Dark Light
A Tale of a Future of Limitless Intelligence
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4,0 • 1 оценка
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- 17,99 $
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- 17,99 $
От издателя
In this science fiction sequel to Cosmonaut Keep, a human and his friends travel to another planet to interrogate gods and solve a mystery.
Intelligence, it turns out, is rare—on planetary surfaces. It thrives everywhere else, from the Oort-cloud fringes of star systems to the magma furnaces beneath planetary crusts. And among the most powerful of the galaxy's intelligences, there are profound differences of opinion about how to deal with surface life-forms such as human beings.
For, untold light years from Earth, the powers that rule the universe have been, for millennia, plucking humans (and other intelligent beings) from Earth and forcibly resettling them in a number of star systems close to one another, leaving them to develop on their own. A few generations ago, a small cadre of humans from Earth's twenty-first century arrived in this "Second Sphere" on their own power—the first humans ever to do so. Their descendants have formed the "Cosmonaut" class that dominates Mingulay. Now, two hundred years later, Gregor Cairns and a small group of associates have rediscovered faster-than-light travel and traveled to the star system next door. They're determined to find more of the original, mysteriously long-lived cosmonauts. They want answers. And for those answers, they intend to interrogate the gods.
Отзывы покупателей
Second Book in the Engines of Light Trilogy
“Dark Light” is a 2002 novel by Ken McLeod and the second book in his Engines of Light Trilogy. It picks up where the first book, “Cosmonaut Keep”, left off.
The human starship, Bright Star, has just navigated interstellar space to the world Croatan which is inhabited by various human civilizations including one based on pre-Columbian Native American culture. This civilization has interesting ideas about gender roles. The other human civilization seems to have been derived from European colonials. The arrival of the Bright Star precipitates significant changes in both, and leads to the overthrow of established order.
Meanwhile, the long-lived Cosmonauts have their own plans. They intend to talk to the advanced and enigmatic alien organisms that live in the asteroids, beings known as The Gods. What they will learn will change everything.
It’s an interesting story, with a variety of sentient species, three of which are hominids. There are also intelligent giant squids commonly known as Krakens, and intelligent and long lived dinosaur-derived bipeds simply known as Saurs. All of these species originated from Earth, and were removed from there and transported to other worlds by The Gods. All except for the human Cosmonauts, who traveled to the stars themselves.
This is a complex story, and sets the stage for the final book in the trilogy, “Engine City.” I’ve put it on my “want to read” list!