Search results for ""Author Rian Hughes""

A boundary pushing, extremely inventive sci-? epic of ?rst contact by world-renowned graphic designer and comics creator Rian Hughes When a signal of extraterrestrial origin is intercepted by one of Earth&;s most powerful radio satellites, people worldwide, including a small team of tech outsiders at a software engineering ?rm specializing in arti?cial intelligence, race to interpret the message carried by what could be the ?rst communication from an intergalactic civilization. Has humanity made ?rst contact? Is the signal itself an alien life-form? A threat? If so, how will the people of Earth respond? Supplemented by redacted NASA reports, magazine articles, secret transcripts, and a novel within the novel, all created by author Rian Hughes, XX is an epic literary sci-? novel that explores the way ideas propagate and presents a compelling vision of humanity&;s unique place in the universe and a realistic depiction of what might happen in the wake of the biggest scienti?c discovery in human history. Propulsive and boldly designed, this captivating narrative of ?rst contact, technological anxiety and innovation, and galactic exploration is an exciting and extraordinary addition to the science ?ction genre.

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'The equivalent of London’s brand-new Elizabeth line . . . vast, shiny and very, very deep' - The Times, ‘Best Summer Reads’‘Utterly unique . . . A masterpiece’ - The Daily Mail‘Stunning . . . Brilliantly original’ - The GuardianLondon is built from concrete, steel and the creative urge.Old technology gives way to the new. Progress is inevitable - but is it more fragile than its inhabitants realise?A strange anomaly is uncovered in the new top-secret Crossrail extension being built under Buckingham Palace. It is an archeological puzzle, one that may transform our understanding of history - and the origins of London itself.And if our modern world falls, we may have to turn to the technology of the past in order to save our future.

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'Extraordinary stuff . . . There are ideas larger and more mind-bending, I think, than those I have come across in any other sci-fi novel.' - Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-timeAt Jodrell Bank a mysterious signal of extraterrestrial origin has been detected. Artificial intelligence expert Jack Fenwick thinks he can decode it. But when he and his associates at Hoxton tech startup Intelligencia find a way to step into the alien realm the signal encodes, they discover that it’s already occupied – by ghostly entities that may come from our own past.Have these ‘DMEn’ (Digital Memetic Entities) been created by persons unknown for just such an eventuality? Are they our first line of defence in a coming war, not for territory, but for our minds?XX presents a compelling vision of humanity’s unique place in the universe, and of what might happen in the wake of the biggest scientific discovery in human history.As compelling as it is visually striking, Rian Hughes’ first novel incorporates NASA transcripts, newspaper and magazine articles, fictitious Wikipedia pages, undeciphered alphabets, and ‘Ascension’, a forgotten novelette by 1960s counterculture guru Herschel Teague that mysteriously foreshadows events.Wrapping stories within stories, Rian Hughes’ XX unleashes the full narrative potential of graphic design. Drawing on Dada, punk and the modernist movements of the twentieth century, it asks us who we think we are – and where we may be headed next.The battle for your mind has already begun.

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‘Utterly unique . . . A masterpiece’ The Daily Mail‘Stunning . . . Brilliantly original’ The GuardianLondon is built from concrete, steel and the creative urge. Old technology gives way to the new. Progress is inevitable – but is it more fragile than its inhabitants realize?A strange anomaly is uncovered in the new top-secret Crossrail extension being built under Buckingham Palace. It is an archaeological puzzle, one that may transform our understanding of history – and the origins of London itself.And if our modern world falls, we may have to turn to the technology of the past in order to save our future.

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Foss's groundbreaking and distinctive science fiction art revolutionized paperback covers in the 1970s and 80s. Dramatically raising the bar for realism and invention, his trademark battle-weary spacecraft, dramatic alien landscapes and crumbling brutalist architecture irrevocably changed the aesthetic of science fiction art and cinema. Featuring work for books by Isaac Asimov, E. E. 'Doc' Smith, Arthur C. Clarke, A. E. Van Vogt and Philip K. Dick, and film design for Ridley Scott and Stanley Kubrick, this volume brings together many rare and classic images that have never been seen or reprinted before. The first comprehensive retrospective of Chris Foss' sf career. Chris Foss' name has become pre-eminent among sf artists...He is in love with the monstrous, with angular momentum, with inertia-free projectiles and irresistable objects. A" - Brian Aldiss [Foss'] creations are real machines, not just an artist's dreams. They combine the two elements so essential to science fiction: realism and a sense of wonder...A medieval goldsmith of future eons.A" - Alejandro Jodorowsky. Rian Hughes is an award-winning graphic designer, illustrator, font designer and comics artist, noted for his work on 2000AD, and Dan Dare. His illustration work is highly distinctive, wearing its design influences on its sleeve. Clients include Virgin Airways, Penguin Books, DC Comics (for whom he has designed numerous logos), Eurostar the BBC and a range of magazines and newspapers. He is the editor and designer of several books including "Lifestyle Illustration of the 60s" and the recently released "Cult-ure". "One of the most successful and prolific designer/illustrators of the past 20 years" - Roger Sabin, Eye magazine

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