The Trigger - Hardcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Arthur C. Clarke has written over sixty books, among them the science fiction classics Childhood’s End, The City and the Stars and Rendezvous with Rama (which was unique in winning all three major science fiction trophies, the Hugo, Nebula and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards. He has for many years made his home in Sri Lanka. He was awarded the CBE in 1989 and was knighted in 1998.
Michael Kube-McDowell was born in 1954 and grew up in southern New Jersey. His novels include the Trigon Disunity future history and the Star Wars trilogy The Black Fleet Crisis. His novel The Quiet Pools was nominated for the Hugo Award.

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WITHOUT WAR, WE'D HARDLY HAVE ANY HISTORY. WITHOUT MURDER WE'D HARDLY HAVE ANY FICTION. THEN ALONG CAME THE TRIGGER . . . THE ONLY TRUE PROMISE OF PEACE THAT TECHNOLOGY HAS EVER DEVISED.

From the legendary Arthur C. Clarke in collaboration with Michael Kube-McDowell of Star Wars fame, comes a chilling day-after-tomorrow thriller of huge vision and startling menace.

Jeffrey Horton of Terabyte Laboratories is the brilliant, driven and idealistic scientist responsible for the discovery of the Trigger. It was an accidental discovery: Horton was hoping to build the analogue of a laser for gravity. Instead, his prototype, when fired up for the first time, triggered all nearby explosive material. In that moment, an end to the power of the gun became feasible. In future, a firearm – or a bomb – could be made powerless to harm the innocent.

Karl Brohier, Horton's boss and a Nobel Prize winner, has to decide what to do with the Trigger. Patriotism dictates he and Horton hand over the science to the Pentagon. Idealism demands the invention be given to the whole world, regardless of politics. But what haunts Brohier is the fear that with one wrong word to the wrong person, a convoy of black vans filled with Special Operations troops will swoop down on the Terabyte campus and cart away everything, including himself and Horton. So Brohier takes news of the Trigger direct to the White House.

President Mark Breland, former star pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, has a record of integrity and liberalism. He would rather be wrong in a hurry than agonize his way to a state of ambivalence, and he promises Horton and Brohier that the Trigger will be made available to the world. The Pentagon regards Breland's promise as wrong to the point of being treasonous. It involves disarming the military!

In a world where violence has reached epidemic proportions, no one can be trusted. Do too many people have a stake in the business of violence for peace to have a chance?

“Arthur C. Clarke is one of the truly prophetic figures of the space age . . . the colossus of science fiction”
New Yorker

“Arthur C. Clarke is awesomely informed about physics and astronomy, and blessed with one of the most astounding imaginations ever encountered in print”
New York Times

“Arthur C. Clarke is one of the true geniuses of our time”
Ray Bradbury

“No one does it better than Arthur Clarke”
Times Literary Supplement

“Kube-McDowell is reminiscent of Arthur C. Clarke at his best”
NEWSDAY

“Kube-McDowell is an author to be reckoned with”
GREG BEAR