Heaven's Reach

Heaven's Reach

Author	David Brin
Country	United States
Language	English
Series
Genre	Science fiction
Publisher	Spectra
Publication date	1998
Media type	Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages	464
ISBN	0-553-10174-9
OCLC	38239177
Dewey Decimal	813/.54 21
LC Class	PS3552.R4825 H43 1998
Preceded by	Infinity's Shore

Heaven's Reach is a science fiction novel by American writer David Brin, the third book in the Uplift Storm series. Like its two predecessors, it follows the adventures of the Terran scout ship, Streaker. This novel, though, features more alternate storylines than its predecessors, tracking not only the humans, but the Jijoan exiles as they re-enter mainstream Galactic society, the chimpanzee hyperspace scout Harry Harms, the Jophur as they chase the humans, and the humans hiding on the Jophur ship Polkjhy.

Synopsis[]

The book takes the Streaker off the planet Jijo and back in space. The ship attempts to escape capture by the Jophur battleship Polkihjy, confiding in the protection of hydrogen life to do so. After returning to the Fractal World, where the Retired reside, a galaxy-shattering event occurs which destroys many of the hyperspace tunnels that connect the Five Galaxies as one of the Galaxies breaks free. Alvin and his friends, along with Mudfoot and expert pilot Lucky Kaaa, leave in one of Streakers lifeboats as Gillian Baskin fears they will be killed during the coming events, and they find themselves at Kazzkark, a small hollowed-out planetoid and remote base for several of the Great Institutes.

Harry Harms, a neochimp scout pilot for the Navigation institute, encounters Rety and Dwer, lost and in danger in E-level hyperspace. He rescues them and bluffs his way past immigration officials to get them entry on Kazzkark. Although Harry has sworn loyalty to the Migration Institute he still sympathizes with the lost humans and seeks to aid him, but they wander off and are lost in the crowds now thronging in the normally quiet outpost.

A "Time of Changes" is clearly underway in the Five Galaxies, as mass migration and chaos spread throughout galactic civilization, and the Niss computer chides Gillian Baskin for thinking that Streaker alone was responsible for the destruction they have witnessed. After Streaker's occupants are chosen against their will as candidates for transcendence, they meet members of the Transcendent Order around a white dwarf and learn of the history and motivations of their actions; their (and others) apprehension on the 'Embrace of Tides'; and a master plan to be executed at the moments of fracture. As they await their fate, Emerson alone senses yet another trap laid by the Old Ones who stole the speech center of his brain and foils it. In the process, , Lieutenant T'Sht is killed while trying to deliver samples from Streaker to members of the retired order. She is also responsible for alerting the Rothen and the Daniks to Streaker's presence on Jijo to begin with, which precipitated all the disastrous events on Jijo.

Back on Kazzkark, Pincer-tip, a member of Alvin's group, has been murdered by Ro-Kenn, who was stowed aboard their ship by the traitorous Lieutenant T'Sht. Rety has become a religious symbol, drunk with power and unaware that the cult's leader plans to sacrifice her. Dwer, Herry, and the Synthian Kiwei Ha'aoulin rescue Rety and leave Kazzkark just as it begins to come apart due to space tremors in the area. Kaa uses all of his skills to return them all to the Jijo's solar system just moments before all transfer points in that galaxy become permanently useless. They see a number of other ships near Jijo, and a small rocket launches from the surface bound for an ancient city on one of Jijo's moons

Streaker pleads with the Transcendents to be set free, and they eventually relent and select Polkihjy to take it's place being hurled through space to another galaxy. Polkihjy has by this time been almost entirely taken over by a composite hydrogen-breathing life form known as "Mother" with Lark, Ling, Eswax, now known simply as "X" and many others living inside of it. Streaker manages to reach the Terran system and finds Earth heavily besieged by massive battle fleets. As they dodge through the fleets, partially protected by mysterious new armor, they broadcast a prolonged, cryptic, taunting message to the battle fleets, in an attempt to distract and confuse them. The tactic works in an unanticipated way, by the time Streaker reaches Earth the invaders are panicking, fearing the judgement of the Progenitors and the Transcendents, and have fled, and thus Earth is saved, at least for the time being.

In the afterward, Alvin writes one last journal entry. He has settled with his new wife and her family on the coast of a Hoon colony world, where they operate a resort and Alvin teaches Hoons the joys of sailing. Mudfoot remains with him and now speaks often of booking passage to a Tytlal world, but never does. Huck lives in a nearby town and is producing G'kek offspring in an attempt to revive her race.

This article about a 1990s science fiction novel is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by . See guidelines for writing about novels. Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page.

• v
• t