The Black Sun

Jack Williamson

Tor, 1997 - Fiction - 352 pages

In the near future, humankind's Project Starseed uses faster-than-light quantum-wave technology to send colonists to distant star systems. When the ninety-ninth - and final - ship lands on a bleak and icy world in the shadow of a dead star, the future looks grim for the colonists. First an exploration party disappears without a trace. Soon the colonists are besieged by sabotage and deadly conflict. Meanwhile, though billions of years have passed without life on the iceworld, the arrival of the humans has set something astir. This mysterious entity will determine the fate of the ship, and of a world poised between death and eternity.

About the author

Author Jack Williamson was born in Bisbee, Arizona on April 29, 1908. In the 1950's, he received both his BA and MA degress in English from Eastern New Mexico University. After receiving his PhD from the University of Colorado, he taught linguistics, the modern novel and literary criticism at Eastern New Mexico University until he retired in 1977. At the age of 20, he published his first story, The Metal Man, in a December 1928 issue of Amazing Stories. Since then he has written more than 50 novels and at least 15 short story collections. Some of his best known works are The Humanoids, The Legion of Time, Manseed, and Lifeburst. He also published numerous collaborations with fellow science fiction author Frederik Pohl. He received numerous awards including the Pilgrim Award from the Science Fiction Research Association, the Hugo Award, and the Nebula Award. He was an inaugural inductee in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame and was named a Grand Master of Science Fiction by the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1976. He died at his home in Portales, New Mexico on November 10, 2006.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Black Sun
• Author: Jack Williamson
• Edition: revised
• Publisher: Tor, 1997
• ISBN: 0312859376, 9780312859374
• Length: 352 pages
• Subjects: Fiction / Science Fiction / General