Novel tells the story of a precocious young girl who uses her intelligence and accelerating technology to solve humanity's grandest challenges. Now if only we can find more courageous visionaries like Danielle. Written as an alternative history, Danielle's journey as a driven young girl brings her face to face with many important figures from recent history and our modern world. Told through the eyes of Danielle's equally remarkable sister Claire, a girl adopted from Haiti after surviving the earthquake, this story shows all readers a hopeful vision of humanity's future - and how to achieve it. The novel features 24 graphic novel style illustrations, one for each year of Danielle's life. Accompanying the novel are two nonfiction companion books by the author. How You Can Be a Danielle is a call to action, providing pragmatic, thought-provoking and clear guidance on how readers can be inspired to emulate Danielle and help bring about a better world. A Chronicle of Ideas: A Guide for Superheroines (and Superheroes) provides Kurzweil's and Danielle's unique spin on 282 concepts presented in the novel.

An exclusive two-in-one novel from the Science Fiction Book Club, set in Charles Stross’ Eschaton Universe: Singularity Sky and Iron Sunrise. Singularity Sky: Spaceship engineer Martin Springfield and U.N. diplomat Rachel Mansour hail from an Earth that has gone through the Singularity, an accelerated technological and social evolution far beyond anything we can imagine. The Singularity was triggered by the Eschaton, a super-powerful being descended from humanity that can travel in time and that essentially rules the universe. Springfield and Mansour meet on the home world of the New Republic, a repressive, backwater society that has outlawed virtually all advanced technology other than that necessary for interstellar warfare. When one of the New Republic's colonial worlds is besieged by the Festival, an enigmatic alien intelligence, the Republic counterattacks, using time travel in an attempt to put its warships in position to catch the Festival by surprise. Springfield and Mansour, working for different masters, have both been assigned the task of either diffusing the crisis or sabotaging the New Republic's warfleet, no matter what the cost. Iron Sunrise: In the 24th century, a McWorld ("bland, comfortable, tolerant... boring") called New Moscow apparently has been destroyed by trade rival New Dresden—but not before New Moscow launched its own Slower-Than-Light (STL) counterstrike: a massive ship accelerated to 80% the speed of light. The U.N., now central Earth government, knows New Dresden was set up. They need the STL's recall code, now known only to a handful of New Moscow's ambassadors—but someone has been systematically assassinating them. U.N. special operative Rachel Mansour and her husband, engineer Martin Springfield, must protect the last living ambassador and find out who's really responsible for the whole mess.

To modern man, the Middle Ages is a distant, mysterious and forbidding period. It is primitive in technology, brutal in violence, and superstitious and servile in society. But it was also a time of pageant and grandeur, of discovery and wonder, of great achievements and lasting progress, when men of genius and industry laid the foundations for our modern world. Those who have preceded us have in the main been neglected in our assessment of current life. Jews in the Middle Ages achieved great heights of power, wealth, scholarship and creativity - the Golden Age of Spain, of Rashi and the Tosafists, R' Yehuda Halevi and Maimonides. The Jews were part of the Renaissance, the catalysts for the Reformation, sponsors of arts, exploration, and commerce. But it was also a terrible time for Israel. The Almohad persecutions, the Crusades, the Black Death, the burning of the Talmud in Paris, the bitter rivalries, and quarrels within Jewish society itself all combined to paint the era in blood and despair. Rabbi Berel Wein, in this book, has woven an informative tapestry out of the events of the Jewish Middle Ages. Its historic figures come alive and we appreciate their greatness. The Sephardic world and the Ashkenazic society, the longing for Zion and redemption, the intrigues and truths of history are here faithfully explained. The story of the Jewish people in the Medieval Era is told with wit, knowledge, accuracy and emotion. As in Triumph of Survival, Rabbi Wein has not settled merely for a history of the Jews. Herald of Destiny will make our modern Jewish milieu and its problems more understandable by illuminating for us the great medieval Jewish world that preceded us.

Imagine a technology that can change the structure and function of your own body...or that can devour an entire country. This is nanotechnology -- the creation of self-replicating machines with the capability to build or alter almost any structure, including the human form, by manipulating atoms or molecules -- and it has captured the imaginations of science fiction writers and readers everywhere. Now these, eleven short tales will capture you... Contents ix Preface (Nanotech) (1998) essay by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann 1 Blood Music (1983) novelette by Greg Bear 32 Margin of Error (1994) shortstory by Nancy Kress 40 Axiomatic (1990) shortstory by Greg Egan 58 Remember'd Kisses (1988) novelette by Michael F. Flynn 99 Recording Angel (1996) shortstory by Ian McDonald 117 Sunflowers (1995) shortstory by Kathleen Ann Goonan 153 The Logic Pool (1994) shortstory by Stephen Baxter 174 Any Major Dude (1991) shortstory by Paul Di Filippo 203 We Were Out of Our Minds with Joy [North American future] (1995) novella by David Marusek 274 Willy in the Nano-Lab (1998) poem by Geoffrey A. Landis [as by Geoffrey Landis ] 275 Further Reading (Nanotech) (1998) essay by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois