Steps of the Sun

It is the year 2063 and all energy sources have been depleted or declared unsafe. An ice age has begun, China's world dominance is growing, and America is sliding into impotence. Only Ben Belson, a New York financier, has any hope of reversing the decline of civilization. Undaunted by the apathy around him, haunted by emotional problems that are driving him toward suicide, he embarks on a highly publicized search for an extraterrestrial fuel supply. Though he sleeps through the long night of space, fate brings him to his star. What happens there shocks him back into sanity and life.
From the bestselling author of The Queen's Gambit, a dramatic science fiction odyssey in which a billionaire ventures into outer space to save EarthThe year is 2063. Earth’s energy resources are dangerously close to being depleted, a new world superpower has upset America’s global dominance, and the threat of a new Ice Age looms large. Fortunately, there is one man brave enough—and perhaps foolish enough—to venture beyond the planet to find the mineral resources that will secure the country’s future: Ben Belson. One of the richest men in the world, Belson is haunted by personal demons and wanted for his unlawful space travel, but he will stop at nothing to fulfill his crucial mission—and discover a future greater than he could ever have imagined.