--- product_id: 16781499 title: "Ark (A Novel of the Flood)" brand: "stephen baxter" price: "R386" currency: ZAR in_stock: true reviews_count: 9 url: https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/16781499-ark-a-novel-of-the-flood store_origin: ZA region: South Africa --- # Ark (A Novel of the Flood) **Brand:** stephen baxter **Price:** R386 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Ark (A Novel of the Flood) by stephen baxter - **How much does it cost?** R386 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.za](https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/16781499-ark-a-novel-of-the-flood) ## Best For - stephen baxter enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted stephen baxter brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Full description not available ## Images ![Ark (A Novel of the Flood) - Image 1](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51iLm7T2NDL.jpg) ![Ark (A Novel of the Flood) - Image 2](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51cHmfW4xbL.jpg) ![Ark (A Novel of the Flood) - Image 3](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41vXOgFst3L.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐ You can safely pass Ark *by A***N on Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2020* Believe it or not, the man responsible for the famous Alcubierre Drive, theoretical physicist Miguel Alcubierre is, as of today, September 2020, only 56 years old. Judging by the frequency his warp drive is being used by FTLists, one would expect him to be at least contemporary of Einstein and Bohr.However, a FTL copout to escape time dilation is not the Ark’s greatest sin. I would rather think of two major problems. On the one hand we have a severe case of belief dilation where the decades in the Ark lead to bizarre situations and decisions which make no sense and shutter believability (and also artificially extend the novel to 98 chapters).On the other hand, fascinating as a Generation Ship/Ark long-time-in-space storyline is, it does not really amount to anything special, unless something really terrible or bizarre happens. If a voyage is all the way idyllic, then there is no novel. If the Orient Express is not snowed up in Yugoslavia and no crime occurs, what’s the point of writing the novel?So, basically, how “good” are the bad things happening to the Ark’s people? Are they terrifying like things that happen in Russo’s Ship of Fools? Are they mind-boggling like the truth behind the tribes in Aldiss’ Non-Stop? Are they bending the fabric of the universe itself like Anderson’s Tau Zero spaceship?The answer is that, although the book has its moments, there is nothing very special about how calamities occur in Ark – you‘ve read the heresy and the mutiny and the simulation angles in various novels of the genre (and executed much more better) and most of the unexpected incidents in the crew’s lives are unexpectedly dull.Besides, the buildup, up to the launch of the spaceship is so huge, almost a third of the novel, that a reader comes to expect miracles – which never happen. Finally, the characters are mostly like Chinese rooms – data gets in and out of them and that’s about it.Unless you are, yourself, confined to a generation ship for the next few centuries you can safely pass on Ark. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent sequel *by A***R on Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2012* After having read flood, which was a very unique and engaging novel, I downloaded this to my Kindle. Ark is a sequel in a way to flood with some of the same characters appearing and the background premise being at play, namely that the world is slowly flooding. However, while the previous novel dealt with the discovery of the flood phenomenon and some Earthbound characters' attempts to deal with it, this novel covers an attempt to escape the planet and send a viable group of colonizers to another habitable planet. The story begins with the selection, training and construction process and follows through the launch and mission itself which covers many decades. I am not sure how realistic it is to think that a completely untested warp ship could be built and launched while society is crumbling under an relentless flood, but that aside, this is a very interesting tale of what it might be like to embark on a journey to a relatively nearby stellar destination. While most of the action surrounds the Ark, or spaceship, there is some reference to events back on Earth which gives a bit of closure to the previous novel. Of course this book ends by leaving open the possibility of further sequels involving both the people left on Earth as well as those who traveled to another planet. I don't read a lot of science fiction, but I do enjoy an engaging and well-written tale from time to time and this book fits the bill. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ One Lovely Mess *by J***. on Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2012* Before getting to the meat of my review, I must begin with the global warming controversy surrounding this book. Personally, I am a skeptic in this matter and shied away from the novel for some time due to my perceptions. Rest assured this is NOT a "man made climate change" disaster story. Oh, its pretty obvious Baxter is sympathetic to such theories, but he has not written this as a cautionary tale. Mr. Baxter leaves the issue open to each of us to decide.With that out of the way, I've read a number of interstellar colonization novels and short stories over the years. The typical story I sampled has a well engineered and fully stock ship heading off to the stars with one or perhaps two speed bumps along the way. Baxter's Ark goes way off the beaten path. Because of various political, resource and time constrains, Baxter's Ark is a God awful mess. The launch method is less than optimal, the crew is very small, the ship's command structure is (in my opinion) imperfect, crew dynamics are a mess, the ship itself has a Rube Goldberg feel to it, little is known about the target planet, etc. But oh how these imperfections make for a great tale!I did find some problems. Most importantly, the first third of the story concerns the contruction of the ship and the mission along with following the collapse of civilization as dry land disappears. I found all this interesting, but at times was chafing for Baxter to light the candle. Also, there are some issues surrounding the ship Baxter never really explains. A minor one that irked me was the Ark coffee-holic navigator who seems to have a multi-decade supply of instant coffee! Where is all this being stored?Other than some small blemishes, this is a novel worth picking up. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/16781499-ark-a-novel-of-the-flood](https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/16781499-ark-a-novel-of-the-flood) --- *Product available on Desertcart South Africa* *Store origin: ZA* *Last updated: 2026-04-22*