Exultant“Baxter has an uncanny gift for mixing a punchy, cyberpunk cynicism with his resolutely hard SF story base. . . . [Exultant] rivals Asimov in its boundless vision for the future evolution of humanity.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) For more than twenty thousand years, humans have been at war with the alien race of Xeelee. Faced with certain death, a young pilot, Pirius, disobeys orders and travels into the future. Upon his return, Pirius is court-martialed and sentenced to penal servitude. But it is not only Pirius who pays the price. In flying into the future and back again, Pirius returned to a time before he’d left, a time inhabited by his younger self, who also receives punishment. Commissary Nilis believes that the elder Pirius, whom he dubs Pirius Blue, may know how to defeat the Xeelee. But Nilis can do nothing for Pirius Blue. Instead, he takes the younger Pirius—Pirius Red—back to Earth. There Pirius Red will discover truths that shatter his preconceived notions of all that he is fighting for, while Pirius Blue will learn even harsher truths. But the most shocking revelation of all is still to come. “Absurdly ambitious, technically brilliant, and downright exciting.”—SFX Magazine “Striking . . . chilling . . . [with] a triumphant conclusion.”—Starburst |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
accretion disc ancient Arches Base asteroid barracks baryonic Bilson black hole blister bots bunk cadets called Callisto Chandra Coalition Cohl Commander Commissary corvette course crew Darc dark matter data desks disc dome Draq Druz dust Earth Enduring Hope engineer Ensign event horizon eyes face flare Galaxy Galaxy's glowing going Gramm gravastar gravity greenship hand heart human inertial kilometers Kimmer laughed Lethe light light-years looked Luru Parz magnetar Marta Maruc Moon Navy never nightfighter Nilis Nilis's Orion Rock perhaps Pila pilot Pirius and Torec Pirius Blue Pirius felt Pirius knew Pirius Red Pirius saw Pirius thought Pirius's platoon Prime Radiant quagmites Seath seemed ship Silver Ghost skinsuit smiled snapped Sol system spacetime squadron starbreaker stared stars strange surface survive talk thing thousand Tili Torec trench turned universe Virtual waved weapons Xeelee