Recommendations based on "The Crimson Claw"

A rare meteorite struck Alex Woods when he was ten years old, leaving scars and marking him for an extraordinary future. The son of a fortune teller, bookish, and an easy target for bullies, Alex hasn't had the easiest childhood.But when he meets curmudgeonly widower Mr. Peterson, he finds an unlikely friend. Someone who teaches him that that you only get one shot at life. That you have to make it count.So when, aged seventeen, Alex is stopped at customs with 113 grams of marijuana, an urn full of ashes on the front seat, and an entire nation in uproar, he's fairly sure he's done the right thing . . .Introducing a bright young voice destined to charm the world, The Universe Versus Alex Woods is a celebration of curious incidents, astronomy and astrology, the works of Kurt Vonnegut and the unexpected connections that form our world.

An innovator praised as one of the inventors of “the new space opera,” Peter F. Hamilton has also been hailed as the heir of such golden-age giants as Heinlein and Asimov. His star-spanning sagas are distinguished by deft plotting, engaging characters, provocative explorations of science and society, and soaring imaginative reach. Now, in one of the most eagerly anticipated offerings of the year, Hamilton brings his acclaimed Void trilogy to a stunning close.Exposed as the Second Dreamer, Araminta has become the target of a galaxywide search by government agent Paula Myo and the psychopath known as the Cat, along with others equally determined to prevent—or facilitate—the pilgrimage of the Living Dream cult into the heart of the Void. An indestructible microuniverse, the Void may contain paradise, as the cultists believe, but it is also a deadly threat. For the miraculous reality that exists inside its boundaries demands energy—energy drawn from everything outside those boundaries: from planets, stars, galaxies . . . from everything that lives.Meanwhile, the parallel story of Edeard, the Waterwalker—as told through a series of addictive dreams communicated to the gaiasphere via Inigo, the First Dreamer—continues to unfold. But now the inspirational tale of this idealistic young man takes a darker and more troubling turn as he finds himself faced with powerful new enemies—and temptations more powerful still.With time running out, a repentant Inigo must decide whether to release Edeard’s final dream: a dream whose message is scarcely less dangerous than the pilgrimage promises to be. And Araminta must choose whether to run from her unwanted responsibilities or face them down, with no guarantee of success or survival. But all these choices may be for naught if the monomaniacal Ilanthe, leader of the breakaway Accelerator Faction, is able to enter the Void. For it is not paradise she seeks there, but dominion.

Reviewers exhaust superlatives when it comes to the science fiction of Peter F. Hamilton. His complex and engaging novels, which span thousands of years–and light-years–are as intellectually stimulating as they are emotionally fulfilling. Now, with The Dreaming Void, the eagerly awaited first volume in a new trilogy set in the same far-future as his acclaimed Commonwealth saga, Hamilton has created his most ambitious and gripping space epic yet.The year is 3589, fifteen hundred years after Commonwealth forces barely staved off human extinction in a war against the alien Prime. Now an even greater danger has surfaced: a threat to the existence of the universe itself.At the very heart of the galaxy is the Void, a self-contained microuniverse that cannot be breached, cannot be destroyed, and cannot be stopped as it steadily expands in all directions, consuming everything in its path: planets, stars, civilizations. The Void has existed for untold millions of years. Even the oldest and most technologically advanced of the galaxy’s sentient races, the Raiel, do not know its origin, its makers, or its purpose.But then Inigo, an astrophysicist studying the Void, begins dreaming of human beings who live within it. Inigo’s dreams reveal a world in which thoughts become actions and dreams become reality. Inside the Void, Inigo sees paradise. Thanks to the gaiafield, a neural entanglement wired into most humans, Inigo’s dreams are shared by hundreds of millions–and a religion, the Living Dream, is born, with Inigo as its prophet. But then he vanishes.Suddenly there is a new wave of dreams. Dreams broadcast by an unknown Second Dreamer serve as the inspiration for a massive Pilgrimage into the Void. But there is a chance that by attempting to enter the Void, the pilgrims will trigger a catastrophic expansion, an accelerated devourment phase that will swallow up thousands of worlds.And thus begins a desperate race to find Inigo and the mysterious Second Dreamer. Some seek to prevent the Pilgrimage; others to speed its progress–while within the Void, a supreme entity has turned its gaze, for the first time, outward. . . .

From eight hundred years in the future, a runcible gate is opened into the Polity and those coming through it have been sent specially to take the alien maker back to its home civilization in the Small Magellanic cloud. Once these refugees are safely through, the gate itself is rapidly shut downbecause something alien is pursuing them. The gate is then dumped into a nearby sun. From those refugees who get through, agent Cormac learns that the Maker civilization has been destroyed by pernicious virus known as the Jain technology. This, of course, raises questions: why was Dragon, a massive biocontruct of the Makers, really sent to the Polity; why did a Jain node suddenly end up in the hands of someone who could do the most damage with it? Meanwhile an entity called the Legate is distributing pernicious Jain nodes and a renegade attack ship, The King of Hearts, has encountered something very nasty outside the Polity itself.

