by Greg Bear
First published 2011
Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting rebels against his destiny. Born into the powerful Builder rate that creates the technology sustaining Forerunner dominance, he should follow his father's path. Instead, he obsesses over ancient Precursor artifacts, relics from vanished superbeings whose power remains unknowable. His reckless treasure hunting forces his father to exile him among the Miners. There, Bornstellar must confront his true duties as a keeper of the Mantle. But Forerunner society fractures around him. Ancient enemies return with renewed force. Leaders contemplate desperate measures and untested weapons as their civilization faces its greatest crisis. On a Lifeworker's experimental world, Bornstellar encounters two humans and crosses paths with a legendary military commander. These meetings transform his fate and alter the destiny of every species in the galaxy. The story unfolds 100,000 years before the events players know, revealing how the galaxy's most advanced civilization reached its end.
Genres: science-fiction, adventure, fantasy, epic
Vibes: epic, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: chosen-one, found-family
Setting: Forerunner, Lifeworker's Experimental World
Period: 100,000 Years Before Present
352 pages · Hardcover · Tor Books