Mankind has reached the stars. Now we are trying to unravel the heart of the universe, but all discoveries are dangerous and some mysteries might be safest left unexplored...

MANKIND HAS REACHED THE STARS.
Two hundred years after the fall of Mechanism, human society has achieved a kind of stability. There are colonies beneath the oceans, throughout the solar system, and beyond: on extrasolar planets. Vast hemi-relativistic ships connect these colonies, travelling at half the speed of light. Or rather they would, if the ominous presence of the alien Watchkeepers had not led to an enforced moratorium on interstellar travel.

But when a seemingly impossible radio signal reaches the colony Crucible, everything changes:

SEND NDEGE

It's origin is unpopulated, unexplored space. No one could be there - at least, not if they travelled using human technology - so who could have sent it? How did they get there? And what use do they have for the disgraced scientist Ndege Akinya?

Finding the answers will require one of the greatest expeditions humankind has ever launched, a journey further than ever attempted before, conducted under the implacable scrutiny of the Watchkeepers.

But as a mission is prepared on Crucible, it turns out they weren't the only ones to see the message - or its potential . . .
'Reynolds' future is so brilliantly extrapolated . . . original ideas fizzing off every page' The Guardian
'Brilliant, self-assured, colourful space opera' The Sun

Completing the informal trilogy which began with Blue Remembered Earth and On the Steel Breeze, this is a powerful and effective story.

Praise for Alastair Reynolds:

'An adroit and fast-paced blend of space opera and police procedural, original and exciting' George R. R. Martin on Aurora Rising

'The most enjoyable book Reynolds has ever written' SFX on Revenger

'The span here is mind-boggling, cosmos-spanning concepts, a breath-taking journey' Good Book Guide on Chasm City

'[A] wonderfully entertaining puzzle wrapped inside an adventure story' The Guardian on Eversion

'A fabulous and satisfying novel' SF Crowsnest on Revenger

'An excellent adventure that's sure to keep readers on their toes' Publishers Weekly on Revenger

'A fun, character focused bottle mystery that shifts settings like a chameleon walking across a rainbow carpet' The Quill to Live on Eversion

'Entertaining and thought-provoking' Locus on Revelation Space

'Pirates in space, full of peril and high-jinks . . . This is a novel that's elegantly plotted, full of surprises and, as first time round, rip-roaring fun' SFX on Revenger

'Reynolds is one of the modern masters of science fiction' Starburst

'This is a story to break hearts and make you turn pages. It's great stuff; pick it up, you'll want to know what happens next' SF&F Reviews on Century Rain

'Much of the fun of these books comes from the construction of a far, far-future space-opera . . . the mapping of Age of Sail tropes onto space travel is just the start . . . Nevertheless, at the centre of this baroque masquerade party resides a sober consideration of what it might mean to go off adventuring, what it might cost' Locus on Revenger

'Reynolds is a master singer of the Space Opera' The Times

A well-paced, complex story replete with intrigue, invention and an optimism uncommon in contemporary SF