Navigator (Gollancz S.F.) [Paperback]

In the world of science fiction/fantasy books, it is fantasy that reigns supreme. While much intelligent, science-based SF is still being written (by such authors as Paul McAuley), hordes of elves, magicians and goblins have long exceeded the more plausible material in terms of sales. There is, thankfully, one exception: Stephen Baxter. He is one of the few intelligent writers still producing massive, fastidiously textured SF epics that flatter rather than insult the intelligence of the reader. As with the very best SF creators, his ideas come thick and fast, and an exhilarating sense of wonder is guaranteed for the reader in any one of his many novels. But what might be called science-based fantasy is also a speciality.

. Navigator is the third book in Baxter's much-acclaimed Time’s Tapestry sequence, and once again the display of imagination and inventiveness takes the breath away. William the Conqueror's forces are fighting against insuperable odds, when a prophecy is given by a woman in a ruined village describing massive engines of destruction. The clash between civilisations of the East and West in the Mediterranean is reaching apocalyptic levels, and the prophecy of the war engines that will decide the conflict becomes ever more relevant -- which of two religions will win the battle? In the meantime, engineers struggle to bring the fabled machinery into reality.

This is the kind of alternative history that is Baxter’s métier, and the sheer gusto of his storytelling carries this diffuse narrative along with tremendous panache. --Barry Forshaw

"A book that shows off Baxter's considerable skills as a novelist. This is proof that Baxter's at the height of his powers." (Jonathan Wright SFX )

Stephen Baxter's new series is full of page-turning action, intriguing mystery and awe-inspiring scientific speculation. Full of evocative historical detail and characters who jump of the page this is history lived by people who's future is not yet locked as our past. Navigator is the third of the series, and delves deep into the discovery of America. And the roots for this lie deep in the history of Spain and the middle east. Navigator unfurls over four centuries as the wars of conquest and opression between Christian and Moor sweep back and fourth and a prophecy is passed down through the ages. But as well as the prophecy come designs for terrifying advanced machines of war. As Christian and Moor fight over who will control the machines the finest minds of the times including Francis Bacon struggle to build them. This is a fast moving thriller of conspiracies and plots, a novel about science and war, an SF novel about an attempt to change the past and a loving look at Spain and the Moors. It casts a new light on the crusades and the real reasons behind the discovery of America.

Stephen Baxter is the pre-eminent SF writer of his generation. Published around the world he has also won major awards in the UK, US, Germany, and Japan. Born in 1957 he has degrees from Cambridge and Southampton. He lives in Northumberland with his wife.