Contents
WELCOME
PROLOGUE
PART ONE: EARTH
1 THE GREEN APOCALYPSE
2 ECOCIDE
3 GREEN SHOOTS OF HOPE
PART TWO: RDA
4 DREAM WORLDS
5 A RIDE ON A VALKYRIE
6 FOLLOW THE WATER
7 THE WONDERS OF THE WORLDS
PART THREE: VENTURE STAR
8 A SHIP TO SAIL
9 TWINS AND TIME
10 THE ULTIMATE ROCKET
11 STARS TO SAIL BY
PART FOUR: PANDORA
12 FIRST PORT OF CALL
13 FINDING NEW WORLDS
14 THE CASE OF THE CYLINDRICAL BIOLOGIST
15 OBTAINING THE UNOBTAINABLE
16 MOUNTAINS IN THE SKY
17 A DANGEROUS MOON
PART FIVE: HELL’S GATE
18 DISTURBING THE WORLD
19 COPIES, CELLS AND COMPUTERS
20 APOCALYPSE SOON
PART SIX: LIVING WORLD
21 A CLIMAX ECOSYSTEM
22 WARM LITTLE PONDS
23 FOUR LEGS GOOD, SIX LEGS BETTER
PART SEVEN: NA’VI
24 HUNTERS OF THE FOREST
25 OTHER BODIES
26 OTHER MINDS
27 FIRST CONTACT
28 MIND TO MIND
29 EYWA
PART EIGHT: AVATAR
30 ANGELS AND DEMONS
31 A FALSE BODY
32 HACKING THE BRAIN
33 WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE A NA’VI?
34 THE TRANSMIGRATION OF JAKE SULLY
EPILOGUE
RESOURCES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
PHOTO INSERT
MEET THE AUTHOR
ALSO BY STEPHEN BAXTER
COPYRIGHT
ALSO BY STEPHEN BAXTER:
NON-FICTION
Deep Future
Revolutions in the Earth
FICTION
Mammoth
Longtusk
Icebones
Behemoth
Reality Dust
Evolution
Flood
Ark
Xeelee: An Omnibus
Stone Spring
Bronze Summer
THE WEB
Gulliverzone
Webcrash
DESTINY’S CHILDREN
Coalescent
Exultant
Transcendent
Resplendent
A TIME ODYSSEY
(with Arthur C. Clarke)
Time’s Eye
Sunstorm
Firstborn
TIME’S TAPESTRY
Emperor
Conqueror
Navigator
Weaver
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 by Stephen Baxter
Photos © 2012 Lightstorm Entertainment
Avatar motion picture elements and “James Cameron’s Avatar”™ © 2009 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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First e-book edition: May 2012
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ISBN 978-0-316-22401-7
The Science of Avatar Page 23