Paul McAuley is one of the most exciting new talents to emerge in science fiction over the last several years, acclaimed for his richly imagined scientific concepts as well as for his clear and stylish storytelling. Now McAuley enters the twenty-first century with a vivid and prescient novel in which science, politics, greed, and terrorism compete for nothing less than THE SEC RET OF LIFE.
2026: Something is growing in the Pacific Ocean, a strange fungus-like organism that may ultimately threaten Earth's entire food chain. Christened "the slick," the bizarre phenomenon is soon the subject of intense, top-secret scientific analysis, which rapidly discovers that the slick contains unique DNA unlike any other lifeform on the planet.
Where has the slick come from? A Chinese-manned mission to Mars is rumored to have discovered life deep beneath the Martian icecap, but the Chinese aren't talking. Could this mysterious discovery have something to do with the possibly extraterrestrial organism spreading throughout the Pacific? Dr. Mariella Anders is recruited by NASA to join an urgent mission to the Red Planet to find out just what the Chinese might be hiding. A brilliant and committed scientist, Mariella only wants to uncover the truth, but others have less noble motives. Corporate powers want to monopolize the genetic secrets of the slick. Radical eco-terrorists strike out at those they blame for rampant genetic engineering. And a second Chinese Mars mission has its own unguessable agenda.
The secret of life on Earth may wait beneath Mars' frozen crust, but is there anyone Mariella can trust to safeguard one of the greatest scientific discoveries in human history? THE SECRET OF LIFE is a powerful novel about the perilous quest for knowledge--and the high price of the truth.
作者简介
paul mcauley is the author of numerous sciece fiction novels,including falryland,eternal l lght,pasquale s angel, and the acclaimed confluence trllogy:chlld of the river,ancients of days,and shrine of stars.
born in gloucestershire,england, mcauley has a doctorate in biology.he has worked as a research scientistin california and the united kingdom and has recently moved from oxford university to st.andrews.he is a frequent contribu-tor to american science fiction magazines as well as the british magazine lnterzone.mcauley has twice won the arthur c.clarke award and is the only british an\uthor ever to win the prestigious philip k.dick award. |
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