The novel “Beowulf’s Children”, also known as “The Dragons of Heorot”, by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, and Steven Barnes was published for the first time in 1995. It’s the second book of the Heorot series and follows “The Legacy of Heorot”.

Twenty years after the Grendel War, the colonists of the planet Avalon closed themselves in a small area considered safe from attacks. However, the new generation sees the planet as a legacy that young people can’t access because the older generation never makes a decision that leads to the exploration of new areas.

Aaron Tragon is one of the most intelligent young people and also one of the most determined to take control of his own destiny. If the elderly with ice in their brains, who are still the majority, are opposed to any proposal, Aaron is ready to lead a group of young people who want to explore Avalon without asking for any permission.

The novel “The Doors of Eden” by Adrian Tchaikovsky was published for the first time in 2020.

Lee and Mal are very different from each other and yet they become inseparable friends and start investigating together on sightings of creatures that are out of the ordinary. They usually have to put a lot of imagination into writing comments that support the alleged sightings but one day an investigation leads to something all too real and Mal vanishes. Four years later, Lee thinks she lost her when Mal calls her to arrange a meeting.

Dr. Kay Amal Khan is working on some research in physics that is supposed to be very theoretical but someone seems interested in it the wrong way. The woman works for the government and the issue involves national security, so Julian Sabreur of MI5 has to protect her. His investigation quickly becomes complicated because among his suspects is one person who doesn’t look entirely human and another who is believed to be dead. Soon, the developments indicate that there are parallel Earths and there are various forces at work with unknown agendas.

The novel “The Oppenheimer Alternative” by Robert J. Sawyer was published for the first time in 2020.

The Manhattan Project was started to create an atomic bomb that was originally intended to be used to strike the Nazi regime. The defeat of the Third Reich shifts the American effort to the Pacific, where the Japanese continue to fight. Only after two atomic bombs hit Japan, the Emperor agrees to surrender.

The use of atomic bombs leads to ethical and moral arguments that are no longer theoretical. J. Robert Oppenheimer, who led the Manhattan Project, still finds himself making choices when the next step could be the development of a thermonuclear weapon. The stakes rise enormously when the analysis of solar activity readings indicates that the Sun will eject one of its layers which will hit the Earth and turn it into barren land.