Rudy Rucker Books

The Fourth Dimension — it's a myth, a reality, a dream, an equation, a hypercube, the face of God, the photograph of everything at once ... and now, The Fourth Dimension is this handy paperback. The result is a fantastic, enlightening, and mind-expanding reading experience. In text, pictures, and puzzles, master science and science fiction writer Rudy Rucker immerses his readers in an amazing exploration of a mysterious realm — a realm once seen only by mystics, physicists, and mathematicians. More accessible than Gödel, Escher, Bach and more playful than The Tao of Physics, Rucker's The Fourth Dimension is the most engaging tour of other dimensions since Flatland. David Povilaitis' 200 drawings illustrate Rucker's heady insights while dozens of puzzles and problems make the book a delight to the eye and mind. As Eileen Pollack has written in her rave review, The Fourth Dimension is "magical ... Its effects persist beyond its covers." That's because, like everything else in the fourth dimension, this is more than a book, it is a mental spaceship capable of grand tours of universes far beyond our own.

Nine wild, weird and wondrous stories, written together by Rucker and Sterling. What do you get if two cyberpunk masters spend thirty years writing tales about transreally warped versions of themselves? A unique perspective on giant ants, flying jellyfish, Soviet rocketeers, runaway genomics, Silicon Valley, and the death of the Universe. With notes by the authors and an introduction by Rob Latham.

In Infinity and the Mind, Rudy Rucker leads an excursion to that stretch of the universe he calls the "Mindscape," where he explores infinity in all its forms: potential and actual, mathematical and physical, theological and mundane. Rucker acquaints us with Godel's rotating universe, in which it is theoretically possible to travel into the past, and explains an interpretation of quantum mechanics in which billions of parallel worlds are produced every microsecond. It is in the realm of infinity, he maintains, that mathematics, science, and logic merge with the fantastic. By closely examining the paradoxes that arise from this merging, we can learn a great deal about the human mind, its powers, and its limitations. Using cartoons, puzzles, and quotations to enliven his text, Rucker guides us through such topics as the paradoxes of set theory, the possibilities of physical infinities, and the results of Godel's incompleteness theorems. His personal encounters with Godel the mathematician and philosopher provide a rare glimpse at genius and reveal what very few mathematicians have dared to admit: the transcendent implications of Platonic realism.

Information, argues the author, is the master concept of the computer age which throws a new light on the concepts of space and number, logic and infinity. This mathematical book guides the reader through the latest theories and theorems, introducing Hilbert space, Turing machines and fractals.

A massive outsider sci-fi anthology. Varied and largely critically-acclaimed material by the obscure, the overexposed and the justly renowned

Rudy Rucker envisions a bold future where "moldies," advanced artificial lifeforms made of soft plastic and gene-tweaked materials, disrupt society in 2053. These anatomically inventive beings are universally despised, leading to a chaotic low-rent world. The moon becomes a refuge for persecuted moldies and progressive "fleshers" seeking to forge a new hybrid civilization. However, they must navigate various intergalactic intelligences, each with their own agendas. This narrative showcases Rucker's unique blend of humor, innovation, and deep knowledge. In this dystopian setting, sexual relationships with moldies are taboo, a societal sin that Randy Karl Tucker, a Kentucky native, disregards. Straying from the strict teachings of his Heritagist religion, he develops feelings for Monique, a moldie who works as a bookkeeper and maid at the Clearlight Terrace Court Motel. When Monique mysteriously disappears, Randy finds himself entangled in a web of conspiracies that challenge his understanding of identity and morality. As he delves deeper into the situation, humanity inches closer to a shocking confrontation with intergalactic intelligence, highlighting themes of acceptance and the complexities of existence in a rapidly evolving world.

Cobb Anderson created the "boppers," sentient robots that overthrew their human overlords. But now Cobb is just an aging alcoholic waiting to die, and the big boppers are threatening to absorb all of the little boppers--and eventually every human--into a giant, melded consciousness. Some of the little boppers aren't too keen on the idea, and a full-scale robot revolt is underway on the moon (where the boppers live). Meanwhile, bopper Ralph Numbers wants to give Cobb immortality by letting a big bopper slice up his brain and tape his "software." It seems like a good idea to Cobb.

