Computing is mere decades young, a set of technologies we have scarcely begun to develop. It's already been quite a ride. Now: Imagine every gadget around you becoming ever faster, cheaper, tinier, more interconnected, more intelligent... especially more intelligent. The stories in Creative Destruction explore what we could face in the next half century or so: artificial intelligence, malicious software to makes us nostalgic for mere viruses, ever-more-perfect virtual reality, direct neural interfaces to computers, ubiquitous networks, and more.

The Internet? That was nothing.

"The age of spiritual machines is almost upon us,and Edward M. Lerner is our advance scout. He's already been where the rest of us will soon be heading, and in this terrific collection of stories he gives us a series of fascinating, compelling, exciting glimpses of what lies ahead. A terrific book by a terrific author."

— Robert J. Sawyer, multi-Hugo Award-winning...]]> Sat, 02 Sep 2000 09:40:07 +0300 https://self-help.library.land/edward-m-lerner/674512-unplanned-for_flying_object.html https://self-help.library.land/edward-m-lerner/674512-unplanned-for_flying_object.html
]]> Sun, 20 Feb 1994 14:16:32 +0200 https://self-help.library.land/edward-m-lerner/676223-life_and_death_on_mars.html https://self-help.library.land/edward-m-lerner/676223-life_and_death_on_mars.html
As though landing people safely on Mars weren't daunting enough ...

The Space Race of the Sixties, at the height of the Cold War, had been nail-biting—until the Soviet Union forfeited.

In the thirties—amid a second Cold War—China is not about to lose the race to Mars. Nor is the United States. Nor, quite the wildcard, is a secretive cabal drawn from among the world's multi-billionaires. All of them scrambling to launch deep-space missions on a schedule to make the Sixties contest appear lackadaisical.

Competition that could only continue on the Red Planet.

More treacherous still? The rivalries, resentments, and distrust that simmer just beneath the surface within each expedition.

More difficult yet? Survival on that arid, radiation-drenched, all-but-airless, planet.

These challenges have somehow fallen into the lap of NASA engineer—and reluctant...]]> Thu, 09 Mar 2023 21:01:48 +0200 https://self-help.library.land/edward-m-lerner/592244-interstellarnet_new_order.html https://self-help.library.land/edward-m-lerner/592244-interstellarnet_new_order.html

The next chapter in Edward M. Lerner’s InterstellarNet saga is a startling adventure of Second Contact, up-front and in-person. Humanity is about to discover that meeting aliens face to face is very different—and a lot more dangerous—than sending and receiving messages.Good fences, said the poet, make good neighbors … and interstellar distances made very good fences.     Or so we thought.... Earth and its interstellar neighbors have been in radio contact for a century and a half. A vigorous commerce in intellectual property has accelerated technical progress for all the species involved. Ideas, riding on radio waves, routinely cross interstellar space-almost like neighbors chatting over the interstellar back fence. But there is a way over, or under, or around, almost any fence. Sooner or later, when we least expect it, the neighbors, friendly or otherwise, are going to pay a call....InterstellarNet: New Order chronicles the startling events of SECOND Contact, upfront and personal, as humanity discovers that meeting aliens face to face is very different-and a lot more dangerous-than sending and receiving messages.Praise for InterstellarNet: Origins from Gregory Benford, author of Timescape: "Edward Lerner takes us from a first SETI detection to full scale interstellar net economics, with thrills along the way. No one had thought through what a working interstellar net would be like. Lerner has the professional heft to make sense of it, tell a story, and make us care. Good stuff, told in clear, quick prose. A groundbreaking job!"

"Holy crap, this is a great book."—Sci Fi Saturday Night

"Solid sci-fi outing from Lerner"—Publishers Weekly

"Here's an author you definitely need to check out."—Asimov's Science Fiction

On the Moon's far side, shielded from Earth's radio cacophony, Americans are building a radio-astronomy observatory. Russians sift the dust of a lunar "sea" for helium-3 to run future fusion reactors. Commercial robots, remotely operated from Earth, roam the Moon's near side in a hunt for mineral wealth. Why chase distant asteroids for precious metals? Onetime asteroids must lie close beneath the much-bombarded lunar surface.

Then a prospecting robot encounters a desiccated, spacesuited figure. An alien figure ....

Americans from the lunar observatory investigate. Near the original find, underground, they discover an alien installation. Lunar Russians,...]]> Wed, 21 Jul 2021 16:46:12 +0300