The Medusa Chronicles (38 page)
Read The Medusa Chronicles Online
Authors: Stephen Baxter
AFTERWORD
The idea for this book came from a chance suggestion by Alastair Reynolds in the course of a nostalgic email exchange.
“A Meeting with Medusa,” the novella by Sir Arthur C. Clarke, was oriÂginally published in
Playboy
for December, 1971. In 1972 it won the Nebula Award for Best Novella, and in 1974 the Japanese Seiun Award for Best Foreign Language Short Story. It was perhaps Clarke's last significant work of short fiction, and has been reprinted many times sinceâperhaps most notably as a terrifically illustrated serial in the short-lived magazine
Speed & Power
(IPC, issues 5â13, 1974), a rendition which made a significant impact on the imagination of a young Reynolds.
The Icarus asteroid-deflection episode of the Interludes was inspired by the results of an interdisciplinary student project in systems engineering run at MIT in the summer of 1967. This was in fact the first serious study of how to deflect an asteroid from an impact with the Earth. The final report (
Project Icarus
, L. A. Kleiman [ed.], MIT Report no. 13, MIT Press, 1968) was impressive enough to be published, is cited to this dayâand was the inspiration for the movie
Meteor
(1979, dir. Ronald Neame), which did indeed star Sean Connery.
In the 1960s, predictions of temperate conditions of temperature and pressure in Jupiter's atmosphere, as well as the possibility of the presence of a wide variety of organic molecules, led to speculation about life in the Jovian cloud layers as depicted in “A Meeting with Medusa.” Later, a detailed study by Sagan and Salpeter (
Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
vol. 32, pp. 737â755, 1976) led to a famous visual depiction of cloud beasts not unlike Clarke's in Sagan's
Cosmos
TV series.
The notion of using aerostat factories to mine the atmosphere of Jupiter for the rare isotope helium-3 was suggested in the 1970s
Project Daedalus
starship study conducted by the British Interplanetary Society (see the Final Report, 1978, pp. S83ff). The quantum-mechanical “Momentum Pump” discussed in Chapter 49 is entirely speculative.
All errors and inaccuracies are, of course, our sole responsibility.
âS.B. and A.R.
September 2015
About the Authors
STEPHEN BAXTER
is one of the preeminent science fiction writers of his generation. With Terry Pratchett, he has coauthored the Long Earth novels. As a world-renowned bestselling author, Baxter has won many major awards in the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, and Japan, including the British ÂScience Fiction Award, the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and the Theodore Sturgeon ÂMemorial Award. Born in 1957, Baxter has degrees from ÂCambridge and ÂSouthampton. He currently lives with his wife in Northumberland.
ALASTAIR REYNOLDS
was born in 1966 in Barry, South Wales. He studied at Newcastle and St. Andrews Universities and has a PhD in astronomy. He stopped working as an astrophysicist for the European Space Agency to become a full-time writer. Reynolds is a bestselling author and has been awarded the British Science Fiction Award, along with being shortlisted for the Hugo Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, and the Locus Award.
MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT
Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Stephen-Baxter
Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Alastair-Reynolds
ALSO BY STEPHEN BAXTER
Ultima
Proxima
Xelee Sequence
Vacuum Diagram
Ring
Flux
Timelike Infinity
Raft
Xeelee
Xeelee: Endurance
The Long Earth Sequence
(with Terry Pratchett)
The Long Earth
The Long War
The Long Mars
The Long Utopia
ALSO BY ALASTAIR REYNOLDS
Revelation Space series
Revelation Space
Redemption Ark
Absolution Gap
Chasm City
The Prefect
Blue Remembered Earth
On a Steel Breeze
Slow Bullets
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* This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. * Text copyright © 2016 by Stephen Baxter and Alastair Reynolds * Originally published by Gollancz, Orion Publishing Group, in 2016 * Jacket photographs copyright © 2016 by Getty Images * All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Saga Press Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020 * Saga Press and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc. * For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or
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. * The text for this book was set in Berkeley Old Style. * CIP data for this book is available from the Library of Congress. * ISBN 978-1-4814-7967-7 * ISBN 978-1-4814-7969-1 (eBook)
