Wheelers

Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen

      

Hardback: Warner Aspect , ISBN 0-446-52560-X
Trade Paperback: Earthlight, ISBN 0-7432-0743-2
Mass Market paperback (USA): Warner Aspect, ISBN 0-446-61008-9
Mass Market paperback (UK): Earthlight, ISBN 0-7434-2902-8

Twenty-third Century civilization is recovering from a decades-long anti-technology frenzy that has left the world underpopulated, the Moon and asteroids controlled by a Tibetan Zen Buddhist sect from a deep-space habitat called the Cuckoo's Nest, and interplanetary exploration in the hands of a few eccentric outcasts.  One such loner is archaeologist Prudence  Odingo, who returns to Earth to report that she's recovered 100,000-year-old wheeled artifacts—from under the ice of the Jovian moon Callisto. Prudence is promptly arrested.  But just as she's about to be convicted on criminal fraud charges, several extraordinary events suddenly validate her claims.
        The 'wheelers' abruptly come to life.  And several of Jupiter's Moons change their orbits--- ready to propel a tremendous planet-destroying comet hurtling toward Earth.
        For unimaginable and incredibly powerful creatures live in Jupiter's hellish atmosphere and have apparently declared war on humanity.  And Prudence, along with her allies from the Cuckoo's Nest and the archenemy pedant who once ruined her career, must somehow discover why—in time to avert genocidal tragedy.

A MAIN SELECTION OF THE SCIENCE FICTION BOOK CLUB

"Wheelers is wonderful.  I believed the cultures and the people; the science is ambitious but rigorous.  I enjoyed this book very much. " 
            Larry Niven, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of Ringworld

"Weaves an astounding array of threads into a tapestry remarkable for its scope, richness of detail, cleverness, and imagination."  
            Stanley Schmidt, editor of Analog

"Well imagined and inventive, by two writers who harbor wild imaginations beneath their sober academic roles.  I enjoyed every moment."  
            Gregory Benford, Nebula Award-winning author of The Martian Race

"It is not often that a book genuinely surprises me anymore, but that's exactly what happened when I read Wheelers . I'll keep it simple. Wheelers was a fantastic read.  One of the best novels of 2000."
            Paul Goat Allen, in Barnes & Noble's Explorations