Xeelee Sequence
The Xeelee Sequence is a series of hard science fiction space opera novels, novellas and short stories by British science fiction author Stephen Baxter. The novels span several billion years, describing the future expansion of humanity, its war with its nemesis (an alien Type IV civilization[1]) 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 Published | Year in Story | Notes |
| Coalescent | 2003 | AD 476-2005 | Part 1 of Destiny's Children. Arthur C. Clarke Award nominee, 2004[2] |
| Transcendent | 2005 | AD 2047 | Part 3 of Destiny's Children. World of Michael Poole. John W. Campbell Memorial Award nominee, 2006[3] |
| Timelike Infinity | 1992 | AD 3717 | |
| Ring | 1994 | AD 3951 | before Great Northern launches |
| Exultant | 2005 | AD 24973 | Part 2 of Destiny's Children. |
| Raft | 1991 | AD 104,858 | Arthur C. Clarke Award nominee, 1992[4] |
| Flux | 1993 | AD 193,700 | |
| Transcendent | 2005 | AD 500,000 | Part 3 of Destiny's Children. World of Alia. |
| Ring | 1994 | AD 5,000,000 | after Great Northern returns |
The novellas and short stories are collected in:
| Title | Year Published | Year in Story | Notes |
| Vacuum Diagrams | 1997 | ||
| Resplendent | 2006 | ||
| Xeelee: Endurance | 2015 |
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. The timeline was updated in September 2015.[5]
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.’"[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
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- ↑ http://www.stephen-baxter.com/articles.html#xeelee
- ↑ http://www.themanifold.co.uk/interview.php
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External links
- Baxter's own complete (as of September 2015) timeline for the Xeelee Sequence of novels and stories, hosted on his official website.