In 2054, Phil Gottner finds himself in over his head as he deals with a drug-addicted girlfriend, a father who has been swallowed by a hyperspatial anomaly, a new love interest with a visitor from the Moon, and a mysterious alien species and their godlike, fourth-dimensional deity. Reprint.

These lost works of Wells, written near his death, deal with the apocalypse and the afterlife.

After a bizarre scheme on the part of a ruthless computer billionaire and a wacky U.S. president to radically alter the world through sentient nanotechnology goes awry, mysterious giant humanoids from another quantum universe arrive on Earth with plans to tidy up humankind's mess.

Two complete novels--Software, in which robots offer elderly hippie Cobb Anderson immortality, and Wetware, in which the meatbop, a new life form emerges--enter the world of cyberpunk. Reprint.

Interweaving history with science fiction, this adventure--set in the pre-Civil War South--features Edgar Allan Poe and two cohorts exploring the exotic lands of Earth's core and discovering a parallel universe

Two jolly steampunk novels about strange beings within our Hollow Earth. Features Edgar Allan Poe. A rollicking adventure with surprising twists. Contains Rucker's 1990 "The Hollow Earth" and his new sequel, "Return to the Hollow Earth."

Felix Rayman ist Mathematiklehrer. Für ihn ist es der langweiligste Beruf der Welt. Er lebt in einem Provinzstädtchen im Staate New York und hat nichts mehr zu verlieren. Denn mit seiner Familie geht es den Bach runter und mit der Karriere läuft es auch nicht viel besser. Felix versucht träumend knifflige mathematische Probleme zu lösen indem er sich selber das eindeutige Träumen beibringt. Dadurch macht er Erfahrungen außerhalb seines Körpers. Während dessen trifft er den Teufel und kann diesem nur knapp entkommen. Jesus rettet Felix und bittet ihn um einen kleinen Gefallen: er soll Kathy, eine junge Frau, die im Kindbett starb nach Cimön bringen. Der Mathelehrer überlegt angestrengt wie er in den weit entfernten Ort im Sternensystem gelangen soll. Dort findet man endlos hohe Berge, nur wie kann er sie erklimmen? Dann fragt sich Felix noch, ob es das absolut Unendliche in der Wirklichkeit tatsächlich gibt.

Die Geburt des Cyberpunk! Ein Algen rauchender Rebell wird zu einem unglaublichen Schrumpfmann. Unter dem Boden ist die Spitze – und die Macht, die Maschine zu zerschlagen. Nachdem die Menschheit untrennbar mit den Computern verbunden ist, unternimmt ein heldenhaftes Paar eine Reise mit einem Maßstabsschiff unter den kleinsten Partikeln und durch die größten kosmischen Strukturen auf der Suche nach einer perfekten Welt.

Menschen haben den empfindungsfähigen Roboter "Bopper" erschaffen, aber jetzt sind es die Bopper, die begonnen haben, Menschen zu kreieren. Klone und DNA-Splicing haben den Meatbop hervorgebracht, einen menschlichen Körper, der mit der Software (dem Geist und der Persönlichkeit) eines Boppers durchdrungen ist. Die Meatbops sind daran interessiert, sich auf der Erde fortzupflanzen, was für die Menschheit jedoch nicht so gut sein könnte (die Bopper haben die unangenehme Angewohnheit, Menschen zu versklaven). Als sich ein paar (ziemlich) unschuldige Menschen in die Machenschaften der Bopper auf dem Mond verstricken, ist es an der Zeit, den gespeicherten Geist des Bopper-Schöpfers Cobb Anderson hervorzuholen und zu sehen, ob er helfen kann.

Während er anscheinend das Leben eines Kindes der sechziger Jahre führt und seinen Kopf mit Sex, Drogen und Abenteuern zusammenhält, erfüllt Conrad Bunger tatsächlich die Mission, die ihn von einem fernen Planeten zur Erde brachte – das Geheimnis des Lebens zu finden.