Ark (novel)
First edition
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| Author | Stephen Baxter |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Hard science fiction |
| Publisher | Gollancz |
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Publication date
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20 August 2009 |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | 512 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 320406261 |
| Preceded by | Flood |
Ark is a 2009 hard science fiction novel by English author Stephen Baxter. It is a sequel to his 2008 novel Flood. Ark deals with the journey of the starship Ark One, and the continuing human struggle for survival on Earth after the catastrophic events of Flood. The series continues in three pendant stories, which are described in the plot summary below.
Being hard SF, Ark contains many references to unrealised or hypothesised technology (Project Orion, the Alcubierre drive), physics (antimatter), and hypotheses about extraterrestrial life. Baxter credits several books and academic works in an afterword: See Scientific background below.
The events of Ark overlap with those of Flood: in preparation for a flood that will completely submerge the Earth's continents by 2052, the billionaire Nathan Lammockson builds Ark Three, a gigantic ship that will sail the waters of the drowned Earth. Skeptical of the project's viability, the U.S. government recruits billionaires Edward Kenzie, Patrick Groundwater and Jerzy Glemp to fund the construction of Ark One (later renamed Project Nimrod'), a generation ship capable of superluminal travel using an Alcubierre warp drive. The plan is to fly Ark One to an Earth-like exoplanet and rebuild civilisation on the new world. The nature of Ark Two is top secret.
Ark One requires 80 humans, of maximum genetic diversity to prevent inbreeding among their descendants, to be trained from a young age in spaceship maintenance. These "Candidates" include: Holle Groundwater, daughter of Patrick, specialising in life support systems; Zane Glemp, son of Jerzy, specialising in warp drive physics; Kelly Kenzie, daughter of Edward, a natural leader who is named mission commander; and Wilson Argent, a pilot. They train in an Academy in Denver, Colorado, repurposed as the U.S. capital after the flooding of Washington, D.C.
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