The H-Bomb Girl

The H-Bomb Girl
	First edition; with quote from Paul Cornell
Author	Stephen Baxter
Cover artist	James Taylor (illustration); Mandy Norman (design)
Language	English
Genre	Science fiction
Publisher	Faber and Faber
Publication date	2007
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	265
ISBN	0-571-23279-5

The H-Bomb Girl is a science fiction novel by Stephen Baxter.

Plot introduction

Set in October 1962, in Liverpool, actually in and around the author's own school,^[1] with the Cuban Missile Crisis looming, it concerns 14-year-old Laura Mann, who has been entrusted with a strange key and code number to memorize by her father, an RAF officer at Strike Command in High Wycombe. The key turns out to be for a nuclear armed Vulcan bomber and it becomes the target of time travellers from 2007, from alternate versions of Laura's own future, all seeking to change the course of history.

The vibrant popular culture of 1960s Liverpool features prominently in the novel, the climax takes place during a Beatles concert at The Cavern Club with Cilla Black as cloakroom attendant.

Literary significance and reception

The SF Site reviewed the novel favorably, commenting that Baxter's novel was realistic and mostly avoided the clichés associated with stories of time travel, dystopias and the apocalypse.^[2]

Adam Roberts praised Baxter's handling of the young adult medium, calling it "a gripping, informative, extremely likeable little novel".^[3]

The novel was shortlisted for the 2008 Arthur C. Clarke Award.^[4]

References

^ Strange Horizons Reviews: It Happened Otherwise? Three Alternate Histories, reviewed by Paul Kincaid
^ "The SF Site Featured Review: The H-Bomb Girl". SF Site. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
^ "Punkadiddle: Stephen Baxter, The H-Bomb Girl (2007)". Punkadiddle. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
^ "Previous Clarke Award Shortlists". clarkeaward.com. Archived from the original on 6 January 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2012.

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[1] Strange Horizons Reviews: It Happened Otherwise? Three Alternate Histories, reviewed by Paul Kincaid

[SF_Site_Featured_Review-2] "The SF Site Featured Review: The H-Bomb Girl". SF Site. Retrieved 8 October 2012.

[Punkadiddle-3] "Punkadiddle: Stephen Baxter, The H-Bomb Girl (2007)". Punkadiddle. Retrieved 8 October 2012.

[Arthur_C._Clarke_Award-4] "Previous Clarke Award Shortlists". clarkeaward.com. Archived from the original on 6 January 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2012.

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v t e Works by Stephen Baxter
Xeelee Sequence	Raft Timelike Infinity Flux Ring Vacuum Diagrams Reality Dust Riding the Rock Mayflower II Starfall Gravity Dreams Xeelee: Endurance Destiny's Children Coalescent Exultant Transcendent Resplendent
Manifold Trilogy	Time Space Origin Phase Space
Mammoth trilogy	Silverhair Longtusk Icebones
A Time Odyssey	Time's Eye Sunstorm Firstborn
The Web	Gulliverzone Webcrash
Time's Tapestry	Emperor Conqueror Navigator Weaver
NASA Trilogy	Voyage Titan Moonseed
Flood/Ark	Flood Ark
Northland trilogy	Stone Spring Bronze Summer Iron Winter
The Long Earth	The Long Earth The Long War The Long Mars The Long Utopia The Long Cosmos
Proxima	Proxima Ultima
Others	"The Twelfth Album" Anti-Ice The Time Ships The Light of Other Days Evolution The H-Bomb Girl The Wheel of Ice The Medusa Chronicles The Massacre of Mankind Creation Node
Unrelated collections	Traces The Hunters of Pangaea