson, author of The Stardance Trilogy and Variable Star 

“Carver does an excellent job of tickling your sense of wonder, and in the end he leaves you both satisfied and craving another serving of his considerable talent.” —Tom Easton, Analog 

Starstream!

A great interstellar migration has begun, down the grand, ethereal highway known as the starstream—from the remnant of the Betelgeuse supernova to the center of the Milky Way. Who could have predicted the wonders of the starstream, or the perils it would unleash—including the Throgs, shadowy beings of n-space that seem to understand only death and destruction? But life goes on, dangers or no, and colonists pour down the starstream seeking new worlds. Aboard starship Charity are many such colonists, including one Claudi Melnik, a child of uncommon talents—and an AI named Jeaves, with purposes of his own. When the unthinkable occurs, Claudi must face alone the challenge of the Throgs. And no one, not even Jeaves, could have predicted the final confrontation—or imagined where unexpected allies would be found.

Triumphant sequel to the bestselling From a Changeling Star, Down the Stream of Stars is a daring journey across the gulf between human and alien, to the heart of consciousness itself. 

Named one of the best science fiction novels of the year by Science Fiction Chronicle. DRM-free ebook edition. Original print publication by Bantam Spectra.

REVIEWS AND QUOTES: 

“It was no surprise that...Jeffrey Carver’s Down the Stream of Stars would have heavy emphasis on science as well as good writing....” —Don D’Ammassa, in Science Fiction Chronicle

“Carver’s ingenuity is everywhere apparent.” —Locus

“I enjoyed it immensely. Carver provides another wild ride through a deranged cosmos. His imagination is matched only by his compassion. Marvelous effort!” —Jack McDevitt, author of Seeker and Chindi.

. . . and other works of Jeffrey A. Carver

“Masterfully captures the joy of exploration.” —Publishers Weekly

“One of the few hard SF writers whose characters are as interesting as the deep science.” —Melissa Scott, author of Dreamships and Trouble and Her Friends

“Jeff Carver is a hard sf writer who gets it right—his science and his people are equally convincing. “ —Gregory Benford, author of the Galactic Center novels

Starship rigging is a long-lost art. But the ocean world Ernathe may hold the key to its rediscovery, if a young star pilot can learn the ways of the mysterious sea people, the Nale’nid. A touching story of love and personal discovery, Seas of Ernathe takes us on a journey back toward the mode of star travel that once knit the galaxy together.

Seas of Ernathe was Jeffrey A. Carver’s first novel, and the first full-length tale of what was to become his popular Star Rigger Universe. Set farthest into the future of all the Star Rigger stories, Seas of Ernathe sets the stage for a new cycle of star-faring history.

From the Nebula-nominated author of Eternity’s End and The Chaos Chronicles.

REVIEWS:

“Jeffrey Carver imagines wonders and allows us to share his vision.” —Terry Carr

“A wonderful ability to deal sensitively with the interrelationships of characters and their environments... [Carver succeeds] in creating a race and milieu that is not only a good solution to his mystery, but is emotionally effective and believable.” —Galileo Magazine

Dragons in the Stars and Dragon Rigger —two Star Rigger novels in one! 

Between the stars, says legend, there lives a realm of dragons. When a young star rigger named Jael flies the forbidden route, she learns the reality—that the dragons are real, and deadly. Only after a dragon named Highwing befriends her does Jael realize she has been caught up in an ancient battle of good and evil, her appearance foretold by an ancient prophecy. Science fiction with mythic dimension, from the Nebula-nominated author of Eternity’s End! Individual novels appeared in print from Tor Books. Map included.

DRM-free ebook omnibus edition.

Review Quotes:

DRAGONS IN THE STARS:

“Carver writes powerfully and clearly.” —Booklist

“An interesting and entertaining blend of genres.” —Don D’Ammassa, Science Fiction Chronicle

“Carver’s prose effectively lends a spare yet evocative resonance to the draconian realm. Like a good stage performer, this story should leave its audience wanting more.” —John Bunnell, Amazing Stories

“Carver is a strong SF writer, with a good feel for both the hard SF elements and the people he populates them with... he is not only comfortable working with fantasy elements, but able to succeed at the tough job of melding them into a science-fictional environment.”  —C. von Rospach, Amazing Stories

DRAGON RIGGER:

“A refreshingly unique setting and excellently realized characters.” —Publishers Weekly

“Dragon Rigger is a most excellent adventure that would make a grand movie.... there is immense verve, energy, momentum, and power... the reader stays with Carver all the way.” —Thomas A. Easton, Analog

His shipmates dead, star rigger Gev Carlyle is adrift in the Flux, the subjective hyperspace that carries ships between the stars. His lone companion, and sole hope for survival, is a suicidal catlike alien named Cephean. Only a compatible rigger team, their visions meshed in psychic unity, can safely harness the turbulent currents of the Flux—and Carlyle's ship is sailing inexorably toward the deadly maelstrom of the Hurricane Flume. For even a chance at survival, he needs Cephean's help. But the price for that is a complete merging of minds and memories. And Carlyle, at war with his own past, dreads that union more than death itself.

A grand space adventure, from the Nebula-nominated author of Eternity’s End and The Chaos Chronicles.

“A novel of character-change, maturation, abandonment of illusions and discovering-of-self . . . it’s an engaging science fantasy and the novel will leave you saying to yourself, ‘Yeah!’” — Richard E. Geis, Galaxy

“Learning to communicate, to accept change, to understand the past, to express intimacy become rites of passage for the human Gev Carlyle and his felinoid cynthian crewmate Cephean.” —Publishers Weekly

But beauty turns deadly when an ancient AI bent on destruction

uses it to travel uptime, to humanity's future.

