Beyond the Hallowed Sky (Lightspeed Trilogy, #1)

by Ken MacLeod

Duncan Spilling (Cover Designer)

When a brilliant scientist gets a letter from herself about faster-than-light travel, she doesn't know what to believe. The equations work, but her paper is discredited - and soon the criticism is more than scientific. Exiled by the establishment, she gets an offer to build her starship from an unlikely source. But in the heights of Venus and on a planet of another star, a secret is already being uncovered that will shake humanity to its foundations.

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.

• ISBN13: 9780356514789
• Publish Date: 23 November 2021
• Publish Status: Forthcoming
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Orbit
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[Ashley]

Stopped reading on page 48.

This was just purely a case of not for me. The synopsis led me to set up certain expectations that weren't quite met.

Two main things:

1. This ended up being a lot more politics driven than I anticipated. There's a lot about how the world has been split up into the Union, the Alliance, etc. Different countries have banded together and you need visas to travel between regions. Just a bit focus on defecting, how the politics differ, etc. I wasn't interested in that. I wanted more of the science.
2. I was largely interested in the character described in the synopsis. But after her chapter ended, we moved on to other characters. I read another person's review that says she doesn't come back for like 100 pages. And frankly that's just not what I signed on for.

I'm sure this book will appeal to plenty of people, it just wasn't the right fit for me.