Thousands of years ago, a massive colony ship arrived at the Hearth - the celestial birthplace of millions of planets, ranging from habitable earth-like worlds to unimaginable hellscapes of pressure and heat. Using lightsails to navigate, humanity has spread itself across dozens of these worlds. But they have also forgotten their beginnings, where they came from... and a terrible secret is about to be unveiled. For Commander Ulla Breen, on her first tour of duty aboard a patrol sail-ship, the universe is about to change around her. Attacked by an unknown and unthought-of enemy, she and her fellow crewmembers will face slavery, punishment and death - and so will their home planets. Because someone else has seen the richness of the inner Hearth, and plans to take it for themselves. A new enemy, but one who seems disturbingly familiar. And perhaps knows more about the history of the Hearth than even Ulla and her crew. Faced with a complete upheaval of all she thought she knew, Ulla must survive long enough to come up with a plan - one which will unite all the disparate elements of the Hearth, and perhaps discover the reason why humanity came to Hearthspace in the first place . . .

Udgivet af Gollancz 

Stephen Baxter
Stephen Baxter was born in Liverpool, England, in 1957. Since 1987 he has published over forty books, mostly science fiction novels, and over a hundred short stories. He has degrees in mathematics, from Cambridge University, engineering, from Southampton University, and in business administration, from Henley Management College. He has worked as a teacher of maths and physics, and for several years in information technology. His first professionally published short story appeared in 1987, and his first novel in 1991. He has been a full-time author since 1995. He is Vice-President of the British Science Fiction Association, and a Vice-President of the HG Wells Society. He now lives in Northumberland.