The Mindaru are dead. Or so exiled-Earthman John Bandicut and his alien companions believe, when they return to Shipworld after saving the Orion Nebula and countless inhabited worlds. But now another horde from this ancient and malicious AI colony is swarming toward the present from its birthplace deep in the past. Their opening: a temporal disturbance in the starstream, a hyperspatial thoroughfare used by myriad civilizations. The disturbance emanates from the planetary defenses of nearby Karellia, whose people know nothing of the starstream or the galaxy-threatening Mindaru.

Only Bandicut and his friends have the knowledge and experience to act. But several of Bandicut’s company have gone missing. Bandicut and Li-Jared must team with the pandimensional Ruall and her gokat—the oddest aliens Bandicut has met since the shadow-people—and journey to Karellia to find a way to cut off the timestream.

Separated from the others, Ik meets another human of Earth—a former lover of Bandicut’s!—and embarks with her on a perilous mission far back into deep time, seeking a way to stop the Mindaru at their source. They must thread a maze of impossible decisions. Can they tap the wisdom of the alien yaantel, known to the humans as the translator, to help them through?

The Chaos Chronicles returns at last in The Reefs of Time, part one of a heartstopping, two-part adventure. Concluded in Crucible of Time—coming in September!

Ancient alien travelers. Hopeless love. Astonishing encounter. Mozelle Moi’s life turns into a flight of fear and astounding discovery, as she becomes enmeshed in a secret government project to make first contact with visitors from the stars. Caught in a telepathic link with the Talenki voyagers, Mozy's personal odyssey will soon be entwined with the fate of all of Humanity.

Combining visionary scientific speculation with passionate human characters, The Infinity Link is an epic work of transcendent science fiction and an exploration into the very nature of humanity. From the Nebula-nominated author of Eternity’s End.

REVIEWS:

“A long, ambitious work, painted on a canvas as big as the solar system. The concept itself is even larger—the eventual linkup of various intelligent life forms of our galaxy, including humans, whales and several alien races.  Carver carefully sets up his story and develops it in a meticulous fashion...it works very well.” —Publishers Weekly

“A complex, rich, and satisfying novel.” —Fantasy Review

“A compelling vision of our world on the day after tomorrow.” —Joan D. Vinge, author of The Snow Queen

“A satisfying and rewarding visionary experience.”  —Analog

“A rich novel of immense scope, with the most detailed and brilliant descriptive passages of empathic and telepathic communication.  Highly recommended.”  —SF and Fantasy Reviews

The story begun in The Reefs of Time continues. The time-tides caused by Karellia’s defenses have brought the malicious Mindaru AI out of the deep past into the present, threatening Bandicut and Li-Jared, who have arrived at the backwater planet—Li-Jared’s homeworld—to find it on the brink of interplanetary war. Somehow they must forge a peace between Karellia and its neighboring world if the Mindaru threat is to be broken.

Back on Shipworld, Ik and Julie Stone risk their lives a second time to stop the Mindaru at their source: a planet near the galactic core, a billion years in the past. Can Antares, the beautiful humanoid who also loves Bandicut, help them? What of Bria the gokat? And Amaduse, the most influential librarian in Shipworld?

And in the deep time of the galaxy’s early history, by the light of a million suns, the Mindaru do hideous things to an innocent species. The Mindaru plan for the altered creatures bears momentous possibilities even the deadly AI cannot predict.

Time is critical. Time is elastic. And time is running out.

Conclusion of the unmissable two-part “Out of Time” sequence begun in The Reefs of Time, from Jeffrey A. Carver, Nebula-nominated author of Eternity's End.

PRAISE FOR THE REEFS OF TIME / CRUCIBLE OF TIME:

“Classic science fiction with engaging characters and richly imagined worlds!” —Greg Bear; author of The Unfinished Land and The War Dogs Trilogy

“Jeffrey A. Carver’s remarkable long-awaited duology The Reefs of Time / Crucible of Time is a welcome addition to The Chaos Chronicles, certifying his continuing mastery of action and adventure at the boundaries of space opera and hard SF.” —Steve Miller, co-author of The Liaden Universe

PRAISE FOR THE CHAOS CHRONICLES:

“Carver does his usual outstanding job of juggling multiple viewpoints and plot threads while casting his protagonists’ adventures against a sweeping, intergalactic backdrop. Yet Bandicut’s story is ultimately a very human one about determination, seat-of-the-pants ingenuity, and courage in the face of overwhelming danger.” —Booklist

“Another splendid adventure, with intriguing puzzles, first-rate problem-solving, and an impressive array of alien characters, motives, and methods.” — Kirkus (starred review)

“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

“Remarkably expansive vision.” —Analog

“A dazzling, thrilling, innovative space opera.” —Kirkus

“Fertile imagination and... a host of engagingly sympathetic characters.” —Library Journal

These and more, with new introductions by the Nebula-nominated author of Eternity’s End and The Chaos Chronicles. These stories originally appeared in anthologies edited by Roger Zelazny, Orson Scott Card, and others, as well as the magazines Galaxy and Galileo.

Contents:
Shapeshifter Finals
Love Rogo
What Gods Are These?
Life-Tides
Alien Persuasion
Though All the Mountains Lie Between