Beyond the Hallowed Sky - by Ken MacLeod (Paperback)

About the Book

"Mathematician Lakshmi Nayak receives a letter from her future self about faster-than-light travel. The equations work, and the letter itself seems to prove the possibility will someday be realized. But her paper on the topic is fiercely criticized, and she's warned away by a sinister Alliance agent. After defecting to the Union, she gets an unexpected offer: 'I can build your ship.' Shipbuilder John Grant learns of a secret project, which unknown to the world has been traveling to the stars for decades: Black Horizon. Biologist Emma Hazeldene works for Black Horizon on an alien world, Apis, whose life has clearly come from Earth, investigating rock formations that are thought to be an alien, crystal-like intelligence. But refugees exiled to a hard life in the wilds of Apis already know more than the scientists have ever suspected. Everything changes when the rocks wake up, with dire results. As secrets emerge and rival powers seize advantage, three worlds are shaken to their foundations -- and all involved have to fight for their lives, and their futures."--

Book Synopsis

MacLeod's first instillation in the Lightspeed trilogy is out of this world!Mathematician Lakshmi Nayak receives a letter from her future self about faster-than-light travel. The equations work, and the letter itself seems to prove the possibility will someday be realized. But her paper on the topic is fiercely criticized, and she's warned away by a sinister Alliance agent. After defecting to the Union, she gets an unexpected offer: "I can build your ship." Shipbuilder John Grant learns of a secret project, which unknown to the world has been traveling to the stars for decades: Black Horizon.Biologist Emma Hazeldene works for Black Horizon on an alien world, Apis, whose life has clearly come from Earth, investigating rock formations that are thought to be an alien, crystal-like intelligence. But refugees exiled to a hard life in the wilds of Apis already know more than the scientists have ever suspected. Everything changes when the rocks wake up, with dire results.As secrets emerge and rival powers seize advantage, three worlds are shaken to their foundations--and all involved have to fight for their lives, and their futures.Science fiction legend Ken MacLeod begins a new space opera trilogy by imagining humankind on the precipice of discovery--the invention of faster-than-light travel unlocks a universe of new possibilities, and new dangers.

Review Quotes

MacLeod here adds to his usual delightful palette the conundrums of faster-than-light travel, which means time travel, and despite the mind-boggling paradoxes of that sub-genre he has built a clear-as-glass plot with interesting characters facing tough choices both personal and political. Long ago I called his novels a nova appearing in our sky; it was a good call, and the nova keeps expanding!--Kim Stanley Robinson, author of the award-winning Mars trilogy

Ken Macleod does things nobody else does and this is a terrific read.--Jo Walton, multi-award-winning author of Among Others and What Makes This Book So Great

Sure, some writers knock it out of the park but with Beyond the Hallowed Sky, Ken MacLeod knocks it right out of the solar system! Too often, space opera throws science out the airlock, but MacLeod has given us a believable faster-than-light adventure that will have you racing through the pages at superluminal speed.--Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of The Oppenheimer Alternative

About the Author

Ken MacLeod lives in Scotland. He has honors and master's degrees in biological subjects and worked for some years in the IT industry. Since 1997 he has been a full-time writer. He is the author of nineteen novels, from The Star Fraction (1995) to Beyond the Reach of Earth (2023), and many articles and short stories. His novels and stories have received three BSFA awards and three Prometheus Awards, and several have been short-listed for the Clarke and Hugo Awards.