About The Book

A road trip AFTER the end of the world!

Looking for America

You’re twenty-something and looking for the meaning of life. If you were an 18th century aristocrat, you’d take the Grand Tour. In the 1960s, you’d hop a Greyhound, or get on your motorcycle. In 22nd century America, you take a road trip across the continent on the Orbital Bombardment Victory Road. Thanks to the spacers, there is one smooth, but dangerous, road, running through communities rebuilt and rebuilding, of Mennonites and Amish, of the fierce, proud Madmacs and the joyful Burning Men, and others diverse enough to boggle any attempt at categorization.

Join with three strangers in a replica station wagon making their way from Baltnomore to San Fiasco on America’s most dangerous highway. One is a professor at a prestigious university; one is an entrepreneur whose work straddles two worlds; one is a freelance reporter seeking fame, glory, and a way off the Allotment.

Dodging impact craters and road warriors, lake monsters and Burning Men, these unlikely friends find themselves on a madcap journey of self-discovery. But how far can you really get in a world where evil AIs call the shots and the use of electric light is punishable by vaporization?

From the Stormlands to the halls of Gem City, and from sea to shining sea, the apocalypse has never been so sweet.

About The Author

Engineer/novelist/journalist/entrepreneur Wil McCarthy is a former contributing editor for WIRED magazine and science columnist for the SyFy channel. A lifetime member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, he has been nominated for the Nebula, Locus, Seiun, AnLab, Colorado Book, Theodore Sturgeon, and Philip K. Dick awards. His short fiction has graced the pages of Analog, Asimov’s, WIRED, and SF Age, and his novels include the New York Times Notable Bloom, Amazon.com “Best of Y2K” The Collapsium (a national bestseller), To Crush the Moon, and Antediluvian. He has also written for TV, appeared on The History Channel and The Science Channel, and published nonfiction in half a dozen magazines.

Previously a flight controller for Lockheed Martin Space Launch Systems and later an engineering manager for Omnitech Robotics and founder/president/CTO of Raven Brick LLC, McCarthy holds patents of his own in seven countries, including twenty-nine issued U.S. patents in the field of nanostructured optical materials.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Baen (December 15, 2026)
  • Length: 304 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781668073544

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Raves and Reviews

Praise for Rich Man's Sky:
“Action SF built on a hard foundation of cutting-edge science.” —Walter Jon Williams

“An action-crammed story that darts at hyper-speed from Burning Man, Nevada to Suriname to a convent on the Moon to an orbiting colony that’s clearly up to something. A jam-packed adventure fizzing with mind-blowing concepts, and a great read!” —Connie Willis

“A hard science fiction tour de force, populated by memorable characters in a tale of intrigue, adventure, and irresistible market forces.” —Linda Nagata

Praise for Antediluvian:
“. . . gripping and . . . grounded in archaeology.” —Publishers Weekly

“. . . plenty of verisimilitude . . . superbly intriguing and captivating . . . bravura historical recreations, full of conjectural material. . . . Presenting us with a colorful cast of characters from across the millennia who have thick and rich existences, and affirming that the cosmic stream of life flows forcefully despite all small blockades, McCarthy has written a novel that looks both forwards and backwards, thus making a stellar return to the field.” —Locus

Praise for Wil McCarthy:
“McCarthy is an entertaining, intelligent, amusing writer, with Heinlein's knack for breakneck plotting and, at the same time, Clarke's thoughtfulness.” —Booklist

“Imagination really is the only limit.” —The New York Times

“The future as McCarthy sees it is a wondrous place.” —Publishers Weekly

“A bright light on the SF horizon.” —David Brin

“Wil McCarthy demonstrates that he has a sharp intelligence, a galaxy-spanning imagination, and the solid scientific background to make it all work.” —Connie Willis

“In nearly every passage, we get another slice of the science of McCarthy’s construction, and a deeper sense of danger and foreboding . . . McCarthy develops considerable tension.” —San Diego Union-Tribune

“An ingenious yarn with challenging ideas, well-handled technical details, and plenty of twists and turns.” —Kirkus

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