Their historic mission to Mars made Julia and Victor the most famous astronauts of all time. Now, decades later, they are ordered by the Consortium to Pluto, where they will rendezvous with another starship led by the brilliant, arrogant Captain Shanna Axelrod. Here, on the frozen ammonia shore of Pluto's methane sea, Shanna has discovered intelligent creatures thriving in the -300 degree temperatures. But even as their findings shift from the amazing to the inconceivable, the two crews must overcome their own intense rivavlry to work together. For the most remote reaches of the solar system are filled with unimaginable wonders...and countless forces that will crush all human life. - The author's most recent hardcover for Aspect, Beyond Infinity (0-446-53059-X), was published in 3/04. His previous Aspect novel, The Martian Race, was published in hardcover in 1999 and paperback in 2001, and has netted almost 50,000 combined copies. It was a Locus magazine Recommended Book of the Year. - Aspect is publishing the six titles in Benford's classic Galactic Center series in new mass market editions: In the Ocean of Night (2/04), Across the Sea of Suns (3/04), Great Sky River (8/04), Tides of Light (9/04), Furious Gulf (2/05), and Sailing Bright Eternity (3/05). - Gregory Benford is a professor of physics at the University of California at Irvine, and he is the recipient of two Nebula Awards, the United Nations Prize for Literature, and the 1995 Lord Prize for his contributions to science, among many other honors.
