Tides of Light (Galactic Center Book 4)

Name: Tides of Light (Galactic Center Book 4)
Price: 3.99 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.3 (175 reviews)
Author: Gregory Benford

by Gregory Benford

Literary Fiction Science Fiction

4.3 (175)

4.3 stars from 175 reviews

422 pages~7 hr readPublished by SpectraPublished 1989-01-01

$3.99Deal78% off peak

Last checked: May 6, 2026

Price history: $1.99 – $17.99

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Price range: $1.99 – $17.99

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Perfect for you if...

You enjoy hard science fiction that takes cosmic-scale concepts seriously and explores what they mean for survival and humanity's future.
You're invested in character-driven epics where a crew's decisions shape the destiny of an entire species across multiple books.
You appreciate philosophical questions woven into action, especially around first contact with truly alien intelligence and the nature of consciousness.

Maybe not for you if...

You prefer faster pacing and tighter narratives; this is a sprawling, densely layered book that rewards patient reading.
You're new to the Galactic Center series and expect this to work as a standalone; it builds heavily on earlier books and assumes familiarity with the universe.
You want optimistic, straightforward human heroism; the tone here is often bleak, and humanity faces enemies and mysteries it cannot easily overcome.

About this book

Tides of Light is the fourth book in Gregory Benford's Galactic Center series, following humanity's future and a major mystery from space. This revised edition won the Nebula Award. Killeen and the Bishop tribe pilot an ancient starship to escape the mech-ruled world of Snowglade, seeking refuge on a distant planet. There they encounter vast wonders: an organic life-form the size of a world, a planet-coring cosmic string, a human community under a brutal tyrant's rule, and an alien race unlike any they have encountered before. As they struggle to survive against these dangers, Killeen and his crew discover an unexpected ally that may shape humanity's destiny.

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Price History

Kindle price over time. Green zones = periods when the book was free.

$1.99 – $17.99

Currently on sale at $3.99 — 78% off peak. Price has dropped 28 times over the last 6 years. Goes on sale roughly every 78 days.

Sales Rank

Amazon sales rank: lower number = better selling book. #1 is the bestseller.

Currently around #603K in the Kindle store — a niche title.

Rating & Reviews

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Currently 4.3★ from 175 reviews

Gaining approximately 1 new review per month. Rating has dipped slightly from 4.4 to 4.3.

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This book is currently discounted at $3.99. It typically returns to around $17.99.

Prices shown in USD from Amazon US. We continuously pull new data to improve tracking. If dates look old, it usually means there has been no significant change since the last data point.