Beyond the Reach of Earth - by Ken MacLeod (Paperback)

About the Book

"THE FERMI ARE AWAKE. With the invention of faster-than-light travel there is nowhere that humanity cannot go. New worlds are discovered, but with them come new dangers. At the heart of their discovery is the Fermi, ruins of alien technology thought to be abandoned. But now the Fermi are awakening, and they do not seem pleased to find humans in their midst."--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

Ken MacLeod is back with a stellar interstellar addition to the Lightspeed trilogy!

THE FERMI ARE AWAKE...

The invention of faster-than-light technology has brought great opportunity, but also great danger.

The Black Horizon conspiracy is broken up, but it still has deadly assets beyond the reach of Earth. As the great powers jostle for advantage, the alien minds known as the Fermi have their own ways of dealing with humans meddling in plans vaster and more ancient than anyone can suspect.

After the Venus catastrophe, John Grant's starship Fighting Chance and the Space Station have reached Apis--but not for long. They barely have time to mourn the dead before they're chased out of the system. The Station begins exploring the systems Black Horizon warned them against--with good reason, as they soon discover.

On Apis, Alliance agent Marcus Owen has a new mission: to communicate with the alien intelligences in the rocks, and to stop anyone else from getting to them first. Everyone knows he's a spy, but he's not going to let that cramp his style. But the scientists investigating the rock find that the Fermi may not be the only alien intelligence on Apis...

Science fiction legend Ken MacLeod returns with book two in the Lightspeed trilogy, a gripping tale of first contact and dark conspiracies set among the stars.

Review Quotes

Beyond the Reach of Earth is a lavish exploration of a wild star-faring future. Ken MacLeod is a fearless extrapolator who has mastered the mind-boggling moves most dear to science fiction readers, from alien terraformers to faster-than light submarines to robot spies. This twisty thriller, latest in the Lightspeed Trilogy, is a must read! --James Patrick Kelly, winner of the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards.

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.