false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1182210096m/1244543.jpg 1244543 2 Paragaea: A Planetary Romance is the story of Akilina "Leena" Chirikov, who shortly after launching from Star Town in the Soviet Union, finds herself thrown into another dimension, a world of strange science and ancient mystery. There she meets another time-lost person from Earth, Lieutenant Hieronymus Bonaventure of the Royal Navy&#151;who left home to fight the forces of Napoleon and never returned&#151;and his companion, Balam&#151;outlaw prince of the jaguar men. Bonaventure is interested only in adventure and amusement, while Balam only wants distraction until the day he can reclaim his throne. Having little better to do, they agree to help Chirikov find a way home. <P>In the tradition of the planetary romances of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Leigh Brackett, Paragaea is in fact a "hard" science fiction adventure, grounded in the latest thinking in the fields of theoretical physics, artificial intelligence, genetics, and more. There is a rigorously rational explanation behind all of the unearthly elements, with most of the "magic" the protagonist encounters being the products of a forgotten, transhuman, post-singularity culture that has long since disappeared. Chirikov, a strictly rational Soviet cosmonaut, interprets these as best she can, using the framework of early 1960s science. Being a dutiful Soviet, she wants only to return home to Earth, to inform her superiors about what she has discovered. But she soon finds herself developing ties to her companion Bonaventure that make her wonder whether she really wants to go home at all. 1233256 2 5 2006 Paragaea: A Planetary Romance total:27|5:1|4:17|3:5|2:4| 27 96 52 6 4 2 false false Tue Dec 18 13:50:57 -0800 2007 Thu Jan 03 18:57:40 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Aug 14 12:34:19 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 14 12:34:33 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Mar 11 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Feb 28 05:34:09 -0800 2008 Fri Aug 14 07:51:53 -0700 2009
Leena Chirikov, a Russian cosmonaut from the 1960's, is the heroine of the tale. Her ship is pulled through a vortex shortly after takeoff and she ends up in P...more...]]> 0 0 false false Fri Sep 04 13:44:09 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 04 13:44:22 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sun Mar 16 20:16:52 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 18 06:09:57 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Fri Aug 22 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 03 18:46:48 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 09 20:30:48 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Dec 03 10:15:48 -0800 2009 Thu Dec 03 10:15:48 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Tue Nov 17 19:33:00 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 17 19:33:02 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sat Sep 26 16:30:22 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 26 16:30:25 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Fri Sep 25 09:32:01 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 25 09:32:01 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Sep 04 14:58:55 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 04 14:58:55 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Aug 14 08:19:08 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 14 08:20:14 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Jun 29 04:44:48 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 29 04:44:48 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Jun 26 09:08:28 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 26 09:08:34 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Jun 04 07:56:35 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 04 07:56:35 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed May 13 21:00:57 -0700 2009 Wed May 13 21:00:57 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri May 08 13:46:16 -0700 2009 Fri May 08 13:46:16 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed May 06 13:33:14 -0700 2009 Wed May 06 13:34:03 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Apr 25 12:06:34 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 25 12:06:34 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Sat Apr 11 19:09:53 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 11 19:09:53 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=1244543