by Peter Watts
First published 2023
Two months after mysterious lights fell from the stars, a damaged probe beyond Neptune detects an alien signal sweeping across space. The source shows no interest in communication with humanity. Earth assembles an unprecedented crew for first contact: a linguist whose brain houses multiple personalities in separate cores, a biologist merged with machinery who perceives x-rays and ultrasound, a pacifist trained for war, and their commander, a genetically resurrected vampire from humanity's prehistoric past. Meanwhile, field biologist Daniel Bruks lives as an exile in the Oregon desert, watching humanity fracture into strange new subspecies. Terrorists once used him as an unwitting weapon to kill thousands. He awakens one night aboard a ship heading toward the solar system's center, thrust into the greatest evolutionary turning point since consciousness began. Colonel Keaton faces his own crisis as his wife retreats into virtual reality and his son vanishes on an alien hunting mission. Tasked with evaluating hive mind threats, Keaton watches one attack his facility. A powerful collective intelligence approaches him with an offer that could reshape everything.
Genres: science-fiction, adventure, thriller
Vibes: dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: first-contact, found-family
Setting: Neptune, Oregon, Solar System
Period: Two Months After
885 pages · Kindle Edition · Tor Books