No One Has Set Foot On Earth In Centuries -- Until Now. Ever Since A Devastating Nuclear War, Humanity Has Lived On Spaceships Far Above Earth's Radioactive Surface. Now, One Hundred Juvenile Delinquents -- Considered Expendable By Society -- Are Being Sent On A Dangerous Mission: To Recolonize The Planet. It Could Be Their Second Chance At Life...or It Could Be A Suicide Mission. Clarke Was Arrested For Treason, Though She's Haunted By The Memory Of What She Really Did. Wells, The Chancellor's Son, Came To Earth For The Girl He Loves -- But Will She Ever Forgive Him? Reckless Bellamy Fought His Way Onto The Transport Pod To Protect His Sister, The Other Half Of The Only Pair Of Siblings In The Universe. And Glass Managed To Escape Back Onto The Ship, Only To Find That Life There Is Just As Dangerous As She Feared It Would Be On Earth. Confronted With A Savage Land And Haunted By Secrets From Their Pasts, The Hundred Must Fight To Survive. They Were Never Meant To Be Heroes, But They May Be Mankind's Last Hope.

The Sixth Novel In James S. A. Corey's New York Times Bestselling Expanse Series--now A Major Television Series From Syfy! A Revolution Brewing For Generations Has Begun In Fire. It Will End In Blood. The Free Navy - A Violent Group Of Belters In Black-market Military Ships - Has Crippled The Earth And Begun A Campaign Of Piracy And Violence Among The Outer Planets. The Colony Ships Heading For The Thousand New Worlds On The Far Side Of The Alien Ring Gates Are Easy Prey, And No Single Navy Remains Strong Enough To Protect Them. James Holden And His Crew Know The Strengths And Weaknesses Of This New Force Better Than Anyone. Outnumbered And Outgunned, The Embattled Remnants Of The Old Political Powers Call On The Rocinante For A Desperate Mission To Reach Medina Station At The Heart Of The Gate Network. But The New Alliances Are As Flawed As The Old, And The Struggle For Power Has Only Just Begun. As The Chaos Grows, An Alien Mystery Deepens. Pirate Fleets, Mutiny, And Betrayal May Be The Least Of The Rocinante's Problems. And In The Uncanny Spaces Past The Ring Gates, The Choices Of A Few Damaged And Desperate People May Determine The Fate Of More Than Just Humanity. The Expanse Leviathan Wakescaliban's Warabaddon's Gatecibola Burnnemesis Gamesbabylon's Ashes The Expanse Short Fiction The Butcher Of Anderson Stationgods Of Riskthe Churnthe Vital Abyss-- A Revolution Brewing For Generations Has Begun In Fire. It Will End In Blood. The Free Navy - A Violent Group Of Belters In Black-market Military Ships - Has Crippled The Earth And Begun A Campaign Of Piracy And Violence Among The Outer Planets. The Colony Ships Heading For The Thousand New Worlds On The Far Side Of The Alien Ring Gates Are Easy Prey, And No Single Navy Remains Strong Enough To Protect Them. James Holden And His Crew Know The Strengths And Weaknesses Of This New Force Better Than Anyone. Outnumbered And Outgunned, The Embattled Remnants Of The Old Political Powers Call On The Rocinante For A Desperate Mission To Reach Medina Station At The Heart Of The Gate Network. But The New Alliances Are As Flawed As The Old, And The Struggle For Power Has Only Just Begun. As The Chaos Grows, An Alien Mystery Deepens. Pirate Fleets, Mutiny, And Betrayal May Be The Least Of The Rocinante's Problems. And In The Uncanny Spaces Past The Ring Gates, The Choices Of A Few Damaged And Desperate People May Determine The Fate Of More Than Just Humanity-- James S. A. Corey.

Through one of the gates, a colony stands alone. Their supplies are low. Their defenses, weak. The leadership is uncertain, and the community fragile. Huge alien beasts threaten the little they have left. But the worst monsters are human, and the greatest dangers are the past they brought.

Before our history began, another now forgotten civilization thrived. The people who roamed Early Earth were much like us: curious, emotional, funny, ambitious, and vulnerable. In this series of illustrated and linked tales, Isabel Greenberg chronicles the explorations of a young man as he paddles from his home in the North Pole to the South Pole. There, he meets his true love, but their romance is ill-fated. Early Earth's unusual and finicky polarity means the lovers can never touch.As intricate and richly imagined as the work of Chris Ware, and leavened with a dry wit that rivals Kate Beaton's in Hark! A Vagrant, Isabel Greenberg's debut will be a welcome addition to the thriving graphic novel genre.

Meg Murry O'Keefe and her family are just sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner when her father gets a phone call from the White House about a madman's threat of nuclear war. Only an old Irish rune seems to hold a clue to averting worldwide disaster, and and when Meg's brother Charles Wallace, now fifteen, recites it, a radiant white beast--the unicorn Gaudior--appears to join him on his quest. But there are only twenty-four hours in which to stop tragedy from occurring. Can Charles Wallace, with the help of Gaudior and Meg, possibly succeed?

Ace paperbacks boxed set of the first four novels by Ursula K. Le Guin in her Hainish series: Rocannon's World, Planet of Exile, City of Illusions, and The Left Hand of Darkness. Print dates are 1976 - 1977. Ace mass paperbacks, cover art by Alex Ebel and uncredited (Rocannon's World), 12mo (6 7/8" x 4.25") Hainish series #1 - #4, followed by The Word for World is Forest, The Dispossessed, and others. The Left Hand of Darkness is now considered a classic, and won the 1969 Nebula Award, the 1970 Hugo Award, and the 1995 James Tiptree, Jr. Award, Retroactive. It was nominated for the 1970 Ditmar Award. Other awards: 1975 Locus Poll Award, All-Time Best Novel (Place: 3), 1987 Locus Poll Award, All-Time Best SF Novel (Place: 2), and the 1998 Locus Poll Award, All-Time Best SF Novel before 1990 (Place: 3).