Six Against the Stars

DESCRIPTIONAs the self-proclaimed biggest coward in the galaxy, Horatio has it easy on what passes for 40th century America. A much-favoured sycophant in the court of the King of Earth, Horatio lives in a genetically engineered paradise where there's a vat-grown slave waiting around every marble column with a bunch of grapes to drop into his oh-so perfectly designed mouth.Unfortunately for Horatio, the artificial intelligence that rules the great mass of humanity spread across the stars has other plans for this feckless seducer. So, if you ever wonder how the galaxy's biggest coward finds himself actually trying to save it, you're not alone... but then, unfortunately, neither is our hero!His misadventures are abetted by a psychotic Martian warrior, a robot who thinks it's related to Sherlock Holmes, a beautiful genetically enhanced assassin, a scientist with a computer for a brain, and a millennia-old clone who was alive when the last U.S. President was executed by a firing squad.It's six against the galaxy. Six against the stars. They'll save the universe... but they might damage it first.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>REVIEWSPraise for Stephen Hunt's novels:'Hunt's imagination is probably visible from space. He scatters concepts that other writers would mine for a trilogy like chocolate-bar wrappers.'- TOM HOLT'All manner of bizarre and fantastical extravagance.'- DAILY MAIL'Compulsive reading for all ages.'- GUARDIAN'Studded with invention.'-THE INDENDENT'To say this book is action packed is almost an understatement… a wonderful escapist yarn!'- INTERZONE'Hunt has packed the story full of intriguing gimmicks… affecting and original.'- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY'A rip-roaring Indiana Jones-style adventure.'-RT BOOK REVIEWS'A curious part-future blend.'- KIRKUS REVIEWS'An inventive, ambitious work, full of wonders and marvels.'- THE TIMES'Hunt knows what his audience like and gives it to them with a sardonic wit and carefully developed tension.'- TIME OUT'A ripping yarn … the story pounds along… constant inventiveness keeps the reader hooked… the finale is a cracking succession of cliffhangers and surprise comebacks. Great fun.'- SFX MAGAZINE'Put on your seatbelts for a frenetic cat and mouse encounter... an exciting tale.'- SF REVU>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>AGE ADVISORYAge 15+ - mild violence and some scenes of sex and nudity.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>READ THIS BOOK IF YOU LIKE THESE AUTHORS...Douglas AdamsNeal AsherIain M. BanksJack CampbellDavid DrakeOrson Scott CardJames S.A. CoreyEvan CurriePeter F. HamiltonRic LockeDan SimmonsCharles StrossDavid Weber>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>GENRESScience fiction (space opera)Adventure (scifi)>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Stephen Hunt is a fantasy and science fiction author who lives in Spain and the UK. He is best known for his best-selling Jackelian fantasy series of novels from HarperCollins, also the publisher of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis in the UK.The Jackelian world is a fantasy adventure set in a far-future Earth where the passage of time has erased almost all memory of our current world from history. Electricity is now unreliable and classed as a dark power, with many of the nations of the world existing at a Victorian level of development and relying on steam-power, mechanical nanotechnology and biotechnology to survive and prosper.It is a world of strange creatures, flashing blades, steammen servants, airship battles and high adventure.Each novel is written as a stand-alone work, but share the same world and many of the same characters who criss-cross between the novels (a technique shared with fellow British fantasy author Terry Pratchett and his Discworld series).Foreign language and international editions of the six novels of the Jackelian series have been sold to Tor Books (USA), Albin Michel (France), Verlagsgruppe Random House (Germany), Enterbrain Manga and Anime (Japan), Edições Saída de Emergência (Portugal), Paidós (Spain), AST (Russia), and the Anhui Literature and Art Publishing House (China).Step