Search Worlds Without End

In the highly anticipated new novel by John Varley, "one of the genre's most accomplished storytellers" (Publishers Weekly), a manned mission to Mars becomes a personal mission for an unlikely bunch of astronauts: seven suburban misfits who have constructed a spaceship built out of old tanker cars and held together with all-American ambition. They call her Red Thunder. They plan to be the first people on the Red Planet...despite China's big head start. If it didn't sound so crazy, it would be history in the making...

The son of one of the first men to fly to Mars and back, Ray Garcia-Strickland is now a disgruntled Martian, tired of the Red Planet's overdevelopment and the gravity-dependent tourist Earthies. But that doesn't stop him from fearing the worst when Earth is struck by an unknown object, causing a massive tsunami. Living high on his father's glory was okay, but now Ray must literally come down to Earth-and solve one of its greatest mysteries.

Lieutenant Patricia Kelly Elizabeth Strickland - otherwise known as Podkayne - has joined the Music, Arts, and Drama Division of the Martian Navy, passing the audition with a little help from some higher-ups. And now she's going to Europa, one of Jupiter's many moons, to be an entertainer. But she's about to learn that there can be plenty of danger to go around in the Martian Navy, even if you've just signed on to sing.

On a voyage to New Earth, the starship Rolling Thunder is powered by an energy no one understands, except for its eccentric inventor Jubal Broussard. Like many of the ship's inhabitants, Jubal rests in a state of suspended animation for years at a time, asleep yet never aging.

The moments when Jubal emerges from suspended animation are usually a cause for celebration for his family, including his twin daughters--Cassie and Polly--and their uncle who is captain of the Rolling Thunder. But this time, Jubal makes a shocking announcement...

The ship must stop, or everyone will die.

These words from the mission's founder, the man responsible for the very existence of the Rolling Thunder, will send shock waves throughout the starship--and divide its passengers into those who believe and those who doubt. And it will be up to Cassie and Polly to stop a mutiny, discover the truth, and usher the ship into a new age of exploration...