Xeelee Sequence

The Xeelee Sequence is a series of hard science fiction space opera novels and short stories by British science fiction author Stephen Baxter. The novels span several billions of years, describing the future expansion of humanity, its war with its nemesis (a Type IV civilization[1] an alien race called the Xeelee), and the Xeelee's own war with dark matter entities called Photino Birds. Other important Xeelee Sequence species include the Qax, the Squeem, and the Silver Ghosts. Several novels also deal with humans and posthumans living in extreme conditions, such as the heart of a neutron star (Flux) or a universe with considerably stronger gravity (Raft).

Baxter's Destiny's Children series is part of the Xeelee Sequence.

The novels, in chronological order (not publication order) are:

Title Year Notes
Coalescent 2003 Arthur C. Clarke Award nominee, 2004[2]
Transcendent 2005 Michael Poole's segment
John W. Campbell Memorial Award nominee, 2006[3]
Timelike Infinity 1992
Ring 1993 before Great Northern launches
Starfall 2009
Riding the Rock 2002 Included in Resplendent
Reality Dust 2000 Included in Resplendent
Mayflower II 2004 Included in Resplendent
Exultant 2005
Raft 1991 Arthur C. Clarke Award nominee, 1992[4]
Flux 1993
Gravity Dreams 2011
Ring 1994 after Great Northern returns

Most of the short stories are collected in Vacuum Diagrams and Resplendent, but there are still several short stories in the series that are uncollected. Chronologies including most of the short stories and novels are included in the short story collections Vacuum Diagrams and Resplendent. When asked directly for a suggested reading order, the author wrote: "I hope that all the books and indeed the stories can be read stand-alone. I’m not a great fan of books that end with cliff-hangers. So you could go in anywhere. One way would be to start with ‘Vacuum Diagrams’, a collection that sets out the overall story of the universe. Then ‘Timelike Infinity’ and ‘Ring’ which tell the story of Michael Poole, then ‘Raft’ and ‘Flux’ which are really incidents against the wider background, and finally ‘Destiny’s Children.’"[5] In 2009, Baxter posted a detailed chronology of the Xeelee Sequence explaining the proper chronological reading order of all the novels, novellas, and short stories up to that year.[6]

An omnibus edition of the first four Xeelee novels; Raft, Timelike Infinity, Flux and Ring, was released in January 2010.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "TVtropes.org - Abusing the Kardashev Scale for Fun and Profit".
  2. ↑ "2004 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
  3. ↑ "2006 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
  4. ↑ "1992 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
  5. ↑ http://www.themanifold.co.uk/interview.php
  6. ↑ http://www.stephen-baxter.com/articles.html#xeelee
  7. ↑ "Books". Stephen Baxter. Retrieved 1 March 2012.

External links