The Great Ship

Since the beginning of the universe, the giant starship wandered the emptiest reaches of space, without crew or course, much less any clear purpose. But humans found the relic outside the Milky Way, and after taking possession, they named their prize the Great Ship and embarked on a bold voyage through the galaxy’s civilized hearts. Larger than worlds, the Great Ship is laced with caverns and oceans, scenes of exalted beauty and corners where no creature has ever stood. Habitats can be created for every intelligent species, provided that the passengers can pay for the honor of a berth, and the human captains make the rules and dispense the justice in what soon becomes thousands of alien species joined a wild, unpredictable journey. The first Great Ship story was "The Remoras”, published in 1994 by THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION. All but the most recent titles in the series have been included in this volume, arranged in a rough chronological order, each story partly rewritten to capture the author’s growing expertise in the starship. New material has been added to bridge the centuries, hopefully enriching the resident confusion. Robert Reed is the author of a dozen science fiction novels, including two titles about the Great Ship: MARROW and THE WELL OF STARS, both from Tor Books. He has also published more than two hundred shorter works, winning a Hugo in 2007 for his novella, "A Billion Eves”. Reed is a long-term resident of Lincoln, Nebraska.

The Ship has traveled the universe for longer than any of the near-immortal crew can recall, its true purpose and origins unknown. It is larger than many planets, housing thousands of alien races and just as many secrets. Now one of those secrets has been discovered: at the center of the Ship is . . . a planet. Marrow. But when a team of the Ship's best and brightest are sent down to investigate, will they return with the origins of the Ship--or will they bring doom to everyone on board? Robert Reed, whose fantastic stories have been filling all the major SF magazines for the past several years, spins a captivating tale of adventure and wonder on an incredible scale in this novel based on his acclaimed novella. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

In this highly accessible history of ships and shipping on the Great Lakes, upper elementary readers are taken on a rip-roaring journey through the waterways of the upper Midwest. Great Ships on the Great Lakes explores the history of the region’s rivers, lakes, and inland seas—and the people and ships who navigated them. Read along as the first peoples paddle tributaries in birch bark canoes. Follow as European voyageurs pilot rivers and lakes to get beaver pelts back to the eastern market. Watch as settlers build towns and eventually cities on the shores of the Great Lakes. Listen to the stories of sailors, lighthouse keepers, and shipping agents whose livelihoods depended on the dangerous waters of Lake Michigan, Superior, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. Give an ear to their stories of unexpected tragedy and miraculous rescue, and heed their tales of risk and reward on the low seas. Great Ships also tells the story of sea battles and gunships, of the first vessels to travel beyond the Niagara, and of the treacherous storms and cold weather that caused thousands of ships to sink in the Great Lakes. Watch as underwater archaeologists solve the mysteries of Great Lakes shipwrecks today. And learn how the shift from sail to steam forever changed the history of shipping, as schooners made way for steamships and bulk freighters, and sailing became a recreation, not a hazardous way of life. Designed for the upper elementary classroom with emphasis on Michigan and Wisconsin, Great Ships on the Great Lakes includes a timeline of events, on-page vocabulary, and a list of resources and places to visit. Over 20 maps highlight the region’s maritime history. The accompanying Teacher’s Guide includes 18 classroom activities, arranged by chapter, including lessons on exploring shipwrecks and learning how glaciers moved across the landscape.

IF EVER there was a subject fit for the hand of the biographer, the story of the Great Eastern is surely it. James Dugan has made the entertaining most of a monstrous but true episode of the high Victorian days, the age of iron and the mechanical engineer. He has written a failure-story far more amusing than most success-stories could be: and out of 692 feet and 12.000 tons of iron he has made a character almost human in its foibles and its superb talent for getting into trouble. Before the Great Eastern had made her first trip to New York, she had eaten up $5,000,000, the first of the fortunes she regularly swallowed on every voyage. She had hardly steamed a few dozen miles when the forward funnel blew out. She passed through the hands of three groups of shareholders before she ever carried a paying passenger. Everything that could possibly happen to a ship happened to the Great Eastern. Tanks of fish oil deluged her engine deck. Two horses died of a bad cold because she passed too close to an iceberg. On her fourth voyage she got stuck in Flushing Bay, at the western end of Long Island Sound, with a gash in her bottom that would have comfortably accommodated an ordinary-sized ship. Storm, mechanical failure, inefficient captains and crew—the Great Eastern had everything. She almost cut New York in two when she first docked. Into her story enter such figures as Cyrus Field—who made use of the Great Eastern to lay the Atlantic cable; Louis Napoleon—he wrested the leviathan just in time from the hands of the Sultan of Turkey, who wanted to use her to house his harem; Jules Verne, Du Chaillu. Indian nabobs, the war correspondent Scott Russell, and dozens of other figures of a bygone age. The whole story is told by Mr. Dugan with an unfailing appreciation of the high, low and medium comedy involved in the Great Eastern’s crazy career, and with a sharp eye for the Victorian background and personalities.

Describes the salvage and preservation of the Swedish warship Vasa that sank on her maiden voyage in 1628.

A crew of outcasts tries to find a legendary ship before it falls into the hands of those who would use it as a weapon in this science fiction adventure series for fans of The Expanse and Firefly. A washed-up treasure hunter, a hotshot racer, and a deadly secret society. They're all on a race against time to hunt down the greatest warship ever built. Some think the ship is lost forever, some think it's been destroyed, and some think it's only a legend, but one thing's for certain: whoever finds it will hold the fate of the universe in their hands. And treasure that valuable can never stay hidden for long. . .